Packed my first lip of Skoal Citrus in sophomore year of college and spun like a top. Peer pressure started it, but lets face it...i was curious and no one packed that tin for me. As time went on I moved back and forth between Grizz Mint and Grizz Straight, switched to Stokers Straight for while and back to good 'ol Grizzly. My addiction went anywhere from a tin a week to a tin and a half per day. Muscled through the pain of dipping with cold sores in my mouth (dumb), dipped on the way home from a dentist cleaning, tossed in snus at work (work for a major corporation that has banned tobacco on all company property).
I quit once for 2.5 months, cold turkey, and picked it back up bc a couple buddies were gonna be in a town and they also dip. the time not dipping wasn't so bad...but i found it harder to walk away from the can again when i picked it back up.
For the past few weeks, my mom has been dealing a soccer ball sized mass in her abdomen that grew from nothing in just 6 weeks. After surgery (uterus, ovaries, appendix and a portion of the large intestines removed) she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer today. I've felt guilty the past few weeks continuing to dip knowing full well what the diagnosis would be...but figured she was just as invincible as me and cancer wasn't going to get her.
I don't tell the story looking for sympathy, but only to give some insight to my mindset now. I told myself for the longest time that I wasn't going to be that percentage or statistic. Ignored that big 'ol warning on the front of the can. Can't happen to me. I realized today that I don't want to find out just how likely I am to be that statistic. I realized that i convinced myself for years that my gums were actually receding...and they'll grow back anyway when i quit "someday."
Well boys, todays that day. Ordered 10 cans of Grinds. Got a bucket of seeds and a few packs of gum. The hardest thing for me will be long car rides...that was always my vice on long hauls. I've done it before...and I'll do it again only one more time.
-Bauer
PS. if anyones tried Jake's Mint Chew, let me know how it is.