I remember it like it was yesterday.

The first time I encountered Five Gum, I was enamored. Their commercial was so captivating. I couldn't believe what they were promising. After that fateful day back in '04, I swore an oath to my family never to chew gum every again and then this. It had been two years since my therapist said I was clinically cured. I felt better, sure, but I didn't dare tell em I still had cravings. That was a sure fire way to get sent back up state and I just couldn't handle that "treatment" again.

So I did what every ex-addict would do: turn the tv off, get some fresh air and divert my mind to something else. But it wasn't enough to get rid of the triggers. All of a sudden, my friends had these sleek black packages filled with gum wrapped in chromatic colors. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. This wasn't some Wriggley's off or Bazooka Joe clone. This was something different. This gum had style.

Yet, the past was burned into my psyche. I couldn't relapsed...not from all I'd been through...all my family had been through...but there I was holding the pack in my hand. $1.79 was all that stood in the way between me and the hardest substance I've ever had to resist.

FUCK IT!

I unwrapped a piece and put it in my mouth.

And it tasted like shit