BE A MAN – HOF Speech
In November of 1994 when I was a freshman in college I was riding with my roommate and another friend of mine to Taco Bell late one night to pound some tacos and continue packing on the freshman 15. My roommate busted out his tin of Cherry Skoal and tossed in a fat ol wedge like I’d seen him do a thousand times that semester. I had always thought it was a ridiculously disgusting habit, but at that moment when I took a whiff of that sweet smelling cherry goodness I thought…wow, that stuff smells great, let me have some! Since he had been trying to get me to dip for months he passed over the tin without question. I gave it a good ol packing, shoved a big fat pouch of that worm dirt in my lip, and seriously within a minute, I was as white as a sheet. My buddy had to pull his truck over to I could hurl all over Lincoln Avenue in the turning lane. What great friends I had…they were laughing hysterically at my ridiculous short lived attempt to be a dipper. I didn’t make it into Taco Bell that night, I laid in the back of his truck wanting to die because I was disgustingly sick. “Why on earth do people do that crap I thought!” Good, at least I knew what it was like and I would never dip!
About one year later another roommate and I were going on a date with 2 girls to Friday Night Flicks (free movies for broke college kids – impressive for a first date huh? ) on campus over in one of the big lecture halls. We were meeting our dates there so as we waited he pulled out his Mint Skoal and shoved a big ol fatty in the back of his cheek so the girls wouldn’t see. I thought, “Damn, why don’t I give that another shot”, so he tosses me his can of death and I give the tin a couple good thumps and felt like such a bad ass. The girls weren’t there yet so I popped in little pinch, just small enough so they couldn’t see it. A few minutes later I still had it in, the girls showed up , we went in for the movie and sat down. Let me paint a picture for you here…these lecture halls at college were always nearly a thousand degrees, and you add a few hundred broke ass college kids to the mix and it feels like a sauna in the place – definitely not a good place for someone who has his second dip of his life in his lip after I already knew what it would do to me! I remember thinking “Man it’s hot in here, oh well…I’ve got a dip in and she doesn’t know!!!”…what an idiot…the lies were already starting and it was only my 2nd dip of my life. The ninja was already lurking inside me.
So the movie begins, hell yeah – I had a hot date, a free movie, and a plug of dip in my lip – life was good…….I thought. As the movie started so did the clammy palms, I start sweating like a fat hog, and honestly the room started to spin because it was so damn hot in there with all the people. I told my date I had to go to the bathroom for a few minutes (great impression for a first date – already heading to the crapper within the first 5 minutes ). As I stumbled past my roommate he knew exactly what was going on and was trying not to bust out laughing. He could see the terror/pain in my eyes that I was going through because of that damn dip of his chew!!! I nearly ran up the isle, went outside, flung that dip out of my lip, found a drinking fountain, drank a gallon of water, sat down, and finally started to feel normal again. I let it pass for about 10 minutes because I didn’t want to go back into my date feeling like shit. I remember thinking…”God, that’s twice now…why do I keep doing this shit! Why do people enjoy dipping so damn much!!!!” “I’m never doing it AGAIN!”
I finally strolled back into the movie, plant my non dipping ass right next to my date and continue to watch the movie. Well….the powers that be wanted me to really learn how awful dipping was so within minutes of sitting down the heat in that room hit me like a freight train – I was sweating bullets. OH SHIT! I was not going to be able to get up and leave…I launched dip induced vomit all over the floor directly in front of me for what seemed like an eternity. People were clearing out around me like I was a leper. Good god what had I done. “Why did I do this to myself again!” “I am never dipping again!”. In case you were wondering………no, there was no second date. Way to go Ryan, you were dipping though….you were cool. IDIOT.
