Playing Fair and Being Kind

One of my dearest friends from the early days of my attempt to get sober in AA was a wise older woman named Mary. She was my best friend for a few years before I left for the East Coast and then we lost touch. She was sober for 15 years when I first met her. I believe she was seventy years old at the time. Mary was filled with wit and stories and always ready for a chuckle. Something came up and it reminded her of this wonderful story about booze and how it affects alcoholics. She told me this:

One of her fellow recovering drunks in the early days of her sobriety told this tale at an AA meeting around Chicago. The brain trust of Justerini & Brooks, J&B scotch whiskey, came up with the slogan; “J&B. It whispers”. It was a big deal and the board of directors, or whomever was tasked with final approval, was very pleased with the final phrasing. “J&B. It whispers”. Elegant and sophisticated in its simplicity and its imagery.

The board voted and approved the slogan and then they began to leave the boardroom. While the meeting had been in session, there was an older man who was cleaning and keeping things tidy and he was listening in to the commentary during the discussion phase of the proceedings of accepting the slogan, “It whispers”. What the board members did not know about this older gentleman was that he was a fresh member of the local AA group near St. James Street, London. As the executives were disbanding, the older man sidled up to one of the senior members of the board. He begged the executive’s pardon and mentioned he was familiar with the product, that is, he knew something about scotch whiskey.

The executive was in a good mood and happily took a moment to listen to the cleaning man speak. The older fellow confidently told the board member this. He said, “Excuse me, sir. I couldn’t help hearing your comments about J&B. J&B doesn’t whisper, sir. It goes, ‘BOOM’!”

I would say the old boy was in-the-know about whiskey.

Gentle George
24 August 2020