The Sense of Well-Being That Only Comes From Giving – Norm A.

About This Speaker Tape

San Bernardino, 110 degrees in the shade, and Norm A. is driving with the windows rolled up just so the world thinks he has air conditioning. He spent a lifetime as a "professional" at impressing people he didn't like, spending money he didn't have to maintain a facade.

A thief by trade and an alcoholic by absorption, Norm recalls the "midnight auto supply" business—popping hubcaps and stealing cars—and the subsequent wreckage of Navy brig time and a general court-martial. He describes the "buzzy feeling" of cheap Ten High whiskey that turned him into a "lover and a killer" in the mirrored reflections of dark bars. After a hit-and-run and a cell shared with a "fanatic" in city jail, the seed was planted.

Now 17 years sober, Norm has traded the "Maybelline look" of the barstool for the simple, gratifying experience of finally being himself.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Norm N. welcomes newcomers and jokes about AA being the most popular, unpopular fellowship in the world.
• 4:15 Laughter: Norm describes his 'alcoholic personality' as a rationalizer and a justifier with a rotten attitude.
• 8:30 Norm discusses his early life as a thief popping hubcaps in the San Gabriel Valley.
• 14:20 Norm recounts his time in the Navy and the general court-martial that led him to a Navy prison on Goat Island.
• 21:10 The turning point: Norm describes the hit-and-run accident and the judge who had known him since he was a delinquent.
• 26:40 Norm describes his first encounter with the program via a cellmate named Sully in city jail.
• 35:15 Laughter: The 'dark lights' of the bar and the mirrors designed specifically for alcoholics to admire themselves.
• 42:10 Norm describes the wreckage of his marriage and the day his wife put his clothes on the porch.
• 51:00 Norm discusses the loss of self-respect and his first call to the central office to speak with John C.
• 56:30 Norm describes his 'hard-hearted' sponsor and the Temple City group's joke about the cemetery next door.
• 1:02:15 Mention of the Serenity Prayer and the realization that he must accept the wreckage of the past.
• 1:15:40 Norm reflects on the restoration of his family and the emotional experience of walking his daughter down the aisle.