Who Says Women Can’t Chew Tobacco?

You may already know, from my last post, about my boat adventure with my fishermen buddies!  Which would mean you also know that I “dipped” for the first time.  Here’s how it went down:

I’m sitting on the boat, just watching my friends’ fish, when all at the same time they get out their cans o’ dip.  My friend looks up at me, almost like he just received some divine revelation, and says  ”Sarah.  Wanna dip?”  Taken aback by his question, I gave my instinctive response: “No!” After further encouragement from the bunch (and the whole, “I don’t wanna make you do anything you don’t wanna do” statement), I felt safe enough to try a little.

I wasn’t completely sheltered from this lifestyle, having Uncles’ and even a Grandma who dip, but I had never thought to try it myself.  So my friend comes up to me, gives me a little out of his can, and I put it in my lip…just like he told me.  At first, I didn’t see what the big deal was.  Nothing really happened; I just spit over the boat every once in a while, and the taste wasn’t too bad either.  Then my lip started to burn.  It came out of nowhere, and took me off guard!  So I put a little water in my mouth to maybe ease the burn…that didn’t really help, since it kind of just got swished around.  Then all of a sudden, I got dizzy (being on a moving boat, standing up, lightheaded and dizzy, is not exactly the perfect combination).  As I’m about to fall over, I quickly sit down on the boat.  I put my head in my hands, completely unaware of what was going on.  Then I hear laughter.  Apparently, they had forgotten to tell me that you get a little sensation the first few times you dip.

This “sensation” was more than just dizziness; I almost felt like, what I would imagine it feeling like, when you get a little drunk.  I felt like laughing, but I also felt kind of helpless, just waiting for the feeling to wear off.  I immediately grabbed the dip out of my mouth and threw it over the boat, and swished some water around in my mouth to get the rest out.  The men just stood there laughing at me, like “Oh, forgot to tell you about that.” ha.  I am fairly proud of my accomplishment though, seeing as how I didn’t even throw up.  I can’t say I would definitely do it again, but I’m happy I have the experience.  (Below is a picture my friend took of me right as I put the dip in my mouth).

When I got home I told this story to a lot of my friends and family.  The biggest reaction was “You’re a girl!” or “Only men should do that.”  It got me to thinkin… Why should men be the only one’s enjoying it?  If I liked it, then I’d probably do it again!  I don’t think there’s any moral basis on why you shouldn’t do it, only what’s “socially acceptable”.  Let me know what you think!