What was it like?
The question was posed to Clay Bailey, a veteran waiter and bartender who recently spent 203 days in Hall and Forsyth jails.
He was incarcerated in what inmates call the “broken tail-light pod,” quarters for folks with multiple traffic infractions and drug and alcohol convictions.
In 2009, Bailey was convicted of his fourth DUI. After 30 years of drinking and boozing he’d be the first to tell you it’s amazing he hasn’t racked up more convictions — or worse, killed someone.
For nearly two years, he’d been working through the DUI court program in Forsyth County. He enrolled in an Alcoholics Anonymous program, too. Then life got away from him.
A “buddy” facing a drug rap told authorities Bailey kept “magic mushrooms” in his refrigerator. (Bailey said that he had totally forgotten about the mushrooms, and that they were nearly 2 years old).
When the authorities came a’ knockin’, Bailey let them in, thinking it was a routine checkup, part of the DUI court program. They went straight to the refrigerator.
Because of the contraband, state Judge T. Russell McClelland sentenced Bailey to jail for violating his probation.
So what was it like being locked up?
“Horrible,” Bailey told me. “I was in a pod with 48 people. “It stunk all the time. There’s not a lot of food, and the food you get is horrible.”
His six-month stay may have been horrible, but it appears to have been life-changing, too.
Bailey, a self-described hippie, has never been the religious type. God talk wasn’t his thing.
Still, he considers his jail sentence divine intervention proffered by a higher power — God, Buddha or whatever.
In jail, “I had a lot of AA literature that my sponsor sent me, and I read something spiritual everyday,” he said.
Days after his release, Bailey posted a frank message on his Facebook wall, saying where he’d been and that he was back and sober.
“I have friends all over the world because I was a ‘corporate brat’ and traveled a lot,” he said. “I disappeared for six months, not five days, so when I came back I had to explain where I was. Did I like it? No. Am I proud of it? No. But is it part of who I am? Absolutely.”
He was released March 14. Now he’s employed at a high-end restaurant in Dunwoody and has a legal permit to drive to and from work.
He has regained the 40 pounds he lost while locked up and sports one of those Salvador Dali-style mustaches.
While he serves plenty of beer, wine and cocktails, he hasn’t disappeared back into the bottle.
And that’s saying something for someone who would get off work, hit four or five bars, then swerve home to Gwinnett County. He was a Guinness & Jagermeister man.
“At this juncture, I don’t have an urge to drink anymore,” he said. “And I am fortunate as hell nothing truly horrific has happened.”
And he wishes the same for others who struggle with addictions.
Rick Badie, an Opinion columnist, is based in Gwinnett. Reach him at rbadie@ajc.com or 770-263-3875.
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