The Garden Variety Alcoholic and the Bar of Consequences – Steve L.

About This Speaker Tape

Las Vegas Roundup - 2012

From high school 'rise and shine' parties in Chicago to a career as a professional bass player in the jazz and lounge circuit, Steve L. spent a lifetime trying to outrun the consequences of his drinking. He describes a pattern of 'lowering the bar' to justify his use eventually sliding into a cycle of unemployment crime and multiple stints in prison. After a series of failed attempts to control his drinking through geographic cures and 'best thinking,' Steve L. finds a turning point in a county jail bunk at 4:00 AM where a desperate prayer and a spiritual shift lead him toward service. He details his transition from a 'taker' to a contributor teaching GED courses to fellow inmates and discovering the relief of a life lived for others.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Steve L. opens with a prayer and a 24-hour coin given to him by a new friend.
• 4:30 Recounts the 'rise and shine' parties and missing 88 days of high school.
• 8:15 Discusses the music business and the pressure to drink to fit in with older musicians.
• 12:40 Describes the 'downhill slide' and the geographic cure of moving to a small town of 2,800 people.
• 17:10 Laughter: The story of being robbed at gunpoint while on the way to a soup kitchen.
• 23:50 Details the cycle of arrests and the 'whispering' of the disease during house arrest.
• 28:10 The courtroom scene where the prosecutor labels him a 'menace to society'.
• 31:20 Spiritual Awakening: The 4:00 AM prayer in the jail bunk.
• 34:40 Service Work: Teaching GED courses to inmates and receiving early release.
• 38:10 Closing thoughts on character defects and the 'Sober Sam' poem.