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[00:00:00.820 – 00:00:05.340] You know, step two says we came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. [00:00:05.340 – 00:00:10.140] Well, if we gotta be restored to sanity, that indicates we must be insane. [00:00:10.140 – 00:00:14.820] And many alcoholics are highly offended when you bring this up. [00:00:14.820 – 00:00:18.160] They say, "Oh, don't tell me I'm insane. [00:00:18.160 – 00:00:28.220] Yeah, I do some pretty crazy, stupid things when drinking, but when I'm sober, I'm much like normal people." Other alcoholics say, "Well, I don't have any trouble with [00:00:28.220 – 00:00:37.940] this insanity 'cause I remember the crazy, stupid things I did while drinking." In either case, they're referring to the stupid things we do while drunk. [00:00:37.940 – 00:00:40.680] No, that's not insanity.

[00:00:40.680 – 00:00:47.980] The stupid things we do while drunk, that's caused by a mind that is filled with alcohol, which lowers the inhibitions. [00:00:47.980 – 00:00:52.880] And if your mind is filled with something that lowers your inhibitions, look out. [00:00:52.880 – 00:00:55.340] You're gonna do some pretty crazy, stupid things all right. [00:00:55.340 – 00:00:57.600] That's why they give all that free booze downstairs. [00:00:57.600 – 00:01:01.400] That's not insanity. [00:01:01.400 – 00:01:03.260] That's caused by alcohol itself. [00:01:03.260 – 00:01:13.380] In order for us to understand this, we finally have to go back to the dictionary again and to look up the word sanity or the word sane,

[00:01:13.380 – 00:01:20.900] and it's defined in the dictionary as wholeness of mind or completeness of mind. [00:01:20.900 – 00:01:28.000] If your mind is whole, if your mind is complete, that means you can see the truth about everything around you. [00:01:28.000 – 00:01:35.040] You'll normally make decisions then based on truth, and life turns out to be pretty good. [00:01:35.040 – 00:01:41.260] An insane mind is one that is less than whole. [00:01:41.260 – 00:01:52.700] A mind that is less than whole cannot always see the truth about everything around it, sometimes makes a decision based upon a lie, and [00:01:52.700 – 00:01:54.580] then life becomes pretty lousy. [00:01:54.580 – 00:01:58.460] To be insane does not mean you're crazy.

[00:01:58.460 – 00:02:07.800] If you're crazy, that means you've lost more than half your marbles, and you gotta be locked up somewhere to protect you and society from you. [00:02:07.800 – 00:02:12.980] That's craziness, but insanity is just less than whole. [00:02:12.980 – 00:02:19.400] I think one of the best ways I know to illustrate it is just let's take a pie, set it here in front of us. [00:02:19.400 – 00:02:22.140] Let's cut that pie into 10 pieces. [00:02:22.140 – 00:02:25.380] You come along, and I give you a piece of pie. [00:02:25.380 – 00:02:30.299] My pie is now less than whole, but hell, I've still got 90% of it. [00:02:30.299 – 00:02:33.760] Somebody else comes along, I give them a piece of pie.

[00:02:33.760 – 00:02:38.280] My pie is now more less than whole, but I've still got 80% of it. [00:02:38.280 – 00:02:41.740] Insanity does not mean you're all gone. [00:02:41.740 – 00:02:45.180] It just means you're not quite all here. [00:02:45.180 – 00:02:55.600] Now, when it comes to alcohol, from time to time, it seems as though we're not quite all here 'cause we can't always see the truth about alcohol. [00:02:55.600 – 00:02:58.580] We make a decision based upon a lie. [00:02:58.580 – 00:03:02.740] Then we run into the truth, and life becomes an absolute living hell. [00:03:02.740 – 00:03:06.840] So let's look within the mind of we alcoholics.

[00:03:06.840 – 00:03:15.860] Just before we take the first drink, stone-cold sober, can we or can we not see the truth? [00:03:15.860 – 00:03:18.140] If we can see the truth, we're sane. [00:03:18.140 – 00:03:19.370] If we can't, we're insane. [00:03:19.370 – 00:03:23.140] Now, Bill is gonna show us this by a series of examples. [00:03:23.140 – 00:03:25.440] He's gonna give us the man of 30. [00:03:25.440 – 00:03:27.840] He's gonna look at Jim. [00:03:27.840 – 00:03:32.040] He's gonna look at the jaywalker, and he's gonna look at Fred.

