Y’all Visit AA, I Live at AA — and That Was Exactly the Problem – John C.

About This Speaker Tape

John C. shares a sprawling, honest story that spans decades of alcoholism across multiple states and one failed attempt at sobriety. First exposed to AA at fifteen after a brief stint in rehab in Athens, Georgia, he spent years bouncing between couches and bars in his college town, drinking everything he could find. A move to New Orleans led to working the night shift at a French Quarter diner, which he credits with keeping him alive by limiting his drinking hours. His girlfriend's brother, a charismatic young AA member named Shalen, convinced him to get sober, and thirty days later John packed his chef knives and Big Book and moved to Hawaii, convinced he was free to do anything.

In Maui he managed the Alano Club on Front Street in Lahaina, living in an eight-by-twelve room out back, selling Snapples and washing ashtrays. He worked the steps with a sponsor named David and held a job at the Hard Rock Cafe for a full year. But he confused living at a clubhouse with having a program, moved to the North Shore for surfing without telling anyone, found no meetings, and a church friend handed him a beer. Within a month he was drinking exactly the way he always had. He got married, had children, became an airline pilot, and drank through all of it, maintaining just enough functionality to avoid getting fired or thrown out.

His wife eventually left with the kids. He moved to Atlanta, discovered cheap cocaine, and spent nine months spiraling into debt, job loss, and daily danger. He went back to AA on September 24, 2012, initially just to pay his penance. A hippie sponsor who told him to be like water was not enough. He found the Fifth Tradition Group, where people talked about the Big Book with conviction, got a no-nonsense sponsor who simply told him what to do, and worked the steps thoroughly. His Fourth Step inventory, which he had feared would reveal an unfixable mountain of defects, turned out to be a list of fifteen things with names. He made honest amends to his ex-wife, started taking meetings into the jail, grew into a software engineering career, and married a woman from his home group. He describes a life built on commitments, service, and purpose that he never could have imagined while chasing his own comfort.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Meeting opens at the NAVA Club Blue Chip speaker meeting, chairperson Tinsley introduces John
• 2:00 John introduces himself, sobriety date September 24, 2012, home group Fifth Tradition Group
• 4:00 First exposure to drugs and rehab at fifteen in Athens, Georgia, early impressions of AA
• 9:00 Drinking life in Athens, the Roadhouse bar that traded AA chips for shots of whiskey
• 12:00 Moves to New Orleans, works night shift at a French Quarter diner, daily drinking pattern takes shape
• 17:00 Gets sober with Shalen's help, moves to Hawaii, manages the Alano Club in Lahaina
• 24:00 Moves to North Shore without guidance, relapses when a church friend gives him a beer
• 30:00 Becomes an airline pilot, drinks again immediately after getting his wings, wife leaves with kids
• 37:00 Atlanta spiral with cocaine, crushing debt, daily danger, goes back to AA in September 2012
• 45:00 Finds the Fifth Tradition Group, gets a real sponsor, works the steps, makes amends to his ex-wife, takes meetings to jail, life transforms through service