There was a guy in a truck next to me in the Walmart parking lot this afternoon. When I was taking the 5 quart bottle of engine oil I'd purchased out of my cart (buggy for you southerners) into my car I slightly hit it against his truck. I hadn't really noticed his truck at all, just that there was something next to me. After placing it in my car, I turned back to see if there was anybody in the vehicle. And there was, (window open, smoking in the driver's seat) so I just said "Sorry." He acknowledged it and said it was an old beat-up truck and it didn't matter, just as long as I was ok. I said it was only a soft plastic jug, so it probably didn't do any damage. He again said something to the effect that it wasn't a problem, it was an old truck and reiterated as long as I was ok. I found that really curious. "As long as I was ok." Am still left to try to understand that.
I noticed he was smoking a cigarette. Had a couple of teeth missing. I pondered whether to ask him if he ever wanted to quit. I thought - what the hell, what have I got to lose. I'm always afraid to ask "have you ever wanted to quit smoking?" to strangers. As a former smoker I know how I would immediately SHUT OFF and go into protective mode when anyone mentioned quitting. But I've still got some of these EX cards left and just took the chance.
And I asked him "You ever want to quit smoking?" He immediately said he wished he could quit. He has COPD. Had conquered - I THINK he said - the drinking addiction. Said he picked up drinking and cigarettes in the service. This was his last thing to overcome. I asked him if he had internet. He said he did. I said, "I want to give you something." And I went into my car and found one last EX card. I wrote my name on it. I said, "This is a great quit site. It's helped a lot of people. I smoked for 35 years a pack and a half a day. You CAN quit. Just check it out if you want. And that's my name on the site. If you do show up, just give me a shout." He took it and thanks me.
I was so elated and excited to find what seemed to be an open receptor there. And I couldn't shut up. I turned back and said, "You know, I still love the smell of a cigarette." I was trying to tell him, I GET IT! And I said "You know, it's so hard, because you don't want to turn somebody off, you can't MAKE them make the decision, it has to come from them, but I'm so afraid of saying anything because it makes people defensive,..." and he said something to the affect that his step son? or somebody - who has some kind of a problem, when you try to tell him what to do he just shuts off... so he "got that." He thanked me several times. I drove away feeling good in my heart. That I had at least tried. And who knows - maybe a seed was planted for a future harvesting period.
The whole point of this story is - don't be afraid to ask people if they've ever wanted to quit smoking. And don't be afraid to offer them this website as a way out. It could be just the thing they need to hear at that time in their lives to move them forward in that process. We never know.
exproductmgr Megan - Those old cards are really uninteresting (as you all know). I'm really looking forward to the new batch. And yes, I'd certainly be willing to purchase them as an individual. The WOW card is what has stuck in my mind as the most potent of the new graphic designs. Meanwhile, can we get more of the old ones?
========================
Update 6/18/19
Old Cards:
Front Back
NEW CARDS!!!
Get some for yourself: WALLET CARDS