[00:03:32.040 – 00:03:38.900] And each time, we're gonna look into the mind to see if we can or cannot see the truth about alcohol. [00:03:38.900 – 00:03:40.640] Let's look at it just a few minutes. [00:03:40.640 – 00:03:42.880] This chapter is called More About Alcoholism. [00:03:42.880 – 00:03:46.100] It could be called More Truth About Alcoholism. [00:03:46.100 – 00:03:50.060] I've heard all my life if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. [00:03:50.060 – 00:03:52.280] And if you're not free, it's because you don't know the truth. [00:03:52.280 – 00:03:58.920] And this chapter here should give me more truth so I can base my life upon truth rather than upon things that are not true.

[00:03:58.920 – 00:04:03.380] It said, "Most of us have been unwilling to admit that we were real alcoholics. [00:04:03.380 – 00:04:08.160] No person likes to think that he's bodily and mentally different from his fellows. [00:04:08.160 – 00:04:14.760] Therefore, it's not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove that we drink like other people. [00:04:14.760 – 00:04:22.850] The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. [00:04:22.850 – 00:04:25.880] The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. [00:04:25.880 – 00:04:29.020] Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death. [00:04:29.020 – 00:04:35.020] Now, we learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics.

[00:04:35.020 – 00:04:37.200] This is the first step in recovery. [00:04:37.200 – 00:04:42.400] The delusion that we're like other people or presently may be has to be smashed." Now, be careful. [00:04:42.400 – 00:04:50.840] In these two paragraphs that Joe just read, he has used four different words that all mean the same thing. [00:04:50.840 – 00:04:53.969] And if you catch him at it, you know what he's doing. [00:04:53.969 – 00:04:56.220] If you don't, you'll think he's talking about something else. [00:04:56.220 – 00:05:06.220] He said, "The idea that someday, somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker." Now, we know an [00:05:06.220 – 00:05:11.380] obsession is an idea that is so strong it can make you believe something that's not true.

[00:05:11.380 – 00:05:13.520] It can make you believe a lie. [00:05:13.520 – 00:05:18.039] The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. [00:05:18.039 – 00:05:19.680] We know what an illusionist is. [00:05:19.680 – 00:05:28.219] An illusionist is a magician, and they can stand in front of you, and with a sleight of hand and a few props, they can make you believe something that's not true. [00:05:28.219 – 00:05:34.280] So illusion also means to believe something that's not true or to believe a lie. [00:05:34.280 – 00:05:37.840] Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death. [00:05:37.840 – 00:05:40.260] Insanity is to believe something that's not true.

[00:05:40.260 – 00:05:49.680] The next paragraph, he said, "The delusion that we are like other people or presently may be has to be smashed." Delusion means the same thing. [00:05:49.680 – 00:05:55.120] If you've deluded yourself, it means you've come to believe something that's not true. [00:05:55.120 – 00:06:05.352] So you may see him using any one of four terms, obsession- Illusion, delusion, or insanity, [00:06:05.352 – 00:06:13.032] all four mean exactly the same thing: to believe something that is not true or to believe a lie. [00:06:13.032 – 00:06:17.892] Let's go over to page thirty-two, second paragraph. [00:06:17.892 – 00:06:22.312] Let's look at the lie the man of thirty believed. [00:06:22.312 – 00:06:26.012] It said, "A man of thirty was doing a great deal of spree drinking.

[00:06:26.012 – 00:06:30.032] He was very nervous in the mornings after these bouts and quieted himself with more liquor. [00:06:30.032 – 00:06:35.512] He was ambitious to succeed in business but saw that he would get nowhere if he drank at all. [00:06:35.512 – 00:06:38.232] Once he started, he had no control whatever. [00:06:38.232 – 00:06:44.512] Now, he made up his mind that until he'd been successful in business and retired, he would not touch another drop. [00:06:44.512 – 00:06:53.072] An exceptional man, he remained bone dry for twenty-five years and retired at the age of fifty-five after a successful and happy business career. [00:06:53.072 – 00:07:01.712] Then he fell victim to a belief which practically every alcoholic has, that his long period of sobriety and self-discipline had qualified him to drink as other men. [00:07:01.712 – 00:07:04.432] Out came his carpet slippers and a bottle.

