The Indescribable Thing We Drink to Get – Joe L.

About This Speaker Tape

Joe L. maps out a life spent in the wreckage of wine and pills tracing a path from the destitute streets of Roseville California to a jail cell in his hometown in Texas. He describes the 'insidious eating crawling little thing' of alcoholism that left him mooching wine from railroad buddies and living in flophouses.

Joe recounts the humiliation of being locked up by his own mother and the pivotal moment a stranger visited him in the 'pokey' to deliver the A.A. pitch. He dismantles the arrogance of early sobriety recalling a time he tried to 'godlike' a drunk into sobriety only to have the man silently throw up on his shoulder.

Joe concludes by framing his recovery as a miracle comparing his own liberation from 'fetters and chains' to a biblical story of a man cleansed of demons.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Joe L. opens with a joke about a silent nun and the heat in the room.
• 2:15 Joe describes his hatred for a sober lawyer in Roseville who drank Coca-Cola at the bar.
• 5:30 Discussion on the common thread of being 'tired' in active addiction.
• 8:45 Laughter: Joe recounts his wife's sister's reaction to his drinking.
• 11:20 Joe describes the 'closed umbrella' effect of drinking Gallo wine.
• 14:10 Joe recounts being locked in jail by his mother and meeting a member who gave him the A.A. pitch.
• 17:45 Joe describes his five months of 'living hell' mooching wine on the West Coast.
• 20:15 Joe describes his first A.A. meeting and the embrace of a sheriff he once hated.
• 23:00 Joe warns against the arrogance of being 'godlike' in early sobriety.
• 25:30 Joe uses a biblical metaphor of a demoniac on a riverbank to describe his recovery.
• 28:00 Closing: Joe announces a move to the roof garden for air conditioning and leads the Lord's Prayer.