The Misery of the Dry Drunk and Doing It Wrong – Sandy B.

About This Speaker Tape

A Marine's need for control clashes with the absolute surrender of the steps in Sandy B.'s recovery. He traces his path from being a jet pilot grounded by seizures and 'nut ward' stays to the crushing blow of a divorce and bankruptcy. Sandy dismantles the illusion of 'fairness,' describing how he once kept a mental scorecard of life's injustices only to find that his resentments were like yeast in an oven—expanding until they became an inferno.

He cuts through the jargon of the Big Book specifically the chapter for agnostics framing the choice as a binary: live by spiritual principles or die an alcoholic death. Through a series of recurring crises Sandy makes the case that the program isn't a guarantee of a smooth life but a power to stay on course through both good and bad weather.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Laughter: Sandy's first impression of the 'no drinking' rule.
• 4:15 Sandy discusses the 'scorecard' of fairness and his time as a briefing officer in the Marines.
• 10:30 Sandy describes the excruciating pain of divorce and the power of repetitive prayer.
• 16:45 The 'nut ward' and the irony of becoming an air traffic controller.
• 21:10 Sandy describes the 'inferno' of secret resentments and the 'yeast in the oven' metaphor.
• 24:30 The turning point: reading about the plane crash in the Washington Post.
• 31:15 Discussion of the Big Book's chapter to the agnostic and the 'Jack B.' analogy.
• 36:20 The 'parachute tower' metaphor for the first step and powerlessness.
• 42:10 Sandy's theory on the 'daily reprieve' and the removal of the obsession to drink.
• 46:50 Laughter: Sandy's frustration with the 'universal answers' given by group members during his crises.