Let Me Take a Crack at This….

I’ll begin with saying that it isn’t possible for this speech to live up to those that have come before it….but it will accomplish its goal…to inform others that it IS possible to kick that nasty habit of stuffing shit in your mouth, regardless of how hard it may be to do.

I, just like everyone before me, tried to quit this Nic Bitch multiple times only to fail over and over for a variety of bullshit reasons: a family death, sports, fights with a significant other or any other *minor/major* stressful situation. The funny thing is that as a child I remember my older brother dipping and I was so scared for him that I used to flush his Copenhagen down the toilet. I thought “Man I just wish he would quit, who is stupid enough to put something that could kill you in their mouth? I will never be like that”. Well, famous last words I guess.

It began on the baseball diamond with a few buddies. I was around 14 or 15 years old and a buddy of mine had procured a can of Skoal Mint from an older sibling of his. At first, when he offered me a pinch, all I could think about was those cheesy anti tobacco videos that they showed us all in school (you know the ones…where a friend/sibling is trying to peer pressure another into trying that shit for the first time). Well regardless of the BLATANT and BLARING warnings (even the ones on the damned cans themselves) I scooped up a pinch and threw it in. Within minutes I was buzzing my ass off. But the reason I went back for number two wasn’t for the buzz. It was because I liked the “idea” of dipping while playing ball. Stupid, I know…but hey…to each his own right? Well two led to three…three led to four..and four led to me needing to buy a can of my own because my buddy wasn’t sharing his anymore, haha. I had a few older friends and of course they were already dipping as well (country town, hard pressed to find baseball players there that DON’T dip). To make this long story short, I started having friends buy it for me and eventually even conned my parents into buying it. (They hid the fact that they smoked from me for years…so when I found out I used it as leverage to make it “ok” for me to dip….damn that Nic Bitch is vindictive isn’t she?).

Well years passed and I went to college, of course dipping all along the merry way. Skoal gave way to Copenhagen and Copenhagen gave way to whatever was cheap. Friends tried to tell me I should quit, girlfriends tried to tell me I should quit, hell even people I didn’t know were telling me it was disgusting. But I have always been a stubborn asshole and of course my thought process was, stupidly, “if you don’t like it then you don’t have to do it…let me be me and I’ll let you be you..besides we all have to die of something..at least I know what is gonna do it for me.” Now I always said that last part with a chuckle and a smile, but what was I thinking? What a stupid ass concept. I did try to quit multiple times…mostly for my woman who I am still with now (btw, thank god for her sticking by my side and being supportive for this past 100, it really did make the difference). Of course all those times I failed…You can’t quit for someone else, it HAS GOT TO BE FOR YOURSELF! New quitters…take those words to heart..chances are if you are reading this you are ready to quit for yourself anyways…you just need a little support. That is where this site came in for me/ will come in for you.

So, age 14…first dip…fast forward to age 25 (November 17th, 2009 to be exact) LAST DIP. I was just fed up with it to be honest. I wasn’t even enjoying it anymore, it was more of a chore than anything else. The breaking point for me was when I realized that I was taking a dip…spitting it out 15 minutes later because I wasn’t enjoying it, only to feel like I needed another one within the next 15 minutes. I knew it was time. So I quit…I made it through the first 15 or so days but around that 15 mark I was really hurting. So I Google searched “How to Quit Dipping” and BLAM! I found the Holy Grail! (Funny thing is that I actually found this site once before when I tried to quit…years ago…decided not to join and AM POSITIVE that it cost me my quit that time.) NOT this time though! I decided to jump into the chat room and see what it was all about. I spent the next few hours talking with Plasma, JPCrew, Raw and FranPro (and a few others and I apologize for not giving you the shout out…I just can’t remember EVERYONE). I joined the site that night and start posting roll on day 15 (but I was in the wrong group, haha destined to be a FuckNut from the beginning I guess). On day 16 I was put in the right group with the rest of those Feb Fucknutz and it was on like Donkey Kong! Day by day (with a LOT of help from Greg) I posted up roll and made my promise to stay quit. And day by day, with the exception of a few rough ones, I realized that I could and WAS doing it. Was it always easy? Hell no…but now it’s day 100…and I cannot even begin to tell you how good I feel about myself, how proud I am of my quit brothers and how much this site helped me along my way. I know the journey isn’t over because the Nic Bitch pops up constantly like a never ending game of Whack-a-Mole… but I will continue, as I have done for the past 100, to grab that mallet and Whack-A-Ho back down in her hole where she belongs (while screaming I AM QUIT!! like an apache war cry during the process)!!

Thank you KTC , thank you vets and thank you FuckNutz, without you guys I don’t know if I could have done it. Regardless of whether I could, the good news is that I don’t have to find out because I am pledging my word to continue the journey along side of you guys while we continue to take dollars from US Smokeless Tobacco like they have done from us for all these years! Thanks Again!!

I know this is long and rambling but now it is time to pay it forward. New quitters…I’ll tell it to you like it was told to me. First are you dipping right now? Well how dare you disgrace my HOF speech with that shit in your mouth…spit it out and get your ass over to the boards…sign up and start posting roll…change your life. Rough Days? Get your ass into the chat room and hopefully me or some of the other vets from the site will kick the shit outta you and convince you not to cave! Today is the day for you…make it your own and don’t be controlled by the can….KILL IT!

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member danroberts84