Every once in a while in recovery, you'll hear what sounds like an urban legend. A few years back I heard such a tale.

The urban legend was that some control freak sponsor had made some poor guy roll a jelly bean up and down his driveway using his nose before he'd sponsor him. This was to demonstrate willingness.
Well, normally, I would dismiss such a story, but the sponsor in question just so happened to be my sponsor. So, I asked if it was true.

As it turned out, this was no legend. This story was true. Needless to say, this made me furrow my brow.

Then, my sponsor explained it to me. "John, this guy was someone I'd sponsored before. He hadn't responded at all to the way I'd dished out the program. He knew plenty of others he could ask to be his sponsor. So, I figured I was doing us both a favor by saying no to his request that I sponsor him. And besides, he'd ripped me off for some money, so I didn't care whether he stayed sober or not. Then, he begged me to sponsor him. So, I made a ridiculous request of him. Actually, I expected him to tell me to go fly a kite. But when I saw the poor guy so desperate to get sober and learn from me that he'd roll a jelly bean up and down my driveway, there was no way I could say no to him after that. For crying out loud, it was 110 degrees outside that day and he still did it."

And to his dying day, my sponsor never requested I roll a jelly bean with my nose. But I can't eat a jelly bean without thinking about that story.