[00:07:04.432 – 00:07:07.692] In two months, he was in a hospital, puzzled and humiliated. [00:07:07.692 – 00:07:12.372] Now, he tried to regulate his drinking for a while, making several trips to the hospital meantime. [00:07:12.372 – 00:07:16.732] Then gathering all his forces, he attempted to stop altogether and found that he could not. [00:07:16.732 – 00:07:20.932] Every means of solving his problem which money could buy was at his disposal. [00:07:20.932 – 00:07:21.912] Every attempt failed. [00:07:21.912 – 00:07:26.172] Though a robust man at retirement, he went to pieces quickly and was dead within four years. [00:07:26.172 – 00:07:28.832] Now, this case contains a powerful lesson.

[00:07:28.832 – 00:07:34.692] Most of us have believed that if we remain sober for a long stretch, we could thereafter drink normally. [00:07:34.692 – 00:07:39.352] But here is a man who at fifty-five years found where he just left off at, at thirty. [00:07:39.352 – 00:07:42.202] We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again. [00:07:42.202 – 00:07:45.162] Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. [00:07:45.162 – 00:07:49.672] Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we're in a short time as bad as ever. [00:07:49.672 – 00:08:00.452] Now, if we're planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we'll be immune to alcohol." Now, we know the truth to be this: once [00:08:00.452 – 00:08:02.932] an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.

[00:08:02.932 – 00:08:08.612] We've never seen one single case where one of us was able to go back to successful drinking. [00:08:08.612 – 00:08:15.852] Now, to believe anything different than that is to believe something that is not true or to believe a die– a lie. [00:08:15.852 – 00:08:22.632] This guy believed that after twenty-five years of sobriety, he could now drink like normal people. [00:08:22.632 – 00:08:29.112] Now, based upon that belief, he took a drink, triggered the allergy, couldn't stop. [00:08:29.112 – 00:08:30.571] Four years later, he's dead. [00:08:30.571 – 00:08:40.612] Now, is his real problem, though, the fact that he has a physical allergy to alcohol or a form of insanity that [00:08:40.612 – 00:08:44.912] tells him it's okay to drink alcohol after twenty-five years of sobriety?

[00:08:44.912 – 00:08:54.612] The real problem, sin, is in our mind telling us we can drink rather than in our body that ensures that we can't drink. [00:08:54.612 – 00:08:58.772] Let's go to page thirty-four, second paragraph. [00:08:58.772 – 00:09:03.592] "For those who are unable to drink moderately, the question is how to stop altogether. [00:09:03.592 – 00:09:07.452] We are assuming, of course, that the reader desires to stop. [00:09:07.452 – 00:09:15.812] Whether such a person can quit upon a non-spiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he's already lost the power to choose whether he would drink or not. [00:09:15.812 – 00:09:18.772] Many of us felt we had plenty of character. [00:09:18.772 – 00:09:23.072] There was a tremendous urge to cease forever, yet we found it impossible.

[00:09:23.072 – 00:09:31.612] This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it, this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish. [00:09:31.612 – 00:09:36.872] How then should we help our readers determine to their own satisfaction whether they are one of us? [00:09:36.872 – 00:09:46.532] The experiment of quitting for a period of time will be helpful, but we think we can render an even greater service to alcoholic sufferers and perhaps to the medical fraternity. [00:09:46.532 – 00:09:55.992] So we shall describe some of the mental states that precede a relapse into drinking, for obviously this is the crux of the problem. [00:09:55.992 – 00:10:02.452] What sort of thinking dominates an alcoholic who repeats time after time the desperate experiment of the first drink? [00:10:02.452 – 00:10:11.032] Friends who have reasoned with him after a spree which has brought him to the point of divorce or bankruptcy are mystified when he walks directly into a saloon. [00:10:11.032 – 00:10:13.212] Why does he?

