barb dwyer

So there I was in bed ...
... and the fire alarm goes off.
At first, I didn't know what it even WAS ... it was just annoying.

then -

it hit me.
So up I got and grabbed whatever was laying on the floor closest to the bed
and go ripping down the hallway of the apartment with two kittens dodging and swarming around my feet.

My 'charming' apartment -
is FILLED with smoke.
Thick. Dark. Smoke.

OMG
This is real.

~FIRE~

I'm thinking, as I go into the kitchen that the crackheads downstairs have started cooking in their kitchen. Meth, I mean. Not soup. Smoke is billowing into the apartment through the open windows on my back porch. They're huge - like four feet tall by five feet wide.

I'm thinkin' I'm about to go kill me a crackhead.
Soon as I get my cats out.
That no good SOB better already be dead down there....

Then I realize - it's MY smoke alarm going off.
What the - ?
I didn't even know I *HAD* one.
So I go back into the apt - looking for the shrieking source.
OK.
Hallway. Ceiling. Too high for me to shut off.

So back out to the back I go -
*swarming cats*swarming cats*
and it occurrs to me.
What are all these people doing on the back stairs?
Laughter? Are they laughing? Why are they laughing?

I lean out the window (into the smoke) and say -

"WTF you people doin' ?"

I'm famous ... for NOT being a 'perky' riser.
None of this 'jolly jump up and greet the day' crap for me.
Eveyone looks up at me.
*silent moment/ alarm shreiking*
Then-
They fall into hysterics.
Two of them move.
A barbeque.

They're grilling.
On the freaking back landing of the apartment steps.
Not ten feet from my back windows.
And the gentle breeze, laced with just a hint of autumn ...
is dumping the smoke right into my apartment.

Half the population of our local Alcoholics Anonymous is out there.
And there *I* am - leaning out the back porch, with 'bed hair' and clothes
a garbage man wouldn't leave the house in.

Is that -
yes!
that's my own freaking sponsor standing there!
What the HELL is going on?
Smoke alarms are shreiking to be heard all the way uptown.
Their apartment, both of them downstairs, and mine.
So I holler that SOMEBODY better get their ass into my house and shut this damn noisy thing off! So here comes this HUGE biker guy, with this 'little woman' kind of stepstool ... his shoulders alone take up almost the entire width of my hallway.
yeah.
THAT'S the ticket.
This whole situation wasn't quite .. surrreal enough.

I just go out to the front, and sit on the steps.

I don't even know for sure what's going on yet.

"*Barb* we got a steak for you - how do ya like it?"
"SMOKED!"
I holler back into their apartment.
The hysterics start up again.

Finally - quiet.
My sponsor comes out, along with almost everyone else.
Neighbors inth surrounding houses ... are standing out in their yards.
Staring.
I wave at them.
A few wave back.
They all think *I* am the sane one living in our little 'recovery fourplex'.
So, if *I* am out there, they all go back in.
They think things are under control if I'm there.
Hell.
I'm the craziest one OF these people.

"So how are ya doing?" sponsor says, sitting down on the step beside me.
*I dunno - how AM I doing?*
Slowly I turned, inch by inch - and just looked at her.
Then we all busted out laughing.

God loves a buncha drunks, y'all.

I told them they owed the crackhead downstairs an amends for almost getting him killed on this lovely saturday afternoon. He's got no idea how close he just came to dying.

So I have a free meal,
steak cooked just how I like it, salad, dessert, corn on the cob ...
with the people I've come to trust and to love.

That ... is what it can be like when you turn your Will and your Life over to the care of the God of your Understanding.
Fellowship. Love. Trust. Smoke. Fire. Excitement.

I just kept thinking about all the posts I've read on here people talking about being worried that being sober is being boring. So they try to justify their continuing to progress in their disease, because sober people aren't 'cool' enough for them.

Not a DAMN thing boring going on around me.
Not a single solitary, stark staring sober thing.
And these are by far the coolest people I've ever met.

and it's pretty freaking great.

barb dwyer

:

Don W

I'll tell you what. I'm sorry for you but, you made me laugh. I'm up sober at 4am and while everyone else in the house sleeps I'm ejoying your situation. Thanks you lifted me up with your story.

barb dwyer

Thanks Don! You haven't been aoround in a while, have ya?

the apt downstairs is coming open soon ... the users got evicted.
There's always room for one more - never a dull moment.
I have to isolate - just to get some rest!!!!

And people think that AA is boring.
AA ... has been one of the most fascinating things to ever happen to me!

caraway

Love that story Barb. I'm not my best first thing either - takes me a couple of mugs of tea atleast to wake me up. Sounds like the breakfast, not to mention the great company, more than made up for the 'inconvience'.

CarolD

As much as alcoholism is a disease of misery and death

AA recovery is a process of healing and joy.


Thanks Barb!

barb dwyer

just FYI - that's two times in three days they've set off all the alarms ... LOL

snowgoose

Oh my, Barb, if you're not already a writer, I think you've got a new profession. Hee hee. Enjoyed the story if not the serious side it would have for the likes of me, as I am allergic to smoke no matter what it's from, thus a neighbor's lit charcoal BBQ or illegal trash fire is a real threat. Hope your darling kittens were OK. Allergies aside, an apartment filled with smoke is not not good. Don't people die from smoke inhalation before they burn, in a fatal fire?

GrouchoTheCat

Oh man, my tummy hurts, Thanks for the laughter!

Ted

BTW, found some new tenants for your landlord...

GlassPrisoner

Great Story !!!!

Reminds me of, well, ME ! Yup, every time I get "better than" and make a snap judgement about someone, it's wrong.