His and perhaps one particular system:
LOS ANGELES (AP) - HBO chief executive Chris Albrecht said he was taking a leave of absence to regain control of his alcoholism following a weekend assault arrest in Las Vegas.
In a statement sent to HBO staff members and released publicly Tuesday, Albrecht said he had been a "sober member" of Alcoholics Anonymous for 13 years.
"Two years ago, I decided that I could handle drinking again. Clearly, I was wrong. Given that truth, I have committed myself to sobriety. I intend to take a temporary leave of absence from HBO effective today, in order to go back to working with AA."
But then, what's tradition, or so I've heard, when one has a career and a marriage to save, given that he was fighting with his girlfriend, and apparently not his wife.
10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
Nice start on that new recovery, Chris. Still, good luck.
More and more are ignoring the traditions. In response to questions about this to a journalist who openly writes about his own AA membership, I recently received a response of, "Whatever works for you, is my philosophy!" after basically bragging about being 18 years sober.
My own "whatever works for me" philosophy got me drunk after 11 years. I'm glad to remain anonymous at the level of press, radio and films to stay sober. I will never truly regain control of my alcoholism but I can keep it arrested with AA. But I need to stay in AA to do that!
Posted by: do it sober | Wednesday, May 09, 2007 at 03:10 PM