[00:10:13.212 – 00:10:14.272] Of what is he thinking? [00:10:14.272 – 00:10:24.312] Our first example is a friend we shall call Jim." Now we're gonna look in old Jim's mind just before he gets drunk, and [00:10:24.312 – 00:10:27.532] we're gonna see whether he is sane or insane. [00:10:27.532 – 00:10:29.032] Joe loves Jim. [00:10:29.032 – 00:10:30.012] Yeah, I love old Jim. [00:10:30.012 – 00:10:31.012] I identify with Jim. [00:10:31.012 – 00:10:34.192] "Our first example is a friend we shall call Jim.

[00:10:34.192 – 00:10:37.012] This man has a charming wife and family. [00:10:37.012 – 00:10:39.752] He inherited a lucrative automobile agency. [00:10:39.752 – 00:10:42.152] He had a commendable World War record. [00:10:42.152 – 00:10:43.712] He's a good salesman. [00:10:43.712 – 00:10:46.532] Everybody likes him." Typical alcoholic, isn't he? [00:10:46.532 – 00:10:46.952] Hmm? [00:10:46.952 – 00:10:52.292] He's intelligent man and normal so far as we can see, oh, except for a nervous disposition.

[00:10:52.292 – 00:10:52.982] Mm-hmm. [00:10:52.982 – 00:10:55.052] Now, he did no drinking till he was thirty-five. [00:10:55.052 – 00:10:58.872] In a few years, he became so violent when intoxicated that he had to be committed. [00:10:58.872 – 00:11:04.592] On leaving the treat– on leaving the asylum He came into contact with us. [00:11:04.592 – 00:11:07.832] Now, we told him what we knew of alcoholism. [00:11:07.832 – 00:11:13.152] They told him about step one, the physical allergy, the obsession of the mind, the powerless condition. [00:11:13.152 – 00:11:14.992] And the answer we had found.

[00:11:14.992 – 00:11:19.242] They told him about step two, the power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. [00:11:19.242 – 00:11:20.532] Now, he made a beginning. [00:11:20.532 – 00:11:24.392] Step– A little later on, the book says step three is just a beginning. [00:11:24.392 – 00:11:30.912] So apparently Jim took steps one, two, and three, and immediately things started to get better for him. [00:11:30.912 – 00:11:39.632] His family was reassembled, and he began to work as a salesman for a business he'd lost through drinking, and all went well for a time, but he failed to enlarge his spiritual life. [00:11:39.632 – 00:11:47.172] The book's gonna tell us the only way we enlarge on step three is four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve, and Jim didn't do any of those. [00:11:47.172 – 00:11:49.352] One, two, and three.

[00:11:49.352 – 00:11:54.412] To his consternation, he found himself drunk a half a dozen times in rapid succession. [00:11:54.412 – 00:11:58.152] Now, on each of these occasions, we worked with him, reviewing carefully what had happened. [00:11:58.152 – 00:12:00.172] Oh, these were good AA members. [00:12:00.172 – 00:12:02.172] Jim got drunk six times in a row. [00:12:02.172 – 00:12:05.032] Each time, they went over there and worked with him. [00:12:05.032 – 00:12:07.660] Carefully reviewing what had happened. [00:12:07.660 – 00:12:12.100] You get drunk six times in a row today, they probably won't have anything to do with you.

[00:12:12.100 – 00:12:14.400] These were good, solid AA members. [00:12:14.400 – 00:12:17.560] He agreed he was a real alcoholic and in serious condition. [00:12:17.560 – 00:12:21.020] Now, he knew he faced another trip to the asylum if he kept on. [00:12:21.020 – 00:12:25.280] Moreover, he would lose his family from whom he had deep affection. [00:12:25.280 – 00:12:28.820] Yet he got drunk again, and we asked him to tell us exactly what happened. [00:12:28.820 – 00:12:30.360] They're getting a little tired of Jim now. [00:12:30.360 – 00:12:37.839] They said, they said, "My God, Jim, this is seven times in a row." "Let's don't go through this anymore.

