Vince Y. on High-Functioning Alcoholism, Medical Licenses, and Spiritual Awakening

About This Speaker Tape

A high-functioning exterior masked a life of deep dysfunction and chaos for Vince L. A former Navy medical corpsman and Physician's Assistant Vince L. describes a career derailed by drug abuse and a series of disastrous marriages.

He recounts the wreckage of his drinking—from projectile vomiting in a girl's father's car at 17 to stealing a hearse and driving the wrong way on the Pacific Coast Highway. After a period of 'marking time' in AA without truly surrendering Vince L. finds a hard-nosed mentor in Clancy who forces him to live in the Midnight Mission on Skid Row and ride the bus up Wilshire Boulevard in a three-piece suit to beg for his medical license back.

Through the humiliation of a ruined car and a suit covered in chewing gum Vince L. eventually finds the desperation necessary for a real spiritual awakening moving from a 'loser' in a mission to a man with a stable marriage and a restored career.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Vince L. recounts his first blackout and projectile vomiting into a dashboard.
• 4:10 Vince L. discusses his time as a Navy corpsman and the paradox of being high-functioning but drunk.
• 7:30 The 'Ambulance Driver' era: driving drunk in Orange County and getting stuck in a cul-de-sac.
• 11:15 Vince L. explains the difference between being 'sober in AA' and being 'of AA' (the music vs. the words).
• 15:40 The stolen hearse incident and the subsequent loss of his bachelor apartment over the casket room.
• 22:10 Vince L. describes his time as a 'gopher' for a carpet layer and his brake-less 1964 Chevrolet.
• 26:50 The pact with Clancy: moving into the Midnight Mission on Skid Row.
• 32:10 The 'chewing gum' day: a low point of desperation on the bus to Santa Monica.
• 35:40 The chance meeting at the theater and the process of getting his medical license restored.
• 38:20 Laughter: The story of the wedding napkins and the 'hot dog' party.
• 42:10 Vince L.'s final plea to newcomers: the necessity of being desperate.
• 55:10 Brian A. shares his experience with a 'black hole' of emotional needs.