Re: Was Yucky veggies... now smoking

Thanks for the info. Jim.  I'm hoping this will be my last quit, too!


Melody 
Hills, IA

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."    
--Albert Einstein

 --- On Thu 12/16, james singer < jsinger@igc.org > wrote:
From: james singer [mailto: jsinger@igc.org]
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 16:58:59 -0500
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Was Yucky veggies... now smoking

The first time I quit was just after the surgeon general's report. I
<br>had to go to hospital to have my appendix removed, so that provided
a <br>setting that made quitting somewhat easier than most other
scenarios <br>would have. And I did quit. And stayed quit for about 10
years. Then <br>started again. Then quit again. Then started again.
Seven or 8 years <br>ago I quit for the last time. I realized one night
I could barely <br>breathe. That made the choice so simple; even I could
understand it.<br><br>You never get over the craving, Melody. I'd sure
like to have a cigaret <br>right now. But I want to breathe, so I'll
decline. On the up-tick, the <br>craving does abate some over time. I
don't pat my shirt pockets any <br>longer looking for a butt. But I do
dream about looking for some place <br>to buy cigarets--and even of
smoking them after I've bought them.<br><br>I've also decided stopping
is a perpetual 12-step program. "Step One: <br>Don't smoke now!" "Step
Two: See Step One!"<br><br>Quitting is the only thing that works.
Substituting one gratification <br>for another only makes you fat. Then
you've got a real <br>problem--overweight with bad lungs.<br><br>Good
luck. I'm rooting for all you guys to do yourselves a big
favor.<br><br>On Thursday, December 16, 2004, at 01:03 AM, Melody
wrote:<br><br>> Well Jim...how long did it take for you to finally quit
for the last <br>> time??? And how long to get over craving a
cigarette?<br>><br>><br>> Melody<br>><br>> "The most beautiful thing we
can experience is the mysterious."<br>> --Albert Einstein<br>><br>> ---
On Wed 12/15, james singer < jsinger@igc.org > wrote:<br>> From: james
singer [mailto: jsinger@igc.org]<br>> To: gardenchat@hort.net<br>> Date:
Wed, 15 Dec 2004 18:06:45 -0500<br>> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Was Yucky
veggies... now smoking<br>><br>> Yeah, Melody, me too at
14.<br><br>Dixie Samples, who was a half-year<br>> ahead of me in
school, and who was a <br>real carnivore, bought them <br>> for<br>> me.
Lucky Strikes, 25 cents--an amount <br>equal to

one day's lunch<br>> money--for a pack of 20. "Lucky Strike green
<br>'had gone to war'" a<br>> few years earlier, so this was the white
package <br>that doesn't <br>> appear<br>> to have changed much since
then.<br><br>When I got home from school on<br>> the day Dixie
delivered, I went around <br>the corner and sat on the<br>> curb of a
street that ran parallel to the one <br>I lived on. I took <br>>
the<br>> pack out of my pocket, nervously ripped the <br>cellophane from
it, <br>> tore<br>> the tin-foiled paper open, and froze. Probably<br>>
<br>guilt.<br><br>Remember the proper way to tear a pack of cigs
open?<br>> There was a tax <br>stamp across the proximate middle of the
top. And<br>> the cool thing to do <br>was take care to leave the tax
stamp pristine<br>> while ripping out the <br>tin-foil paper on either
side of it [but, God<br>> forfend, not both], then <br>thunking the pack
on your hand until butt<br>> popped out.<br><br>My father smoked like a
stove--two, three packs a <br>> day<br>> for 70 years. My <br>mother did
not smoke; she thought it was a male<br>> thing and women who <br>smoked
were loose or worse. My mother had<br>> peculiar opinions about a lot
<br>of things--including how one should<br>> cook
vegetables.<br><br>Sitting on the curb, I finally took a deep<br>>
breath and knocked a butt <br>out of the pack. Remember that move?
You<br>> hit the top of the pack <br>against the side of your hand
between your<br>> thumb and index finger. The <br>force of the hit
knocked at least one<br>> cig free and accessible.<br><br>All my peers
and, indeed, conventional<br>> wisdom, said my first cigarette <br>would
make me nauseous. So it was<br>> with some trepidation that I put one
<br>in my mouth, struck a match,<br>> placed the flame at the end of the
weed, <br>and sucked.<br><br>And <br>> then<br>> inhaled. It did not
make me nauseous. Rather, It made me feel <br>good.<br>> The male rite
of passage [probably] kicked in.<br><br>It would take ne<br>><br>> arly
30 years for me to quit the first time.<

br
><br><br>On Wednesday,<br>> December 15, 2004, at 12:45 AM, Melody
wrote:<br><br>> I smoked my <br>> first<br>> cigarette at age 14 and
within a couple of months I<br>> was hooked. I<br>> constantly tell my
kids it was the single stupidest <br>> moment<br>> <br>> of<br>> my
life...being too afraid to look uncool in front of these<br>><br>>
"friends"...rarely a day goes by anymore that I don't regret being<br>>
a<br>> smoker and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to<br>>
quit...sigh.<br>> It's truly the one thing in my life where I feel
like<br>> a failure. :-(<br>><br>><br>> Melody Hobert-Mellecker<br>>
Director,<br>> Stewardship & Religious Education<br>> St. Joseph's
Parish, Hills,<br>> IA<br>><br>> "The most beautiful thing we can
experience is the<br>> mysterious."<br>> --Albert Einstein<br>><br>> ---
On Tue 12/14, <<br>> gardenqueen@academicplanet.com > wrote:<br>> From:
[mailto:<br>> gardenqueen@academicplanet.com]<br>> To:
gardenchat@hort.net<br>> Date:<br>> Tue, 14 Dec 2004 19:05:05 -0600<br>>
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Was Yucky<br>> veggies... now smoking<br>><br>> I
know Jim. It's the dumbest thing I <br>> do<br>> every day.
<br><br>Pam<br>> Evans<br>Kemp, TX<br>zone 8A<br>-----<br>> Original
Message -----<br>From:<br>> james singer<br>Sent: 12/14/2004<br>>
6:04:16 PM<br>To:<br>> gardenchat@hort.net<br>Subject: [CHAT] Was
Yucky<br>> veggies... now<br>> smoking<br><br>Yucky veggies are better
for your<br>> health than smoking <br>> is.<br>> If your <br>health is
important to<br>> you, that is. If it's not, you might<br>> consider
<br>the words of <br>> that<br>> famous Oklahoma sage Mickey Mantle:
"If<br>> I'd known I <br>was going<br>> to live this long, I'd'a taken
better care of<br>><br>> myself."<br><br>Tobacco is the most addictive
substance our society<br>> has<br>> discovered so <br>far. Period. You
might be suckered into<br>> believing all<br>> that <br>sanctimonious
crap about cocaine and heroin<br>> and morpheme and<br>> marijuana,
<br>but it's our government's endorsed<br>> tobacco that it

's <br>> real<br>> danger. It <br>will debilitate you<br>> before it
kills you, and it will<br>> surely kill you.<br><br>><br>> <b<br>>
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