I had become dependent on alcohol

Every night I would leave the bar after drinking cheap beer for hours, and wait for the train home.
I discovered that I couldn't get home without another drink somewhere along the way. The obvious solution was to carry a flask with me, and sip from it as the craving arose.
Sitting on a bench in a subway station at 8th Street and Broadway, in Manhattan, a man struck up a conversation with me... he suggested that I had a problem with alcohol, told me he was on his way to an AA meetings, and invited me to go along with him. I declined the invitation, but the suggestion stayed with me.
The following day, before leaving work, I called AA, got the location of a meeting, and went to my first meeting instead of going drinking.