Sober Sam

THERE WAS this guy on the Bowery we called Sober Sam. Now, Sam drank the muscatel right along with the rest of us, and got just as drunk as we did--but Sam had gone to a few AA meetings, and he knew the score. He talked about a "First Step," and he'd say, "You guys are powerless over alcohol, you gotta drink. But me--I can quit any time I want." And Sam would prove it! He'd quit drinking, get in a week or so working at some job, and then come back all cleaned up, with a few bucks in his kick. Of course, he couldn't work more than a week or ten days at a time, what with his cirrhosis of the liver, and he had a bad ticker. Every once in a while, we'd think he'd quit drinking and gone to work, but we'd find out later he'd been in the hospital with his liver or his heart acting up.