Page 122 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

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WORKING WITH OTHERS 101
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 every­
thing! 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 im­
possible have always failed.
So our rule is not to avoid a place where there is
drinking, if we have a legitimate reason for being
there. That includes bars, nightclubs, dances, recep­
tions, weddings, even plain ordinary whoopee parties.
To a person who has had experience with an alcoholic,
this may seem like tempting Providence, but it isn’t.
You will note that we made an important qualifica­
tion. Therefore, ask yourself on each occasion, “Have
I any good social, business, or personal reason for go­
ing to this place? Or am I expecting to steal a little
vicarious pleasure from the atmosphere of such