History Of The Cyber Trout (A True Troutnut1 Tale)

From:   troutnut1 on 10/17/2005 6:59:19 PM  

I’d always cheated on previous quits. Like a guilty little child I’d sneak out behind the woodshed where Mrs. Troutnut wouldn’t see me to have “just one”. Or figure I could grab a quick “just one” while I was at the river fishing. Or I’d find something to do out in the garage while I snuck another “just one”. Often I’d hide the half smoked “just one” in a secret place, so I could have the “just one” again later too, and still maintain the count of “one”. I’m still finding those half smoked butts almost 5 years later. And of course, the outcome of my quit was always the same. A boat load of aggravation and frustration, followed of course by the guilt, shame, and remorse of a failed quit.  

When I finally figured it out (that quitting involves NOT smoking!) I wanted to find a way to share that newfound knowledge with our precious newbies. It seems like it should have been obvious. But it wasn’t. At least for me. And maybe it wouldn’t be obvious for someone else either. I could tell by watching the good Quitsters at the Q that our precious newbies would quickly divide into two distinct groups. Those that took that FIRST puff. And those that didn’t take that FIRST puff. With radically different success rates. And unfortunately, I found the “meter” or the “gadget” to be of little help in creating the incentive to stay away from that FIRST puff, at least for large numbers of our newbies. People cheated. They didn’t reset. They called them “slips”. They reasoned that if they didn’t like the taste, or if the cause was sufficiently good (or bad), or that they were drunk, that it shouldn’t count. And with my historical record, I was certainly in no position to argue with them. But still…my experience screamed that this approach and attitude was doomed to failure. I had tried it myself so very many times. Had there been a loophole in the law of addiction, I would certainly have found it in my 35 years of experimentation. So I wanted a better way. My experience told me that if one could just avoid that FIRST puff for a full 7 days that the odds would dramatically alter in their favor. But the only thing I had to offer them was fresh Montana trout. And shipping the real thing presented two problems. One was the obvious problem. Yuck! And two was that I always release Montana trout keeping only a photo. So I started taking my digital camera with me on my daily fishing trips and snapping photos of my catch. These I offered to those good Quitsters who managed to make a FULL 7 days WITHOUT TAKING THAT FIRST PUFF of nicotine.  

One could (and still can I guess) do whatever they wanted with the meter. But the trout had (and has) a zero tolerance policy. That was it’s sole purpose in life. ZERO puffs, over 7 full days, to earn one. A true miracle for any addict of the drug nicotine. And accepting the trout is your certification, on the honor system, that you have in fact completed 7 full, consecutive days, without taking a single puff of nicotine. In the earlier days of Quitnet I used to send unique, individual trout photos taken specifically for the individuals earning them. Rainbows, Browns, Cutthroat, and Bull trout of all different sizes. For a time we could even include full color photos of these fish right into Qmails and lots of these were done. Other times it was done with links. And I generally made up poems to go with the trout. I’m certain there are still some out there that were printed up or kept somehow. I’d love to see one if you still have it. But as the community here grew, individual custom cyber trout became too labor intensive. So I turned over the distribution of the trout to the community here. My job now is just to keep catching them…and of course, to not take that FIRST puff, one day at a time. Today the trout is awarded in its symbol form (>) with many variations. And this form is very special too. It was first given to me by a Montana Quitster friend who has since passed away from lung cancer. She’s helping now to catch enough trout to fill the demand here.  

Is it silly for us to go that extra mile, sometimes hell itself, just to complete the 7 days and get our hands on a fresh Montana cyber trout? Maybe. But not near as silly as me thinking for 35 years that happiness was death, and poison, in a white paper tube.  

As the little trout nears its five year (now fifteen year) anniversary, I’d like to track its travels. If you have been helped in some way by the trout, I’d sure love to hear a little about your miracle! Qmail, email, or share your story here. Stay away from that FIRST puff and you’re guaranteed to go to bed as a WINNER tonight! 

Your fishy friend in Montana, Troutnut1 (Dennis)