I took my first dip in 1983. It was summertime and me and a buddy would go to the convenience mart and buy snuff. We were 13. But, for me I think it started long before that. My grandparents smoked Pall Mall like they were going out of style. My dad smoked Marlboro Red's before I was born and until I was about 12. In the 5th grade, the older kids in the neighborhood would have me steal a pack of smokes and we would go to the woods to smoke.
Fast forward to HS and college. I dipped on and off. Nothing regular, but it was setting me up for a big fail as a young adult. In 1994, as a 25 year old Division I basketball coach, I started what would be a can-a-day lethal habit. I was the low man on the totem pole and the stuff definitely rolled down hill. I was typically pretty stressed out/anxious before games. We were about to play at my Alma mater and I wanted everything to be perfect before the game. One of our other assistant coaches (and a big-time Copenhagen user) tossed me his can. I didn't hesitate. After all, I had experimented as a kid. Well, this time was different; this time I was hooked.
I dipped a can a day from 1994 to 2004. I found quitsmokeless.org after searching around on the internet one night. My father in law, a life long educator and former dipper, had recently told me about a colleague that had to have half his face/jaw removed due to dipping. That prompted me to try to find a way to quit. I got on QS and posted and posted and posted some more. I lasted 3 years....3 YEARS QUIT!!!
Then, 1-1-08, I bit from the forbidden fruit. I smelled it. I dipped it. I was hooked again. After a 3 year quit?!?!?!? Pitiful.
Why did I fail? Because I stopped posting. I'm convinced of this.
So, I dipped. Big deal right. I made it from '94 to '04. I'll just keep dipping. Everybody does it, right. That's a bunch of BS. Everybody doesn't do it. I quit again for a year from '10-'11. Then, in a moment of weakness, I caved again.
Both caves involved alcohol and the absence of QS or KTC.
A friend of mine introduced me to KTC. I hope I am here to stay. I am a HS basketball coach and I have an opportunity to help shape the lives of young men every year. I want to be the coach that DOESN'T use tobacco.