[00:12:37.839 – 00:12:47.920] You sit down here, and you tell us exactly how this has happened." Now on page 36, we're going to see where Jim was sane, and then we're going to see [00:12:47.920 – 00:12:49.320] where he went insane. [00:12:49.320 – 00:12:51.020] Well, this is his story. [00:12:51.020 – 00:12:56.080] "I came to work on Tuesday morning." And we read this book for years before we saw this. [00:12:56.080 – 00:13:05.740] "I came to work on Tuesday morning." Where was he all day Monday, you know? [00:13:05.740 – 00:13:08.680] God, we're bad about Mondays. [00:13:08.680 – 00:13:09.860] We alcoholics are bad, bad about Mondays.

[00:13:09.860 – 00:13:19.000] Now he said, "I remember I felt irritated that I had to be a salesman for a concern I once owned." Now, I don't think that's insanity. [00:13:19.000 – 00:13:20.540] That's probably normal thinking. [00:13:20.540 – 00:13:27.240] I think any of us that had to be a salesman for a concern we once owned would probably be a little irritated by that fact, too. [00:13:27.240 – 00:13:29.080] That's normal, sane thinking. [00:13:29.080 – 00:13:39.120] He said, "I had a few words with the boss, but nothing serious." Boss probably said, "Say, Jim, by the way, where were you all day yesterday anyhow?" Nothing serious, just [00:13:39.120 – 00:13:40.200] enough to irritate him. [00:13:40.200 – 00:13:43.800] He's a little restless and a little irrita- a little irritable and a little discontented.

[00:13:43.800 – 00:13:54.180] He said, "Then I decided to drive into the country and see one of my prospects for a car." What's more normal than if you're a car salesman, you want to get away from the shop for a while, drive out in the country, [00:13:54.180 – 00:13:58.100] see somebody we already know that we're trying to sell a car to? [00:13:58.100 – 00:14:02.680] That would be normal, sane thinking for an alcoholic car salesman. [00:14:02.680 – 00:14:06.940] He said, "On the way, I felt hungry, so I stopped at a roadside place where they have a bar. [00:14:06.940 – 00:14:08.680] I had no intention of drinking. [00:14:08.680 – 00:14:15.160] I just thought I'd get a sandwich." What's more normal than if you're hungry to stop in a roadside place to get a sandwich? [00:14:15.160 – 00:14:18.420] The fact that they got a bar there is beside the point.

[00:14:18.420 – 00:14:21.240] We have no intention of drinking. [00:14:21.240 – 00:14:22.160] We're hungry. [00:14:22.160 – 00:14:23.360] We're going to get a sandwich. [00:14:23.360 – 00:14:27.240] Normal, sane thinking for an alcoholic car salesman. [00:14:27.240 – 00:14:33.019] "I also had the notion I might find a customer for a bar at this place, which was familiar, but I've been going to it for years. [00:14:33.019 – 00:14:37.160] I'd eaten there many times during the months I was sober." We're not going in there to drink. [00:14:37.160 – 00:14:39.880] We've eaten there many times during the months we're sober.

[00:14:39.880 – 00:14:44.560] We're going to go in there and get a sandwich and maybe sell a car while we're in there. [00:14:44.560 – 00:14:48.549] Normal, sane thinking for an alcoholic car salesman. [00:14:48.549 – 00:14:53.940] He said, "I sat down at a table and ordered a sandwich and a glass of milk." Still no thought of drinking. [00:14:53.940 – 00:14:54.120] Yeah. [00:14:54.120 – 00:14:58.380] What's more normal than to sit down at a table, order a sandwich and a glass of milk? [00:14:58.380 – 00:15:01.820] Normal, sane thinking for an alcoholic car salesman. [00:15:01.820 – 00:15:08.600] He said, "I ordered another sandwich and decided to have another glass of milk." If you hungry enough- …

[00:15:08.600 – 00:15:11.620] there's nothing wrong with two sandwiches and two glasses of milk. [00:15:11.620 – 00:15:16.020] Unless you're a member of Overeaters Anonymous, you'd better look at it. [00:15:16.020 – 00:15:22.640] But that would be normal, sane thinking for an alcoholic car salesman, two sandwiches, two glasses of milk. [00:15:22.640 – 00:15:25.520] Now comes the squiggly writing. [00:15:25.520 – 00:15:27.679] And that's italic. [00:15:27.679 – 00:15:29.130] He said, "Suddenly"- Suddenly … [00:15:29.130 – 00:15:30.620] that means right now.

