Do You Use Tobacco In Any Way Shape Or Form ?

     As I mentioned in a previous blog, when I was 19/20 years old after a Saturday night of trashing myself partying, I would get up Sunday morning and watch the televangelists on a 13"colour Hitachi T.V. I guess I was looking for answers but all I found were more questions. One of these spiritual used car salesmen that made the biggest impression on me was Ernest Angley (watch his video here, you'd think God could have grown him some hair or at least point him in the direction of a decent wig).

     Before Ernest would "heal" anybody by slapping them on the forehead and shouting,"EVIL SPIRITS COME OUT !!" or digging around in their ears with his fingers and yelling, "BAY-BEE !" back into them, he would often ask the afflicted if they used tobacco in any way, shape or form. I never knew exactly what he meant by that but the question always reminds me of Julian Nedeborski.

     At various times in my life I have experimented with tobacco in all it's incarnations- pipes, cigars (large and small), snuff, Red Man, Beech Nut etc. I smoked cigarettes from the time I was sixteen until I was twenty-two when quitting seemed like good idea. I took up chewing Skoal to help curb my nicotine cravings, it was like the original nicorette--it worked, I got off the butts. I remember the first time I tried Copenhagen when I was 19...  

    


     There was this Bob guy that worked at the same mobile home factory I did and I observed him one coffee time. He pulled a tin of  Copenhagen out of his shirt pocket, tapped the tin with his knuckle (to loosen the tobacco), remove the lid, pile up a good three finger pinch and stuff it between his lower lip and gum. Cool! I went out immediately after work and bought my first can. Racing back to the motel I was living in, I peeled off the lid and repeated Bob's exact routine- so far so good. After chewing it for about 30 seconds (more like sucking than chewing) I realized I took way too much for my first time. My mouth and lips were burning, my eyes were watering, I was so dizzy I could barely stand or see and soon raced out the front door for some profuse sweating and wracking dry heaves. It always makes me wonder how people stick with some of these habits when they're so difficult to start (remember inhaling your first smoke?).

    Anyhoo, this brings me to Julian. He worked at the same factory as Bob and I did. I knew he smoked cigarettes and by his occasional bulging lower lip I knew he chewed but you want to talk about using tobacco. One Saturday afternoon a buddy of mine and I walked into the Pilgrim House pub and saw Julian sitting by himself. Spread out on the table in front of him was a Zippo lighter, a package of Players filter cigarettes,  a pouch of Borkum Riff pipe tobacco, Swisher Sweets cigars, a tin of Copenhagen and he had a huge wad of chew in his yip and was honking on the pipe. Now like I said I've fooled around with every conceivable way of ingesting tobacco but not all at once. Never mind using it in any way shape or form... how about every way, shape and  form. I have to wonder whatever happened to Mr. Nedeborski... Ernest Angley maybe?