Fast forward about 2 more years…to the day I became a full blown user of spit tobacco. I was at a graduation keg party, I was pretty well lit up for the night, a great friend of mine who is still one of my best friends was there with me and he had always been a dipper since I’d known him. Before that night he had never pushed it on me…but for some reason that night as we were standing around the keg, he looked at me and said “Hoffman, take a dip man, you like the kind of guy who dips!” “I do?” I thought? “Well hell then, give me some!” He passed over his can of Skoal Ice and sure as shit, I gave it a few good whacks, and once again…. tossed in a big ol fatty. I waited for the post dip sickness to come, but it never did – God how I wish it would have, I might have never started dipping. “This stuff is awesome!” I thought. “Surely I’ll get sick in a second and it will be all over”…nope…a few minutes with my dip turned into a half hour which turned into an hour. I thought I was the coolest shit at the party. I was dipping and not getting sick! WOOHOO!! That was it, that’s all it took – one time of not getting sick and I became a slave to dip. I remember that night like it was yesterday. The next day I went and bought a tin of that Skoal Ice and the rest is history. 8 years later I am writing this HOF speech after being free of dip for 100 days, a battle that I know I will never go through again because 101 days ago I was dipping Cope LC 16-18 hours a day and I HATED it.
I ignored everyone all along the way about how addicting dip was, how awful it was, how stupid it made me look, how it could kill me, blah, blah, blah. I even remember what a boss of mine told me the first day I bought a can of Copenhagen because the Skoal wasn’t doing it for me anymore. “Ryan, don’t do it man, that is the hardest shit on the planet to quit. Quit now, don’t do it.” He had been a user of Cope for many years and had successfully quit. A few days later as I was packing my golden tin of Cope LC in front of him he caved…I gave him one and thought it was so awesome to have him dipping with me. He should have shot me. After this 100 day battle against dip I feel like such an ass for doing that to him. I can’t imagine what he must have felt like after giving in. It didn’t matter at that time, I was a dipper, my roommates were dippers, everyone I knew dipped, and cancer would never find me!
Dipping is just what guys like me did…you can’t be a redneck without dip can you? You can’t hunt and fish without dip can you? You can’t drive 4 wheel drive trucks without dip can you? You can’t go on road trips with your buddies without dip can you? You can’t work in the garage without dip can you? You can’t mow the lawn without dip can you? You can’t watch a movie without dip can you? You can’t watch the game without dip can you? You can’t drink with your buddies without dip can you? You can’t sit at your desk all day at work without dip can you? You can’t drive to and from work without dip can you? You can’t just walk into the gas station and not buy dip anymore can you? You can’t be a MAN without dip can you?
100 days after my last dip I’m here to say YES YOU CAN! You can be free of the can and get your life back, you can not be a slave to dip anymore, you can not lie to everyone around you about your dirty habit, you can honestly live and function in life without dip – there are hundreds of quitters on this site that are PROOF.
What can I say about this quit that hasn’t already been said by other great quitters on this site? I don’t know, if you read the HOF speeches whatever there is to be said has been said with great compassion from other HOF members. The one thing I can say is BE A MAN, put down the tin, and get your life back and start living the real you. It is so worth it that I don’t even know how to put it into words. Don’t wait another day, don’t keep putting it off, just do it. Register to be a member on this site, meet some of the greatest people you’ve ever meet, and fight this awful addiction WITH them. At first you’ll fight the nic bitch tooth and nail – EMBRACE THE SUCK and get through it. My quit changed in many ways after I fought though those first few weeks. The best change for me was when I was able to “Pass It On” as FranPro would say. That’s when I really came to understand how the site worked – helping others. Sure, I asked for plenty of help along the way, but helping others gave me a sense of satisfaction that I’ve never felt before. It’s such a great feeling to help someone and know you took part in helping them save their life and that is why this site worked for me. The bond between members on this site is a bond that only an addict will know and there is no other way to describe it. Believe me – THIS SITE WORKS.
