corriec

One thing I haven't mentioned to all my SR friends. I own a small Pool Table company, which is how I make a living. Placing Pool Tables in Taverns and Shebeens (what we South Africans call informal bars in the "Townships"). Which means I have to do repairs, collect money, and just do general maintenance on my tables on an almost daily basis.
When you walk into one of these places, you'll understand the meaning of "Temptation" - in the extreme! There are always dozens of crates containing empty beer and other booze bottles standing around (space is a problem in most of these places) and the pungent smell in the air screams "Just One!!" at you. On top of that the players (90%) of the time will come talk their drunken s... to you and breath their preferred fumes all over, mostly into your face.... As will the non-players. And some drunken woman will sure as hell come stumbling over and ask you to buy her "just one beer or Cider" - in the taverns and shebeens these get sold in 750ml (quart) bottles.
And then- once you've managed to say no to all of these "Temptations", once you're finished, the owner of said place will ask you what you drink, so that he can give you "one for the road"...
Nowadays, I normally leave with a liter-bottle of Coke. And I'm glad to say - lately - with a smile as well...
Have a great day/evening all of my SR friends.

zjw

it sorta comes naturally to me now when i'm say in a bar to be turned off by the idea of drinking. OH sure that famlier odor in the air and the taps and bottles fo booze oh man sure theres that monster in me thats liek this is it BOYS!!. but really for the most part at this point i'm like reminded fo the crap from those days yeah that pungent odor that i later recall when i'm barfing my brains out or hungover. that odor i know so well form the times i was falling down drunk. Theres a lot of BAD memories from those places as well and these days those bad ones tend to cancel out the temptation ones.

I hope you get to this point too. I have to play in a bar tonight and i'm not really too concerned. I guess if anything I know that sooner or later it'll make me uncomfortable and i'll just leave no big deal.

Stayingsassy

Think about it though: stale beer and trashed women? Not so awesome. . Stay strong!

August252015

You describe a situation similar to working in a restaurant/bar - not much else I can think of that puts you in an 'office' with a bar every minute you are there.

But it's possible to work as a server or bartender - you have to just decide you want to be sober more than any of the "treats' or "freebies" or roadies.....and come up with alternatives and decisions to keep yourself sober like that bottle of Coke! I bring drinks with, too, wherever I go even now that I am in restaurants as a representative of an industry recovery group not a server.

Keep going!

Gottalife

Removing temptation was not an option for me because it is an impossible thing to attempt. This passage from the Big Book often surprises people:

." People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at all. Our experience shows that this is not necessarily so.

We meet these conditions every day. An alcoholic who cannot meet them, still has an alcoholic mind; there is something the matter with his spiritual status. His only chance for sobriety would be some place like the Greenland Ice Cap, and even there an Eskimo might turn up with a bottle of scotch and ruin everything! Ask any woman who has sent her husband to distant places on the theory he would escape the alcohol problem.

In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but he usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed."