Now, it’s with great pleasure I’d like to, uh, present to you our guest speaker, Eddie C. from Glendora. Wow. You know, I’ve been to Hollywood, but I ever thought I’d be in Glendora. From Covina. Burbank. Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Ed. I’m an alcoholic. Hi, Ed. Yeah, really, really good to be here. First of all, I’d like to thank Linda for asking me. I think that’s fantastic to ask me to come down to San Diego, ’cause, you know, I mean, if it wasn’t for AA, I’d never get to San Diego. Matter of fact, if it wasn’t for AA, I wouldn’t get to Burbank. I never could get to Burbank, even. I lived in Glendale. So anytime I go anyplace, it’s because it’s AA or because I’m sober. I, uh, I’m one of those alcoholics that, uh, that if you happen to be a little bit on the masochistic side, you probably won’t appreciate me because I’m not only alcoholic. I wouldn’t be any other way.

Matter of fact, if you’re not alcoholic or at least Al-Anon, you know, I figure that you haven’t got anything going for you. I’m just tickled to death to be an alcoholic. I’m so grateful to be an alcoholic. I could just.. I’m like old, um, what you call the car dealer. I could stand on my head till my ears turn red, really. I’m just thrilled to death about it. Wouldn’t have it any other way. And what makes me so excited about it is that anonymously I’m an alcoholic because, uh, when I looked like an alcoholic, I wasn’t one. I’m sure some of you, uh- .. have been like that. And now that I am, I don’t look like one. You know what I mean? So that’s, that’s pretty far out, you know. And I like being alcoholic because, uh, it’s a disease, uh, you know, the disease, and even American, uh, Medical Association finally decided one day, “By God, it’s a disease,” you know, that AA been saying that for years.

But what I like about the disease of alcoholism is that, you know, hardly anybody’s got it. Hardly anybody. I know people. My mother died of cirrhosis of the liver, but she didn’t have it. She put, she put ice cubes in her drink, so that, uh, eliminated it. And it really is exciting to be alcoholic, you know? And to, you know, that’s only part of it. But to know it is really something because you can always tell the alcoholic, “I’m one. I’m one,” you know? I was over in a restaurant over there having a little snack, you know, b- about 3:00 this afternoon, and in comes, uh, my friend Ruthie and a few others that I know. We’re in there hugging, and some poor old normie’s sitting there thinking we’re a bunch of weirdos, you know? “What the hell’s going on here?” They’re.. But that’s Alcoholics Anonymous.