Quote:
Originally Posted by RufusACanal  "Here, for instance, is a typical example: An officer of one of the largest banking institutions in America knows I no longer drink. One day he told me about an executive of the same bank, who, from his description, was undoubtedly alcoholic. This seemed to me like an opportunity to be helpful. So I spent a good two hours talking about alcoholism, the malady. I described the symptoms and supported my statements with plenty of evidence. His comment was: "Very interesting. But I'm sure this man is done drinking. He has just returned from a three-months' leave of absence, has taken a cure, looks fine, and to clinch the matter, the board of directors told him this was his last chance."
My rejoinder was that if I could afford it, I would bet him a hundred to one the man would go on a bigger bust than ever. I felt this was inevitable and that the bank was doing a possible injustice. Why not bring the man in contact with some of our alcoholic crowd? He might have a chance. I pointed out I had had nothing to drink whatever for three years, and this in the face of difficulties that would have made nine out of ten men drink their heads off. Why not at least afford him an opportunity to hear my story? "Oh no", said my friend, "this chap is either through with liquor, or he is minus a job. If he has your will power and guts, he will make the grade."
I wanted to throw up my hands in discouragement, for I saw that my banking acquaintance had missed the point entirely. He simply could not believe that his brother-executive suffered from a deadly malady. There was nothing to do but wait.
Presently the man did slip and, of course, was fired. Following his discharge, our group contacted him. Without much ado, he accepted our principles and procedure. He is undoubtedly on the high road to recovery. To me, this incident illustrates a lack of understanding and knowledge on the part of employers - lack of understanding as to what really ails the alcoholic, and lack of knowledge as to what part employers might profitably take in salvaging their sick employees." |
It is ironic that we, who have thought ourselves so unique, follow a pattern that is so easily recognizable that our experiences can be considered typical. Typical for an alcoholic that is. Our behavior patterns are usually so abnormal that anyone familiar with alcoholism and its symptoms can not help but recognize the source of our problem. Likewise, we can see the symptoms of the problem displayed in the lives of other sufferers. Our own experiences allow us to be helpful when we are presented with an opportunity.
The principles are guides to our behavior and ideas, outlooks and attitudes that we must adopt if we are to recover. The procedures are the simple program of action outlined in the Big Book. One example is the Third Step. We adopt a new attitude about God during our Third Step, the attitude that from now on God will direct our lives. We follow the procedure of turning our will and our life over to God in prayer. From then on we use our Third Step decision as a guiding principle in our lives. We adopt these new ideas and practice these principles so that God might give us mastery over our problems.
What really ails the alcoholic is not so much weakness of character of low morals but a mental and physical illness. We offer a treatment for this illness. The chapter "To Employers" explains how an employer may best present this program of recovery to an alcoholic employee.