One of the darker periods of my program was the wonderful weeks that followed the Tampa Screwup. During the summer months of 1978, the price of gasoline skyrocketed. The folks living in Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk, Sarasota, and Manatee Counties were hit pretty hard. One by one, families had to give up their newcomers because it cost too damn much to drive to the building every day. They even cut some slack to the 3rd and 4th phasers. It got to the point where they only had to attend Fri open meeting and all day Sat & Sun and that was it. With all that freedom and no newcomer responsibility,
alot of them started messing around. It was not long before several were back on drugs and "conning" their way through the program.
It was ludicris. They would get baked in the car on the drive over from Tampa, hit the visine, come into group, and confront people like me!!! I had my suspicions, but
who was going to listen to a lowly 1st phaser
on a court ordered program that had only recently stopped being a jerk? The screw-up
first happened in May of 1978, and did not surface until September, when we moved from the Milton Roy/Silor Optical building to the Morgan Yacht Building behind Tyrone Mall. Once the word got out all hell broke loose.
End of Part One...............