[00:15:30.620 – 00:15:32.030] Suddenly- … [00:15:32.030 – 00:15:38.440] the thought crossed my mind that if I were to put an ounce of whiskey in the milk, it couldn't hurt me on a full stomach." Now, this is absolute insanity, isn't it? [00:15:38.440 – 00:15:45.060] For this guy to believe that he can take whiskey, mix it with milk, and take it on a full stomach and it won't hurt him. [00:15:45.060 – 00:15:50.840] Now, based on the insane idea, he makes a decision and takes some action. [00:15:50.840 – 00:16:01.250] He said, "I ordered whiskey and poured it into the milk, and I vaguely sensed I was not being any too smart." "But felt reassured as I was taking the whiskey on a full stomach." Now [00:16:01.250 – 00:16:02.930] we've got it inside of ourselves. [00:16:02.930 – 00:16:05.300] The physical allergy takes over.

[00:16:05.300 – 00:16:07.140] Now then we can't stop. [00:16:07.140 – 00:16:17.140] "The experiment went so well that I ordered another whiskey and poured it into the milk." "That didn't seem to bother me, so I tried another." Can you imagine how he's going to feel with whiskey and milk back and [00:16:17.140 – 00:16:17.440] forth? [00:16:17.440 – 00:16:20.000] What a hangover he's going to have. [00:16:20.000 – 00:16:23.560] Thus started one more journey to the asylum for Jim. [00:16:23.560 – 00:16:31.010] Here was a threat of commitment, the loss of family and possessions, to say nothing of that intense mental and physical suffering which drinking always caused him. [00:16:31.010 – 00:16:41.220] Now, he had much knowledge about himself as an alcoholic, yet all reasons for not drinking were easily pushed aside in the favor of the foolish idea that he could take whiskey

[00:16:41.220 – 00:16:43.140] if only he mixed it with milk. [00:16:43.140 – 00:16:48.220] Whatever the precise definition of the word may be, we call this plain insanity. [00:16:48.220 – 00:16:52.340] How can such a lack of a portion of the ability to think straight be called anything else? [00:16:52.340 – 00:16:56.660] And if you were looking for a definition of insanity, that would be it right there. [00:16:56.660 – 00:17:02.000] The lack of a, a po- of a portion of the ability to think straight to be called anything else. [00:17:02.000 – 00:17:12.080] Now, is Jim's real problem the fact that he has a physical allergy to alcohol or that he has a form of insanity that tells him it's okay to drink alcohol mixed with [00:17:12.080 – 00:17:13.280] milk on a full stomach?

[00:17:13.280 – 00:17:20.960] The real problem centers in the mind telling us we can drink rather than the body that ensures that we can't. [00:17:20.960 – 00:17:23.920] Page 37, last paragraph. [00:17:23.920 – 00:17:32.510] Our behavior is as absurd and incomprehensible with respect to the first drink as that of an individual with a passion, say, for jaywalking. [00:17:32.510 – 00:17:36.720] He gets a thrill out of skipping in front of fast-moving vehicles. [00:17:36.720 – 00:17:39.020] Now, I, I don't understand this guy at all. [00:17:39.020 – 00:17:46.340] But I can see him out here on the interstate waiting for a truck or a bus to come down through there. [00:17:46.340 – 00:17:51.080] Jumps out in front of it, spins around two or three times.

[00:17:51.080 – 00:17:55.520] Sees how close it comes, can come to hitting him without actually hitting him. [00:17:55.520 – 00:17:57.640] For some reason, he gets a thrill out of it. [00:17:57.640 – 00:18:00.360] Don't understand him, but I can see him doing it. [00:18:00.360 – 00:18:04.640] He enjoys himself for a few years in spite of friendly warnings. [00:18:04.640 – 00:18:07.320] People say, "Hey, Bill, you better quit doing that. [00:18:07.320 – 00:18:13.480] You're going to get yourself hurt." Up to this point, you would label him as a foolish chap having queer ideas of fun. [00:18:13.480 – 00:18:18.924] Luck then deserts him, and he's slightly injured several times in succession.

