Us as vapers come to interact one way or another with someone who is a cigarette smoker. Being a vaper myself I more often than not have the urge to help one quit and take on vaping instead. What is the best way to interact with the smoker if you have the desire to help them quit cigarettes without being rude to them?
There are different scenarios that one can come across regarding who the person is that they are trying to help quit smoking. First off, say you see someone smoking outdoors. Obviously going over to them and telling them smoking is dangerous can be viewed as flat out rude and uncalled for even if you're correct that smoking is very dangerous for him or her. But is there a way that one can actually approach a stranger on the street and convince them the vape? There is also the aquatence/casual friend who's a smoker. It maybe seem easier to get them to vape. How would you possibly get them to take on vaping while still not getting too personal? When it comes to friends and family that smoke, you know them well so speaking to them is easier. What's the most ideal approach to get them to quit?
This topic relates to me because I have a few friends who were a smoker that I helped start vaping. Unfortunately one of them still smokes cigarettes but even with him he smokes a lot less than he had smoked in the past so I accomplished something. It's all about that desire to help spread what worked for us to the unfortunate others. We may not be able to change the whole world but we can definitely change people's lives around us with the same thing that changed our life.
I was the first person in my family and circle to vape. WHEN I was successful, many started asking questions which I gladly answered, and I left it at that, for a while.
Then a friend of mine spoke to me after I'd been one year successful and said how she would give anything to quit smoking too. I sent her some links to her phone of what I told her she needed to buy, and told her about all the things I did to make quitting easier and she quit smoking two weeks later.
After that, it was one by one by one. My sister in law was next, I gave her the same set up as a gift that I sent my friend a link to when she was asking about it.. her and her husband both ended up quitting. She had problems, but mentioned them when she was visiting and I was able to fix her problem for her during that visit. She never picked up a cigarette again.
My son and husband were last in my family. Last Christmas I decided my son needed to vape. He was having money problems and was spending a fortune on cigarettes.. he knew I vaped and had regularly teased me about plugging in my cigarettes etc. And I teased him about being behind the times.. all in good fun, but last Christmas I decided he needed to give it a shot, and spending money on a three pack a day habit he was going to need some help. So I put together a box of some vape gear for him to try and sent it, along with everything he needed.. he didn't like lower wattage so I bought him a sub ohm kit, and that was all she wrote for him. He actually called me one day and said "dang, who knew vaping could be so much fun!" Then he laughed at himself for laughing at me.. now we get to tease each other about the way we vape.. (he's a cloud chasers and I'm a low wattage vaper.. fun ensues!)
Well that sealed my husband's fate.. he decided if my son was happy with it then he might try it again (he didn't like the ego when he once took a drag, and I had since graduated from that) so one day he took a drag off my p3, and promptly stole it from me.. lol.
Anyway, so now that the men are doing it, more and more are wanting to get into it.. apparently people realize now that it's not just a girly thing, but something that works, and I am now the go to quit smoking advice person in our area.
For strangers, they come up to me when I'm outside in public vaping and ask me questions about it.. I don't approach people I don't know, but last doctors visit I attracted a small crowd when standing outside vaping. First one man came up to talk to me about it, then a couple joined in when they were outside smoking, then another guy, then another. Suddenly we were all standing around talking and one by one I was answering their questions about vaping. In the end I passed out cards to vape shops online, and gave them some advice as to what to buy to start out.
This kind of thing happens more and more..I'm never pushy, I don't have to be. They only person I actually ever kind of pushed was my son, and that only because he really couldn't afford cigarettes at that time. He can afford them now, but never went back to it, he likes vaping too much.
I do give away kits, sometimes tanks, and help people all I can though. Sometimes I just buy stuff for them and have them pay me back.. depends on the person.
