BikersAndDrunks2015

 

Introduction/Definition/etc Body Conclusion Discussion Links Jack Alexander about AA Ernest Kurtz, Not God License Page History Page Statistics Page Views:  since creating on 20150721

 

Introduction/Definition/etc

 

Following TheBikeHouseCoop2015 and ArlBAC20120507 then a couple of supposedly monthly ArlBAC meetings recently and seemingly decades of WABAAnnualMeeting2011 , WABAs50States13ColoniesRide2011 and email lists with deaths of bikers on roads, hit by inattentive, drunk or just plain homicidal road rage drivers, combined with over a decade / full time like years of training and experience as a student Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, though didn't finish certification at the required supervision hours with paid seasonal shelter work, volunteer work, money problems as disabled and transit issues from money shortages,  it occurs to me, though apparently not others, that they don't mix well for me, and likely the larger society...

 

 

Body

 

So the bar and alcohol industries don't mix well with bicycles, IMHO.

 

Advocacy and ride organizations like WABA, film organizations BicycleFilmFestival.com and others and even mechanical organizations like TheBikeHouseCoop2015 , community bike shop but mostly youth program PhoenixBikes and others seem to combine money from alcohol manufacturers, distributers/vendors and as financial sponsors to keep non profit community support organizations afloat, at the risk of the more vulnerable little people on the roads, trails and elsewhere like kids, admitted drunks trying to be sober, and other unfortunates / victims, without any real conscience, afaict...

 

So Arlington Bike Advisory Committee (ArlBAC) chair and paid staff want to take the summer and warm August month of Congressional recess off and not have a meeting, or go to a bar or site visit instead...  So they cram way too much in the July meeting, steamroll / ram thru the agenda with the visiting CommonWealth Attorney's office, and a State/Federal Liason to the Fort Myer base and Pentagon SuperBase but don't let me speak, after my introduction of need a talking and Robert's Rules of Order in meetings, and several legal and physical death threats before, during and after the county meetings, on county property and/or outside county buildings in the CourtHouse area, with representative police lieutenant presence or nearby, afaict, I'm not seeing the people making the threats, either behind me, on a mobile phone/ police walkie talkie, or kept away from me by others, besides the new to me female chair I could not determine to name / write Skinny Bitch and/or Nasty Bitch, words I don't generally use lightly... Decorum, I think they said, but I had yet to see it with the chair attacking police, and tnen arguing with everyone, mostly to hear herself talk, afaict...  The role of the chair is well defined in Robert's Rules of Order, used as parlimentary procedure in Home Owner's Associations,  Civic Associations, similar with Congress and many orderly meetings like Non Profits, NGOs, even a lot of advocacy and peer run programs (see VOCAL toolboxes), etc...

 

Background on this is that for most of my life I have not liked being around alcohol, nor people using alcohol, growing up around it and with people who use it, I don't want that kind of life...  People get even nastier when drinking, say things that should not be said, do things they should not do, and generally don't even regret it because they use the excuse, they were drinking, and/or just plain don't care.  "Social lubricant" is a common term for alcohol, and most moral/ religious organizations think it is a form of the devil...  Latter Day Saint/Mormon, Islamic, Baptist and other fairly orthodox/conservative religions that I don't subscribe to nor practice, but know they exist, at some level, think it's bad/ against their code to drink.  Some have pity on drunks, some might be more militant.  Others just plain serve wine as the blood and/or body of Christ, etc...  The government has tried prohibition, but repealed it with the graft, corruption and plain mobsters involved in the illegal alcohol trades...

 

So picture a theoretical drunk that doesn't know they are a drunk (yet?), they, likely as young person, get a drivers license, probably feel lonely, add etoh/bravado/machismo/lack of babies/egg time/fertility/big shotism, and get a DUI or a few, maybe even kill someone(/thing(s)) on the road, waking up in hospital/jail/diversion/detox/ prison, not knowing what happened the night/day/week(s) before.  Charges are brought, and assume lawyers, insurance and others don't just say "we didn't see you", they lose their license, and end up on public transportation, bumming rides, and/or bicycling for getting around, and maybe recovery, spiritual, physical and/or emotional rehab...

