The End of Innocence

IF, WHEN I first walked into these AA rooms, somebody told me that I was about to lose my innocence, I would have laughed in his face. I thought I had given up my innocence about the time I realized alcohol could cure the effects of alcohol--the morning drink. Innocence indeed! When I came into AA, there was no one more world-weary, jaded, cynical, and guilt-ridden than I was. I had it all; from fleshpot to drunk tank to Bowery, there were no surprises; the world was a slime pit peopled by vermin, ruled by backstabbing, by greed, by self-interest; there was no one anyone could trust anywhere. Where had innocence gone? Innocence never was!