The Promises Are Not Just Words, a Sick Angry Man Lives Happy Joyous and Free – Cliff R.

About This Speaker Tape

Cliff R. from Oceanside, California shares his story on the We Are Not A Glum Lot Cruise in September 2004. He opens by calling himself a typical run-of-the-mill alcoholic — just a little fat schoolteacher who drank too much — then points out that ninety-five to ninety-seven percent of people who die from alcoholism are functioning alcoholics exactly like him. Not the dramatic cases, but the ones who get up every morning, do the job better than anyone, and drink themselves to death quietly.

Cliff's story centers on the double life of a high-achieving drunk. He built one of the top three championship debate programs in the United States, driving his students from seven in the morning until ten at night with screaming, cursing, and relentless coaching — fueled entirely by resentment toward a coach who snubbed him at his first tournament. All day long, a half-pint of hot vodka sat in the glove compartment of his house-painted 1958 Chevy with the seal unbroken, calling to him. He never drank during the day. He waited until the last student left, then sat alone in the dark car, opened the bottle, and had his eight minutes — the only eight minutes in a twenty-four-hour day when the world was right.

He was in and out of AA for five years, sneering at the fellowship with his degrees, until his eldest son told him life was beautiful without him. That night he read the Big Book and got on his knees. His sponsor Bill Blake — a former wino who made AA brutal and hilarious — taught him the program through action, not talk. Cliff's kids and grandkids are now GSRs. He closes with the Promises on pages 83 and 84: that is why he is in AA, and a sick, neurotic, crazy, angry man now lives nearly every day of his life happy, joyous, and free.

Topics

Timestamps

• 00:00 A typical run-of-the-mill alcoholic — a fat schoolteacher who drank too much
• 08:00 Ninety-five percent who die from alcoholism are functioning alcoholics
• 16:00 Building a championship debate program fueled by resentment
• 24:00 The half-pint of hot vodka in the glove compartment
• 32:00 The only eight minutes in twenty-four hours when the world was right
• 40:00 In and out of AA for five years, sneering with his degrees
• 48:00 His eldest son says life is beautiful without him
• 56:00 Sponsor Bill Blake and the Promises on pages 83 and 84