Jail

[Killer Bees]

Wow, RC, that's terrible.  I hope the 60 days pass very quickly for you!

I've never been to jail and I'm not likely to.  Seeing it on the telly is enough for me.

[Mofo Rising]

Good luck, RCMerchant. I'm not going to pretend to have any advice for you, but I hope you can make time pass quickly, as impossible as that sounds.

Everything is a learning experience if you let it. Find something to fill your time and we'll see you when you get out. (Write a bad movie script if you have to.)

[Derf]

Very sorry to hear this, RC. You will be missed. Draw a lot & share with us as you can.

[Jack]

Dude, the legal system in your area sucks!  when I got my second DWI, they gave me a choice between 10 days in jail or treatment.  TEN days, and they gave you 45?  I know that's not the 60 you're talking about now, but still. 

I was only in jail for a day and a half.  Hated it - but I guess that's kind of the point.  It was enough to convince me to obey all traffic laws and stay off the main roads while driving drunk from then on.  Could have skipped the 3 months of treatment, which was like AA lite.  Sit in a circle - I fell sound asleep the first day while some guy was spillin' his guts about all his horrible alcohol related ordeals.  The 36 hours in jail was all that was needed.  The whole world's goin' by and I'm stuck in this room, with the pizza that I remember from elementary school.  Oh well, at least we had a puzzle!  Then we'd sit on the steel bench, which was set into the concrete floor.  We'd pound our hands on the bench twice, clap once and sing:

Buddy you're a boy make a big noise playin'
in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo' face
You big disgrace
Kickin' your can all over the place
Singin'

We will we will rock you

And then there was the steel toilet, set into the concrete floor, out in plain view.  And the steel bunks, set into the concrete floor, with the nice 2" mattress.  The other two guys in there were a couple of the mellowest, nicest stoner dudes I ever met.  One was doing 10 days for DWI and the other was in for a few months for drug dealing.  They told me about 10 places around town to buy pot. 

But you've got work release, that makes ALL the difference.  It's not really like jail at all, you're still out in the world doing what you normally do.  You just have to go sleep at the lowest rated hotel in the area.

See ya soon RC!

[Sister Grace]

Once while in Charleston, WV, I just happened to be sitting in a strip club when it got raided. Turned out some of the help wasn't of age. Anyways, they took all of us to jail, even us customers. I was booked and sat there for awhile before finally being bailed out by my brother. Thankfully, he never breathed a word to my parents.

I hate that you got sixty days. Atleast you'll be out on work release though. I wish you all the luck and don't let your mind wonder too far while you're in there and you'll be fine...

Take care,

Grace

[Patient7]

Damn RC, that's friggin' harsh. I don't blame you for disliking AA. The few people I know who went through with it all came out as self-righteous a-holes. They stayed sober, but nobody wanted to have anything to do with 'em afterwards. I never agreed with their "accept a higher power" concept myself.

That sort of reminds me of a South Park episode that mentions AA, it made a point too on how the people involved wind up becoming afraid of alcohol instead of learning the discipline to have a drink or two every now and again.  Not a bad moral.

[Allhallowsday]

Damn RC, that's friggin' harsh. I don't blame you for disliking AA. The few people I know who went through with it all came out as self-righteous a-holes. They stayed sober, but nobody wanted to have anything to do with 'em afterwards. I never agreed with their "accept a higher power" concept myself.

That sort of reminds me of a South Park episode that mentions AA, it made a point too on how the people involved wind up becoming afraid of alcohol instead of learning the discipline to have a drink or two every now and again.  Not a bad moral.

AA does not teach the "discipline to have a drink or two..."  It's about total abstinence. 

[Scott]

Good luck, RCMerchant. I'm not going to pretend to have any advice for you, but I hope you can make time pass quickly, as impossible as that sounds.

Everything is a learning experience if you let it. Find something to fill your time and we'll see you when you get out. (Write a bad movie script if you have to.)

Sorry to hear about your situation RCMerchant.  What Mofo Rising said sounds about how I feel. On a lighter note here is what they do in the Philippines when they serve hard time. Maybe this will cheer you up when you consider the possibilities during your stay in the county jail. Here's hoping to see you back on the forum soon........

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o&feature=related

Here's a more in depth clip on the philosophy behind this Philippine prison.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CSp3a6mT960

[Patient7]

Damn RC, that's friggin' harsh. I don't blame you for disliking AA. The few people I know who went through with it all came out as self-righteous a-holes. They stayed sober, but nobody wanted to have anything to do with 'em afterwards. I never agreed with their "accept a higher power" concept myself.

That sort of reminds me of a South Park episode that mentions AA, it made a point too on how the people involved wind up becoming afraid of alcohol instead of learning the discipline to have a drink or two every now and again.  Not a bad moral.

