Smoking: So let me get this straight...

[malta blue]

The State Quitters' Helpline will NOT provide me with the "free" 2-week supply of Gum they say they will because I DON'T SMOKE ENOUGH!
:wtf:

After 24 years of smoking, I am ready to try to quit and I don't smoke enough to qualify for the free gum.
:mad: :banghead:

Can anyone make sense of this?

[Left Is Write]

1. That's dumb. Way to be not helpful on the helpline!

[Katherine Brengle]

2. Um, call back and lie?

That's dumb lol.

[trof]

3. lie?

[crim son]

4. Nope. Go back and lie about how much you smoke.

I think somebody who's been at it for twenty-four years should qualify for the program.

[malta blue]

5. Lie you say...

So far the response has been to lie - but I think they should have just given me the free f(*^R%$^g gum!

Plus, I am the Worst. Liar. Evah.

[crim son]

16. Me too.

I wouldn't be able to do it.

[Maddy McCall]

6. Call em back and tell them that they made you so angry...

that you're up to two packs a day just to try to chill out over it.

:D

[malta blue]

7. Two packs!

:rofl:

So I don't smoke that much, but I really am having a hard time trying to quit.

[chknltl]

8. Call em back and tell them you vote republican

...they'll give you twice as much gum. (Damned tyrannical republicans are everywhere these days!)

btw: I used an entire box of sour patch kids, must have been thousands in there, to help me when I quit about a decade ago. I also had smoked for 20+ years. Throwing off that evil scourge is one of my greatest accomplishments! (I know how sad that sounded but quitting tobacco is DAMNED HARD to do...but it can be done)

[malta blue]

9. Thanks for the tip

but I despise candy (unless it involves dark chocolate). I don't know that the sour patch kid will help. It took me months to get past the candy thing to concede to chewing gum.

[chknltl]

11. I had to take it an hour at a time....

Each waking hour for about the first few days was an accomplishment for me... I refused to light up during that time because I knew I'd have to start over. Each hour I made it without a smoke was pure money in the bank for me, money I did not want to give up on. After the first week I knew ABSOLUTELY that I was going to be able to lick that curse. I was a photographer back then, I had to spend some of my working time in smoke filled bars...as you may well guess that made things even rougher for me. (I had to wait till after the first two weeks before going into those bars).

If you can, stay away from other smokers for awhile...seeing someone else light up was toughest for me. I gained weight. That seems to be a byproduct of quitting...brutal truth that this revelation may be, the few pounds gained are a small price to pay for a life without tobacco. Losing that extra weight is actually easier to do than quitting smoking should you choose to do that too.

For what it is worth, those damned sour patch kids made my gums bleed and after a quick while I grew to dislike them pretty intensely but whenever I felt that urge to light up I stuffed a few in my mouth anyway...doing that was better than lighting up and perhaps subliminally I was programming myself to suppress those urges in order to avoid eating any more sour patch kids.

Good luck to you malta blue...you have are best wishes in this.

btw: I have a BA in Anthropology only because the school I went to did not give out degrees in Archeology. But that was a long time ago... Ronald Reagan was President when I was in school and getting to go out on digs here in the Pacific Northwest. Now I catch the occasional show about prehistory on the Discovery channel... company has arrived...we can chat later if you wish

[MichiganVote]

10. Nah...he should say he's going for abstinanace

[Left Is Write]

12. I used Tootsie Pops.

That really helped when I was stuck in stop-and-go rush hour traffic and wanted a smoke.

[Lowell]

13. Wow! Do whatever it takes but quit

I finally gave it up after 40 years last October. After four days the cravings stopped and I quit having murderous thoughts. It got easier after that. I hope I never pick up another one, but sadly they still smell good and I crave them now and then.

[Oeditpus Rex]

14. Economics, as usual

They've got only so much free nic gum to go around, so they set a standard for who gets it.

I wouldn't have much problem with tobacco tax hikes in Kollyforniya if one of them would fund quitting aids such as patches. Colorado does this; I don't see why every state doesn't.

[zonkers]

15. Lie.