I'm a quitter. A lowsy quitter, granted, but a quitter nonetheless. Kate's a quitter and so is Kelley. I quit for almost a year and a half back 'round '96 and Lovely Wife and I quit together for better than half a year in '01. I've tried quitting solo quite a few times over the past 16 years, never with any real success. Lovely Wife and I have also tried quitting together a few other times, also without success.
This time it's going to work. See, I'm quitting again. Lovely Wife already did and has been nicofree since Monday. In support of her courageous effort I've refrained from smoking around her or even bringing the deadly tempting cancer sticks into our domicile. This weekend will be the first days of my quitting for real since I'd be an absolute idiot if I started up again on Monday after going without for the entire weekend, returning only to this crazy half-smoker state where I get a mini withdrawal each and every day.
So I'm looking for support. Not moral support, financial support. Here's the thing - the absolute best I ever did was that year plus stretch. It was a year plus because I quit with my Dad, Brother-in-law and Brother-in-law's brother-in-law and we had a bet. Anybody who smoked again, even a puff, for the next year had to pay each of the others $25. The thought that my next cigarette was going to cost me $75 was instrumental to fighting down the urges when they hit. (Incidentally, Bro-in-law and I made it. Dad didn't make it and paid us our blood money. Bro-in-law's bro-in-law was a jackass and renegged on the bet.) So I'm going to go back to what worked and inviting y'all to come along.
Here's the bet:
- Open to current smokers and ex-smokers that quit in this calendar year.
- If you sign on and you smoke any amount of nicotine, even a single puff, from March 15, 2004 (the Ides of March, pretty cool eh?) through March 14, 2005 you owe the other participants blood money.
- Amount to be paid will be $25 to each participant with a $100 maximum liability. (If the number of people you have to pay is over 4 then you pay the $100 split evenly among them.)
- Once a person flunks and pays out blood money they're out of the contest. They can smoke whatever they want but aren't elligible to get blood money from other failures.
- It's all on the honor system. There's no escrow account or prepayment or any garbage like that.
It's open to recent quitters because they're still in the massive falloff stage. It's very easy to get back on the wagon even after several months of successful non-smoking. The whole purpose behind this bet is to help people quit smoking by giving them another incentive not to light up.
Why so strict with that single puff thing? Because people who are quitting smoking are not thinking straight. They will rationalize that hitting a butt or taking a drag off of somebody else's cancer stick isn't "smoking a cigarette". We're also saying "nicotine" instead of "cigarette" because things like pipes and cigars and hookas aren't allowed as substitutes for cigs. This doesn't mean you can't use a patch or nico-gum or whatever other real stop smoking aid you want to use.
The ceiling is there because if a $100 price tag isn't enough to make you push away that next cig a higher price isn't really going to make a difference. Also we're not out to bust anybody's bank account or anything. In addition the price of honor hovers just north of $110 for most people so we want a little buffer there.
The start date of the bet is March 15 because the Ides of March is cool and this'll give a bit of time for people to join up. This doesn't mean you can't quit earlier (I am).
Yes, the honor system. If you don't think you will be able to pay $100 if you don't make it then don't sign up. If you doubt that you would be willing to pay $100 if you don't make it then don't sign up. To paraphrase the words of the great John Wayne "It's okay to be an asshole, just don't do it on purpose".
I'll put up a sidebar section linking to all of the participants. That doesn't mean that you have to be a blogger to join up, it's just a benefit for the playas who have sites.
I'm in. Anybody else want a piece of this action?
POINTS: Why the heck not? All participants get 2 points but if you drop out you lose 4.
Congrats on the quitting! Wish I had the willpower to do it myself. The lure of other people's money isn't even tempting me at this point. But I have a couple helpful hints for you, and any other quitters out there, who may not want to invest in such items as nicorette gum or the patch.
Drinking Marjoram tea doesn't exactly curb your desire to smoke, but it will act as a deterrent (or perhaps an irritant). Marjoram tea dries the throat, so you won't enjoy the cigarette as much. A half cup when you'd normally have your first smoke and a half cup when you feel a strong urge to smoke.
Sucking on a clove can also eliminate a craving.
Other than that, good luck to anyone who decides to be a quitter.
I'm in--"Quit" 2 days ago and the hot flashes are starting now.
Woo hoo! Who's next? Plenty of room in the pool.
I'm in.
I "officially" quit last November, but I haven't been such a good boy about it. I'm here to say that, as of March 15, 2004, I won't suck another piece of flaming nicotine for at least a year (and hopefully well beyond that).
Put me down and hold me accountable.
(Need to go suck down another pack or two while there's still time.)
Jim, let's go out and grab a beer and a few smokes on the eve of the Ides, whaddaya say?
Alright, Joey. Welcome aboard!
No can do on the beer and smokes, my fellow Georgian. Smokes ended yesterday around noon for me and I'm off alcohol too for a month or so. Change of habits to help quit the tobaccy plus I'm on the Welbutrin and it reacts poorly with booze.
A celebration eve down the road could be workable, though!
Im in.
I quit on sat (see my blogger for insane nicotine free ranting) and have made a vow not to smoke another cig until my daughter is walking (shes due on the 21st june). Hopefully by then the cravings will have gone though.
So im well up for it, count me in.
Okay, Jeremy! That makes a party of four already. Very sweet.
And congrats on the upcoming joyful bundle!
Hmm. I'll have to have a chat with hubby about this. We tried to quit last year -- I chewed on so many straws, I hurt my teeth. Being that he's a crusty Scot (they part with money only under great duress) this just might work!
Maybe -- just maybe -- by the time the Ides of March we can jump in.
Or am I too late to throw my hat in the ring?
Plenty of room in the pool, Margi!
There's no maximum number of participants. If 20 people want in, or 50, or 100, it's all good. The bet for each person never goes over $100, no matter how many total participants there are.
Any you can join right up through Ides of March Eve (that's the 14th by midnight, whatever your time zone is).
I have not smoked now for Two months, one week, four days, 22 hours, 15 minutes and 32 seconds. 2517 cigarettes not smoked, saving $503.49. Life saved: 1 week, 1 day, 17 hours, 45 minutes. I love my SilkQuit meter. (My quittin' was just one agonizin' hour at a time for a while, but now it only amounts to just a couple of excrutiatin' minutes a day I easily deal with by pullin' out strands of my remainin' hair. I have to admit that seein' my aunt walkin' 'round hooked up to an oxygen bottle this past Monday was stark reminder why I decided now was the time for me to kick that nasty habit.)