The title says, "ECF - Heading towards 10 million!
Prizes......" We know some lucky dog has won $600 of vaping stuff (how cool is that? I still hope it goes to a worthy soul) but that seems like false advertizing, it's only one prize, not prizes. What else do these folks have up their sleeves, eh? I gotta tell you though; trying to keep up on a dial up connection wasn't possible. You'd try to log in and suddenly find yourself drifting in the void, the really black one, though I swear I could hear muffled screams of frustration not far away. Suddenly you're snapped back into reality but the last page you were on is now 12 pages back from the leader. So you hit the last page button, screen goes to white for 50 seconds and then boom, you’re ahead of where you were but 16 pages behind the current leader. Somewhere I slipped in sideways "dial up really sucks" and
pfffft, back to the (really black) void double-time. Nothing happened for a while so hit "post quick reply" again. Get a message telling me something like I can't post the same thing within three minutes and they're face planting me on the very spot I committed the first offence.
Yeah, right. I scroll up and down the page and nary a word from me there, but 7 pages back from the lead again and no derogatory remarks about dial up. (Seriously unfair, dial up does suck). If I hadn't found myself adrift in subspace so often it would have been a riot. As it was, it was annoyingly extreme hilarity.
The real winners here are us. All of us. 10,000,000+ posts by folks from all over the world just trying to help each other off cancer sticks. This is a truly amazing place. From Big Wigs to Noobs, I salute you all. I've seen cultural, language and political barriers overcome here to help one another in a common goal; break free of “enhanced” tobacco products and live a longer, healthier, happier life. Many gain a new hobby as an added bonus and that’s always good for an extended, fulfilled life.
I'm sorry but it just blows my tiny mind that so many cross-sections of the world can willingly come together independently, under no duress, and make such a huge impact on other individuals with nothing more than a desire to learn, teach and share.
Not one of us asked for 7,000+ chemicals in our cigarettes. I don’t think I could name five of them and your local politician (left or right) probably couldn’t name three. ECF has done what many in the world wished they could do, and spent millions trying to accomplish, and failed.
I could not have quit smoking without ecigs. I tried everything. Everything. I was strong enough to be a firefighter, I was strong enough to save your loved ones, strong enough to save your livelihoods, strong enough to face death, but not strong enough to save myself alone.
So, long story short here at the end, this is a heartfelt love letter to all of you that have taken the time and effort to make enough of a difference in somebody’s life to encourage them to quit doing something that will eventually not only kill them, but send their survivors into financial ruin. The initial noob question may seem trivial and stupid, but somebody always makes an effort. Good on all of you with your selfless advice and knowledge, you’re saving more lives with words than I care to try to compare to in other, well, current events. I congratulate the winner whole-heartedly and honor all of you with deepest gratitude. This place rocks because of all of you.
Off my soapbox now. Have a great day!
I mean...EVERYONE knows the mailman doesn't come at 3'O clock in the morning.....Right? RIGHT?
