Page 178 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

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A VISION FOR YOU 157
such cases was not so well understood as it is now.
But one of the friends said, “Put him in a private room.
We’ll be down.”
Two days later, a future fellow of Alcoholics
Anonymous stared glassily at the strangers beside his
bed. “Who are you fellows, and why this private
room? I was always in a ward before.”
Said one of the visitors, “We’re giving you a treat­
ment for alcoholism.”
Hopelessness was written large on the man’s face as
he replied, “Oh, but that’s no use. Nothing would fix
me. I’m a goner. The last three times, I got drunk on
the way home from here. I’m afraid to go out the
door. I can’t understand it.”
For an hour, the two friends told him about their
drinking experiences. Over and over, he would say:
“That’s me. That’s me. I drink like that.”
The man in the bed was told of the acute poisoning
from which he suffered, how it deteriorates the body
of an alcoholic and warps his mind. There was much
talk about the mental state preceding the first drink.
“Yes, that’s me,” said the sick man, “the very image.
You fellows know your stuff all right, but I don’t see
what good it’ll do. You fellows are somebody. I was
once, but I’m a nobody now. From what you tell me,
I know more than ever I can’t stop.” At this both the
visitors burst into a laugh. Said the future Fellow
Anonymous: “Damn little to laugh about that I can
see.”
The two friends spoke of their spiritual experience
and told him about the course of action they carried
out.
He interrupted: “I used to be strong for the church,