 

New old bikers created that way?  They have history, known, or not, with ETOH, courts, vehicular manslaughter, maybe even court ordered to run bike advocacy groups monitored by local law enforcement and/or courts?  Wouldn't that be special?  /Barf

 

They say in detox and other anonymous places that the addiction does push/sit ups while not in use, so while theoretically sober/clean/goal weight/solvent/abstinent, the desire grows for the return and/or use of alcohol, drugs, food, money, sex, rage, whatever the addiction...  The 12 Step approach is the daily maintenance of their sobriety/abstinence by a spiritual simulated bar scene of a fellowship of others with similar disease/conditions, and sharing experience, strength and hope, especially around holidays and other stressful times (read season changes?), with a step sponsor, and other outside support networks...

 

Doing substance abuse counseling seems like you have to be one to be a counselor, while one community college instructor admitted to having a problem, the other didn't, possibly related to one or many.  My experience with training for CSAC, was that I didn't fit it well...  Seemed like the logical choice to go into a caretaking/ peacemaking but subservient role to drunks and other addicts, but with more personal recovery, have found it doesn't fit well at all...  I don't like being around drinkers and druggers, and it seems they don't like me either, which is generally fine with me, I don't care what you think, especially while drinking, drug seeking, etc but low income, subsidized and other problem areas you can't avoid it...  It is the low bottom culture, and environment...  Add blame to the equation, you are not recovering because you are not rich/successful/ independent/ happy/ etc, and there is conflict, which doesn't help the recovery, and vicious cycle...

 

Housing First and the newer Rapid Rehousing strategies puts active drunks, druggers in your back yard sometimes literally (landing in front yard, thru windows/ walls of stores, on the sidewalk begging, on bike/ped only trails, etc), combine that with the rhetoric of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) and friction, if not outright violence, verbal or otherwise seems to exist.  People who know no other way pitted against what might seem like holier than thou / self righteous people who don't want to be in that lifestyle, nor around it, including kids, and other innocents/ disadvantaged and vulnerable disabled/ seniors/ limited capacity people (ID, fragile, etc)...

 

So that is part of the problem, not to get into too much public controversy, because recovering requires serenity, peace, patience, and a Higher Power, not a company nor industries like pharm/pharma set on sabotaging recovery, independence and self determination for personal and corporate profits aka exploitation...

 

Some view it as a rebate of ETOH/pharm/etc industries owe them for the damage and don't mind taking the money, but ethics and other things might preclude that.  I generally don't go to etoh funded events, fat tire, 52Vodka, etc events, and there are many, too many, including business and government meetings set to exclude certain people like ArlBAC and/or TBH, PhoenixBikes, etc...  The serenity of avoiding drunks, druggers, and other generally nasty people, etc far outweigh the benefits of attendance...  The systematic elimination of funding from Southern Arlington, even for a little strip of W&OD to road segment, much less decades of MetroRail in North Arlington, while South can't even get trolley (not a fan, like DC H street too many bike accidents) and risks of Gentrification GentrificationKills ...

 

Conclusion

 

Summary of experience or similar

 

Quite opinionated, but not really up for debate, one Big Book mentions people retiring from the debate society (find page number 12&12 Step Two, p.26, http://www.164andmore.com/words/debating.htm  http://www.164andmore.com/words/resign.htm etc), but writing and other advocacy culture thrives off of it...

 

Government, probably has independence from it, at least at the theoretical levels, practically, the Kennedy fortune(s), pre presidential, was historically robber baron like from alcohol, whiskey, iirc...  Standards of conduct for government employees and official functions probably are alcohol and drug free, but higher level social functions for diplomacy are overridden with parties and free flowing alcohol and information, plus protocol, 24x7 365 days per year... (plus or minus a leap year kind of like elections, every four years...)

