Why He Stopped Thinking of Drinking as a Sin – Don S.

About This Speaker Tape

A blond-headed kid on a barstool in a beer garden, watching his father play the quarter slots while he sipped a Coke and soaked up the attention. That was the seed. Don S. spent years chasing that high, transitioning from the "cheerleader type" women to a life of bourbon supremes and a blur of marriages. He describes his descent as a physical crossing: the moment he hit the Pennsylvania-Ohio line, he became an alcoholic.

The wreckage was concrete—Naugahyde furniture, cedar bedroom suits, and a yellow cooler that held twelve cans and a lifetime of excuses. He lived the paradox of the "PK"—a preacher's kid singing gospel music on Sunday mornings while nursing a hangover and a crushing guilt trip, believing drinking was a sin that had finally exhausted his chances with the Higher Power. It took four DWIs and a basement apartment smelling of mildew to break him. After one final Budweiser and a cheeseburger with tomato, he cashed in his last chance at a treatment center.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Introduction of Don S. and the joke about the oversized watch.
• 1:15 Laughter: The 'stop sign' analogy for the alcoholic's refusal to slow down.
• 6:30 Childhood memories of drinking Cokes at the American Legion and the desire for attention.
• 14:10 The 'invisible line' between Pennsylvania and Ohio and the shift to daily beer drinking.
• 22:40 The wreckage of his marriage and the moment his wife left him with three children.
• 32:10 The 'bottom': living in his car and the cycle of four DWIs.
• 41:20 The final drink at a white cement block bar before entering Talbot Hall.
• 46:50 Step 4: The forced moral inventory with counselor Jack F.
• 51:10 Step 5 & 6: Sharing his story with his parents and the prayer for character defects.
• 54:30 Step 9: The struggle of making direct amends to a stubborn creditor.
• 1:01:15 Discussion of Step 10 and the 'dyslexia' of alcoholic thinking.
• 1:12:00 Step 12: The story of the Special Olympics and the importance of carrying the message.