[00:18:18.924 – 00:18:20.824] He's getting a little older now. [00:18:20.824 – 00:18:22.044] He can't move as fast. [00:18:22.044 – 00:18:23.464] They begin to hit him once in a while. [00:18:23.464 – 00:18:26.004] Nothing serious. [00:18:26.004 – 00:18:27.744] He just kind of bounces off of them. [00:18:27.744 – 00:18:34.384] You would expect him, if he were normal, to cut it out. [00:18:34.384 – 00:18:36.444] But presently, he's hit again.

[00:18:36.444 – 00:18:37.944] This time, has a fractured skull. [00:18:37.944 – 00:18:39.524] Now, he got hurt bad this time. [00:18:39.524 – 00:18:44.324] Within a week after leaving the hospital, a fast-moving trolley car breaks his arm. [00:18:44.324 – 00:18:45.464] He gets hurt bad again. [00:18:45.464 – 00:18:48.324] Now, he sings our national anthem. [00:18:48.324 – 00:18:51.644] He tells you he's decided to stop jaywalking for good. [00:18:51.644 – 00:18:57.624] He said, "Man, I'll never do that again as long as I live." But in a few weeks, he breaks both legs.

[00:18:57.624 – 00:19:05.604] On through the years, his conduct continues, accompanied by his continual promises to be careful or to keep off the streets altogether. [00:19:05.604 – 00:19:07.864] Finally, he can no longer work. [00:19:07.864 – 00:19:09.984] He's just so beat up now, he can't hold a job. [00:19:09.984 – 00:19:12.243] His wife gets a divorce. [00:19:12.243 – 00:19:17.164] She started supporting him and the kids and the hospital bills, and he's held up to ridicule. [00:19:17.164 – 00:19:21.424] He tries every known means to get the jaywalking idea out of his head. [00:19:21.424 – 00:19:23.044] Not his body, his head.

[00:19:23.044 – 00:19:27.804] He shuts himself up in a treatment center, hoping to mend his ways. [00:19:27.804 – 00:19:30.304] But today, he comes out. [00:19:30.304 – 00:19:33.104] He races in front of a fire engine, which breaks his back. [00:19:33.104 – 00:19:35.824] Such a man would be crazy, wouldn't he? [00:19:35.824 – 00:19:39.704] Now, you may think our illustration is too ridiculous, but is it? [00:19:39.704 – 00:19:48.744] We who have been through the wringer have to admit, if we substituted alcoholism for jaywalking, the illustration would fit us exactly. [00:19:48.744 – 00:19:56.584] However intelligent we may have been in other respects, where alcohol has been involved, we've been strangely insane.

[00:19:56.584 – 00:20:00.164] Strong language, but isn't it true? [00:20:00.164 – 00:20:03.104] Oh, I think that's so appropriate today. [00:20:03.104 – 00:20:09.724] You know, once again, because of education, many, many people are getting to us before they have to lose everything. [00:20:09.724 – 00:20:13.824] Occasionally, you see somebody come in here that's still married. [00:20:13.824 – 00:20:19.484] Once in a while, they come in, and they've got a job. [00:20:19.484 – 00:20:24.584] Believe it or not, I saw one come in about a month ago, and he still had an automobile. [00:20:24.584 – 00:20:28.184] And we start talking to those people about insanity.

[00:20:28.184 – 00:20:29.944] They say, "Man, don't tell me I'm crazy. [00:20:29.944 – 00:20:31.684] I haven't lost anything. [00:20:31.684 – 00:20:32.704] I've got my job. [00:20:32.704 – 00:20:36.384] I've got my blah, blah…" No, uh-uh, we're not talking about that at all. [00:20:36.384 – 00:20:39.464] We're talking about one thing and one thing only. [00:20:39.464 – 00:20:43.144] Can we or can we not see the truth about alcohol? [00:20:43.144 – 00:20:44.904] If we can, we're sane.

[00:20:44.904 – 00:20:46.164] If we can't, we're insane. [00:20:46.164 – 00:20:48.764] Now, the low bottom drunk like Jim