Once a Pickle, Never a Cucumber

The Big Book tells us that no real alcoholic can ever drink normally again. It is full of accounts by all sorts of alcoholics who vainly tried to drink normally, only to end up in worse shape than ever. Chapter three states: "Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic. Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn't done so yet." The fact is, when I was drinking, I had no idea what normal drinking was.