 

So when/ how does it change?  Or just people die and no one cares/ does anything about it?

 

The transportation sewers approach?  Acceptable and unavoidable losses?

 

Discussion

 

A place for feedback on the page presented

 

What experience do you have being around alcohol and other drugs (AOD)?

Growing up?

Recently?

And now?

 

Were the drinkers responsible, or irresponsible?

Regretful afterwards?

Or just calloused and/or hurtful?

 

Met anyone(s) in recovery from substance abuse?

What were they like?

Good?

Bad?

Changing?

 Early in Recovery and/ or later?

Different, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde like?

 

Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) have a negative effect on operating a motor and other heavy equipment, much less bicycling, motorcycling and other cognitive functions (maybe not writing, most great writers seem to be drunks of some sort or another, but I don't and am not great...), so what have you seen, from driver's ed, to PSA's, to school training and in the Real World, that show's that they don't mix well?

 

Any thing contrary, besides people making money off of it?  Like police, courts, treatment facilities and other organizations?  Where awareness of the effects of ETOH is supposed to be part of the recovery process, but hidden in anonymity and confidentiality that nothing really changes on the outside, while claiming success, say annually, in private?

 

Written Alcoholics Anonymous literature describes starting up AA with a NYTimes? Saturday Evening Post journalist named Jack Anderson Alexander http://www.barefootsworld.net/aajalexpost1941.html writing about the new program of recovery called AA, they got swamped and could not deal with the publicity/ promotion, instead of attraction of the big named heroes of the movement/ culture.  Most failed in staying sober, while the quiet and interpersonal instead of publicist boisterous types recovered long term.  So what of attraction rather than promotion?  Reference some tradition number that I don't recall at the moment (11), as early am waking, but down early skipping another bar based event last night, one of many on the bike and other schedules/ calendar(s)...

 

As a DearTwentySomethings2013 or before, what did/ do you think you thought of bars/ drinking/ drugging/ etc?

 

__insert years of back and forth/ waffling__

 

As a WaitingForGodot , WaitingForGodAgain2010 or even waiting for second bike jersey, how long is reasonable?  Take when others don't have?  Skip the loss, when you can't really afford the loss?  But appear to be doing better than others, especially ThePracticalitiesOfFoodDistribution2012 , immigrants, and others still out ala recent contact with a  StreetSense.org vendor on the way to a bike mechanical clinic?

 

Traditions of 12 Step anonymity include no identifying photographs, no full names, in radio, press, films, etc and I'll extend that to the internet and social media... 

How do you cope?

IF you can say?

And IF you can't?

Without touting yourself as the be all and end all of success to others for money, power, prestige, fame, fortune, etc?

(yes, a jab to some dual hats / prosumers like WRAP, other elitism, ableism, "professionalism", etc)

 

Or just having a bad day, or hurt from harm(s) by other(s)?

 

Ride it off, and/or get killed trying to get someplace(s) safer?

Physically and/or emotionally?

 

Links

 

Jack Alexander about AA

 

http://www.barefootsworld.net/aajalexpost1941.html

 

Ernest Kurtz, Not God

from CSAC classes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBNNMX04LHA

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/not-god-ernest-kurtz/1101316736?ean=9780894860652

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90868.Not_God

http://hindsfoot.org/ktcek1.html

https://books.google.com/books/about/Not_God.html

 

 

License

 

Creative Commons Share and Share Alike, Non Commercial, Non Derivative, for the whole site's contents unless otherwise explicitly stated

 

Page History

 

20150722 Jerry

• Correct AA article reference by Alexander, not Anderson, a prominent journalist, but not the one...
• add links to Ernest Kurtz, Not God, etc
• Cleanup a few typos, though funny, pricture, reconverty or similar
• consider chopping it up into sections/ subheadings for clarity, as went a little astray, and easier to get turns, when done that way, but whatever...

 

20150721 Jerry

• Jerry created this page to raise a concern, most don't seem to care about, or haven't done anything about...

 

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