The Paramount speakers group in Paramount, CA

OK, my name is Leon. I am a strange alcoholic

and I'm going to supposedly share for two minutes.

This is kind of like by surprise by the way we do it from where we're from. Usually when folks have to bring a 10 minute speaker, they just say I'm going to speak at a meeting. They don't tell you you're going to be the 10 minute speaker. So,

so

identifies a strange alcoholic. And it's not because of some of my haircuts and hair colors I may come up with, and it's not because I enjoy piercing body parts, which I do very much. And it's not because I'm gay, because I'm not, you know, I'm a strange alcoholic as described in the 12 and 12 under the third tradition. I'm one of those Alcoholics who got here with other addictions other than alcohol. But I'm real grateful that God saw fit to direct me to rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous and

my mother's ecstatic that God saw fit to direct me to the rooms Alcoholics Anonymous. My neighbors are jumping for joy that I'm clean and sober today. And if you knew me under the influence in search of another one, you guys would be pitching in to help me stay sober. You know, because I'm not safe when I'm out there. You know, I got the Alcoholics Anonymous June 23rd, 1986. And but for the grace of God, the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous in rooms like this and people like you

have not found it necessary to take a drink of alcohol or use any of those other chemicals that skyrocketed my eyes here a little over 15 years ago. And what I'm truly grateful. I'm a firm believer in the program of recovery outline in the big book. Alcohol is Anonymous. I'm real glad I'm sober. I think sobriety is the best thing that could have ever happened for a person like me.

Today was not one of the best days that I've had in my whole life, but you know that I'm sober made it work. While, you know, I've been going through a lot of went through something today

and the thought of drinking never crossed my mind and I know that must be a God of my own understanding that made that possible. I grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Some of you may have heard of it. Compton and I come from one of those two parent homes, a lot of love, a lot of structure. Father, elementary school teacher, mother, college educated and she was a home engineer and we ate breakfast together as a family. We ate dinner together. My parents did not drink, did not drug, did not abuse me.

I had everything that I needed to. I had almost everything that I wanted, yet I still made it to the rooms. Alcoholics Anonymous. I'm one of four children and I'm the only one that turned out to be an alcoholic. So I know from Yale to jail, from park bench to Park Ave. is an equal opportunity ass kicker. They don't care where you come from. They don't, you know, it. Just pick me. I got dealt this card but thank God they sent me to the game of Alcoholics Anonymous where I was able to find a new way of life. You know,

I got here by way of a treatment center, One of those you see on TV. 2 weeks and a couple two day follow-ups.

My insurance kicked out $15,000 for the big book Alcoholics Anonymous and they taught me how to come to meetings. I sobered up in Yoruba, Linda, CA as the blackest thing in the meetings besides people's shoes and the Jaguars parked outside. But just like this room that I walked in today, they made me feel welcome. They made me feel like I belong. What attracted me to the program? So you guys practice that an energy too. Well, I never heard of Alcoholics Anonymous and didn't know anybody who was sober, but

I got to the rooms there it was about the third night. This young lady came to the podium and fell as the girl looked good and when she walked by her caught a whiff of that perfume and I have no other words to describe it other than she smelt delicious. And I was just staring at her imagining all the good assets that I was sure she was in possession of. And she shared her story and I like to tell you it struck my heart and I was struck sober. But that ain't what happened.

I didn't hear a word she said, 'cause my fantasy was a lot louder than her share,

but when she got finished it looked like she was looking at me. And she said if you want what I have, keep coming back. And I say yes, I want what she has, you know. And then this guy got up there well dressed and he had some jewels on. He had a pinky ring that had to have at least 4 carats. And when he got finished sharing, he said if you want what I have, keep coming back. I looked at him, I looked at the ring and I said Yep, I'm gonna come back and rob this meeting. I sure hope he's here. But what happened after that? This old guy,

missing hair, missing teeth, wasn't dressed that well and after he finished sharing he started to say the same thing. If you want what I have. And I looked at him and said hell no.

And I don't know whether the guys heard me or he saw me shaking my head, but he changed it. And what he said made a whole lot of sense and made an impact on my life that night. He says, you know what? If you be new, you may not want what I have, and you may not want anything you see or hear in these rooms. But in the quietness of your own room tonight, before you go to sleep, why don't you ask yourself, do you want what you have? Do you want to continue to live the way you live and feeling the way you feel and doing the things you're doing?

People treat you the way they treat you. If you don't, why don't you try this program on size for what do you have to lose? And that was the night that I made a commitment. I made a commitment to give this thing a try. And as I said, I'm a firm believer and I'm a close with this. 10 minutes is not enough to say what's happened over my 2015 years of sobriety. But I tell you, I got a lot of friends who love me no matter what. They have walked me through some troubles that I thought I could not get

other side of. They gather around me today to keep me out of trouble and for that I'm real grateful. But

this is the language of the heart. And I'm going to say this is as nicely as possible because I read the book by myself and that 90 days is so dry. I was in a gun shop trying to buy Uzi and all the ammunition I could buy. And I was going to go back to my job and kill a few folks and go back to that a a club where my Home group is 96 O four and kill some of those old timers that didn't understand. That's newcomers

because they insulted this shirt I had on. It said instant asshole, just add alcohol. Old timer cracked up and said, boy, what makes you think you need alcohol to be an asshole?

You know, I have since found that in the book it's not worded like that, but what it says is elimination of alcohol is but a beginning, a much more important demonstration of our principles, lives in our occupation, our homes and our affairs. But what happened? I ended up in a meeting. The guy said, how you doing? Cuz I couldn't get a Uzi. Something about, you know, you have to wait two weeks and she tried to sell me a pump shotgun. I said, lady, I need to kill a lot of people fast.

But I ended up at a meeting

the guy, you know, one of the guys that greet you at the door. So how you doing? And I gave him the newcomer answer. I'm fine. And he said no. And then when I went to say I'm OK, I started crying. He took me out back. He asked me if I read the book. And like a lot of new people, I could do this thing. Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover, people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program. I can recite that stuff,

but what he did is he read it back to me in a language that I could understand.

He said, motherfucker, almost never have we seen a person go back to fucking drinking who has thoroughly followed a God damn path. Do you know what the fucking path is? And before I could open my mouth, he said, shut the fuck up.

And that's when he introduced me to the steps. And it's the steps that introduced me to a God of my own understanding that has given me the power to say no thank you. I'm not drinking, I'm not using, I'm not stealing. I'm not killing, I'm not assaulting. I'm not doing a whole lot of things that was once a part of my life. And for that, I'm truly grateful. And I want to thank you all for inviting us out to share. Thank you.

OK.