AA does not teach the "discipline to have a drink or two..."  It's about total abstinence. 

I know that, I just think it should be more about disipline so that people aren't "afraid of alcohol".

[Allhallowsday]

...I know that, I just think it should be more about disipline so that people aren't "afraid of alcohol".

I see what ya mean, kiddo.   

[Menard]

Damn RC, that's friggin' harsh. I don't blame you for disliking AA. The few people I know who went through with it all came out as self-righteous a-holes. They stayed sober, but nobody wanted to have anything to do with 'em afterwards. I never agreed with their "accept a higher power" concept myself.

That sort of reminds me of a South Park episode that mentions AA, it made a point too on how the people involved wind up becoming afraid of alcohol instead of learning the discipline to have a drink or two every now and again.  Not a bad moral.

AA does not teach the "discipline to have a drink or two..."  It's about total abstinence. 

I know that, I just think it should be more about disipline so that people aren't "afraid of alcohol".

An addiction is not something that you can lot out to one or two a day; if it was, then it wouldn't be an addiction. An addiction is something that is always with you, and if you give in to it once, then you'll give into it continually.

As the actor Richard Harris said about his conquering his own alcoholism, "I can say no to the first drink, but I cannot say no to the second".

It's not a fear of the substance, it's a fear of what one will become; and that fear is from experience.

Sounds like the South Park writer's need to cure themselves of the addiction of having their heads up their asses. If someone even had half an idea what alcoholism is like, they would never suggest that it can be controlled with discipline by only having one or two drinks a day; that is asinine and an insult.

[ulthar]

I know that, I just think it should be more about disipline so that people aren't "afraid of alcohol".

Agree with their methods or not, AA has helped a lot of people defeat their addictions.  Is it the right way for everyone?  Of course not - there is no panacea.

But addiction is NOT about discipline.  At least not fully. For people with true, hard core addiction to alcohol, total abstinence is probably the best approach - and that's hard enough.  Tempting the demon with a drink or two now and then is very, very risky - with very destructive consequences in many cases.

Just my two cents - I don't understand why the seemingly negative "accusations" against a program that has been very successful for a large number of people.  From what I can tell, AA has a very high success rate.

Edit: Menard and I posted at pretty much the same time.

It's not a fear of the substance, it's a fear of what one will become; and that fear is from experience.

Well said.  I was thinking the same thing.

[AndyC]

I know a guy who quit booze cold turkey in the late 70s. The way he tells the story, he was pretty much drinking himself to death at the time, and dragging his family down too. He just had a revelation one day and stopped. Had to be hospitalized, the DTs were so bad. They tried to make him drink something to ease the withdrawal, but he stuck to it, and as far as I know, he hasn't had a drink in 30 years. He must be about 60 now. Still speaks to AA groups about it. By the time I got to know him, he was already an independent businessman and mayor of a small town.

As if that isn't amazing enough, he is the exception to the saying that there's nothing worse than a reformed alcoholic. I've seen him on a few social occasions having a great time drinking water or club soda while everybody else is knocking back the beer and the rye. He'll even buy a round for the table without partaking himself. He recognizes his own vulnerability without projecting it onto other people, and he's not afraid of the booze, as someone put it. He just knows better than to touch it. You could say he respects the booze. He and alcohol have come to an understanding.

The guy is an inspiration.

[Scott]

Allot of it has to do with who you keep company with or how your brought up.

Some how I've never felt the need to try alcohol and have yet to even taste it, so it's hard to relate. Someone deceptively tried to slip my family rum cake. That is about as close as I've come to almost drinking. People have done some sad things attempting to persuade, influence, and even destroy family. Not that alcohol destroys family, but people try in many ways when one has certain ways. People have insulted me to my face and worst because I have no desire to drink.

That's my experience with people and alcohol.

Alcohol can lead to nothing positive in life. Even if it's just a social drink.

It doesn't mean your a better person because you don't drink. It just means you don't drink.

[Andrew]

Monday night I go to jail for 60 days.

Ever been to jail? Food sucks.

Best of luck.  You are an irrepressible scamp, so you'll be missed.  See you in 60 days, or slightly less. 

Eh, I've been fed plenty of stuff that was almost, but not entirely, unlike food.  Don't even mention turkeyloaf (meatloaf made with turkey).  One year, our chowhall ran out of money in late August.  To make the budget stretch, they fed us meatloaf every day until October (when they got next year's budget).  Lunch and dinner for more than a month:  turkeyloaf.  It was pretty much a soggy mass of vaguely turkey-flavored hash covered with turkey gravy.

I swore if it made an appearance at breakfast, I would snap and try to destroy the messhall on the spot.  Fortunately, that never happened.