In Snus and in Life, Little Things Matter

Little things matter:  this is one of life’s simple truths. Two and a half years ago no one could have convinced me that first little dinky, dry Camel SNUS portion would change my life. A couple cans of Camel SNUS led to a few cans of Triumph snus, which wasn’t bad in the beginning, to a few days of internet searching and reading, from there to 2 orders of snus from a place called Sweden. Much to the dismay of my long-suffering wife, the rest is history. This is History that someday will lead to my being immortalized in the annals of snusdom as one of the pioneers of snus in America.

OK, that last may be a bit overboard, my ego is not quite that big. Close, but not quite.

Honestly though, we often ignore the little things in life;  the turning points that seem insignificant at the time, but in retrospect change everything. I didn’t buy that first can of SNUS with a plan to quit smoking and became a world famous internet author.  

What I knew of Sweden could be summed by Volvo, ABBA and some hot girls in bikinis on posters. I was pretty sure Denmark had a city that let one smoke marijuana and Norway was a country that I couldn’t find on a map, with hints.

I bought that first can of SNUS hoping to get my boss off my butt for smoking at work. I went to 3-4 cigs per day from 2 packs within a week of buying that first can of now-discontinued Triumph Snus. I dropped to one or two smokes a day in the hours after consuming my first portion of Ettan.  Nick & Johnny chased them off.  Think about that. Two Swedish guys are tougher than Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man.

Since then my life has changed dramatically. I no longer work for that company.There has been many physical changes to my life in the last 2.5 years. Mentally the changes have been even larger and more numerous. My outlook on life has mellowed in some ways and solidified in many others. I have made a bunch of acquaintances, 4 very good friends, who have been very helpful in many ways.

Julls sends me care packages from Germany now and then. I send him good American stuff he can’t get there. (Speaking of…Julls, whatever happened to those cigars you promised?)  Larry helped to support my snus habit last year when I was unemployed.  Feck helps with my history geek side and sends me odd snuffs now and then. Rick, well Rick is Rick; he’s like a brother to me and is always there if I need a good laugh or some strong snus. (Hey! is the mailman here yet?) AirOps from the forum helped greatly when I needed some help with graphics for space. These are all people I wouldn’t know if RJR hadn’t made SNUS.

I have become an advocate for the benefits of True Swedish snus. (Not Swedish style snus, not “perfected” snus, not “kinda, sorta made similar to genuine Swedish” snus.) Just Real Swedish snus. I have readers of this column in various parts of the world, I have some, relatively, important people in the US of A that read my ramblings also. None of which I could say without that first fateful, dinky .5 gram portion of over sweetened tobacco.

I am embarking on two projects that individually could change my life even more; together they will have profound effects. One involves my professional life, one involves my personal life. Both are classified beyond Top Secret at this point. (I believe both have been compromised by SnusCIA agents, who thankfully have been sworn to secrecy, only letting “L” know their discoveries, under threat of having their snus supply interrupted permanently!)  Regular readers of this column will know the extent of both in the fullness of time.

Do I have a point of this rambling bit of bad prognostication? Yes. Step back from the busyness of your life, pop in a big pris of lös snus and reflect on the little, seemingly insignificant, things that have changed your life. Smiling at that pretty girl, way back that became your wife or the Mother of your children.  Buying that first tin of snus or SNUS, or posting that review of Camel Dissolvables that led to 10’s of people waiting impatiently for your next article.

Be careful though.  Little things can work the other direction also. Flirting with the salesgirl at the furniture store may have bad consequences if your wife is standing right behind you. “Borrowing” content from other websites to fill blog space might come back to haunt you.   Ignoring that phone call from the lottery commission might be a bad idea also.

MICK HELLWIG

Snus Master
WHAT I THINK at SnusCENTRAL.org