To the members of QS.ORG – THANK YOU. I found this site at 2:00 PM central time on September 14, 2006 after I just saw a doctor for help with quitting dip. I had never quit before, so my wife wanted me to see someone…after hearing about how expensive medication was – even WITH insurance…medication that may not even help me, I came back to work, sat down at my desk and typed in “Quit Chewing”. The first site that came up was this site – www.quitsmokeless.org. I read through the stories on the homepage and it felt like I was staring in a mirror as I read them. Everything written applied directly to me. I looked at the cancer pictures and spit out my last dip of Copenhagen LC that I will ever have in my life. I had to quit, if these people on here could do it, so could I.
I clicked on the chat button and typed in my username that I use on about a half a dozen other hunting forums “Shoot2Kill”. My name popped up on the screen and within seconds I was greeted by about 6 other quitters that were in the chat room. I don’t remember who all was in there but I know for a fact that WhoDey, Remshot, looT, SOS, and Slush were in that chat room. They asked me if I was quit yet, I said I just did. They welcomed me with open arms into that chat room and I felt like I instantly had a new family, a family of people that truly understood this addiction. It gave me an overwhelming sense of belonging and a new outlook. I’d thought quitting was just never going to be possible…that day in that chat room I knew it was. Those guys coached me through my first day and told me how to post Roll Call and the importance of it. I posted Roll in the December quit group and knew I was going to beat this addiction ONE DAY AT A TIME. It made so much sense – one day at a time. Quitting for forever just seemed like such a daunting task. I could surely quit for one day and if I could quit for one day I could quit for two. 24 hours later after posting my first roll call looT called me on the phone at work to celebrate being free of dip for 24 hours…it was awesome. Thank you looT, that phone call meant so much cause here I am posting roll 100 days later.
Now I sit here almost with tears in my eyes about this quit, about being free of this awful addiction, about living life and getting to know the real me. Thank you to everyone out there that has helped me along the way. To all the vets that first helped me…your words in those first few days saved my life. REM, SOS, WD, SLUSH, LOOT, QT, SB, CHEWIE, and all the others, thank you. ROB AKA INDY – a special thanks to you my friend, the info you post is PRICELESS. I’ve never talked to you, but you give us all the knowledge to actually FIGHT this addiction and WIN. It is power that you provide to us, thank you.
To the St. Nic-O-Frees, I do feel like I’ve got a second family and I wish like hell we could all meet up someday. Thank you. I’ve had a great ride for the past 100 days. The reality of it is that eventually we will begin to drift away from this site. Even though we’ll still be quit (WON’T WE!) we’ll eventually move on with our life. I wish you all the best in life. You are still an ADDICT, so you all know this – NEVER JUST ONE!!!!
I’ve had a great time in chat – FranPro, you are the man, and a definite asset to this site. MJ – we’ll get together I promise. Sucker – you too man…we’ll hook up. The rest of you in chat, god I love that place – I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time like I laugh some days in chat. I feel like I’ve known you guys my whole life. It’s only a matter of time until I get fired because of you corn holes. HANK, JMR, REM, SOS, WD, CHEWIE, 6STRING, RT, RUXXY, CFD, BILL, KA and the rest of you (there are A LOT more) that I have talked to…it’s been awesome. I hope we can keep it up!
To Matt for starting this site, thank you. To Flavious Victor for keeping the site going, thank you. To the guys of QSXtreme, thank you.
A special thanks to my wife Rachel. Rachel, thank you for putting up with my addiction for so long. Thank you for turning your face away from me when I had a dip in and tried to kiss you good bye in the morning. Thank you for getting pissed when I put a dip in while you were around. Thank you for complaining about the smell. Thank you for keeping on me until I looked for professional help. Had I not gone to the doctor that day I don’t know if I would have ended up finding this site when I did. Thank you for putting up with me those first few weeks of my quit. Thank you. I love you more than you’ll ever know.
BE A MAN – PUT DOWN THE TIN, EMBRACE THE SUCK, AND START LIVING LIFE.
NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member Shoot2Kill
