Walmart...

[JJWilder]

I figure if everyone vapes in places that don't allow smoking, eventually the use of PVs will be banned in these locations also. Usually the only place I vape indoors where smoking isn't allowed is bars and clubs. In my area, its accepted at most of these locations by the staff.....sometimes you'll get a patron asking you what the hell you're doing, but after they see, they don't mind either.

I could definitely see some people going crazy at a grocery store or similar place about vaping. Some people just want to kill smokers.

 

[carpedebass]

I suppose I'm just used to the old smoking outdoors thing. I stealth vaped in the grocery store a couple of days ago and was so nervous, I was shaking. I guess I'm just used to being banned to the outdoors. Except at home, in the office, and in the car where people know that I'm not actually smoking.

 

[Badgerangel]

It's a matter of respect and acting responsibly, though. As a vaper, you may be the first contact someone has with vaping in general. The way you behave sets the standard for every other vaper out there right now, since we are really so few in number as of yet.

There are ways to protest banning et cetera such as calling your congressperson, holding legal protests, signing petitions, going to city council meetings on the matter and speaking there, rather than being disrespectful. Every time someone acts irresponsibly and enters an entitlement mindset, "I'm going to vape whether you say I can or not," they may be hurting the cause.

I want a world where I can vape publicly in Wal-Mart too, but right now, I'm respectful of their policies. I own my own business, and on my Facebook page, it states publicly that I reserve the right to refuse services to hate groups. That's my business practice, and my policy. Wal-Mart has a policy that right now, includes vaping, so until they are better educated about it and change their policy through letters, petitions, et cetera, I respect their policy.

Make sense? I hope so. Not meaning to step on anyone's toes or anything.

 

[Tendril]

When I'm in a bar, as long as I can easily talk to the bartender, I always ask first. I've never been told no. Once in a Buffalo Wild Wings the bartender said she would ask the manager and it was OK. I've never vaped in a restaurant; nicotine kills my appetite

Grocery stores, on the other hand, are a different matter. I vape openly, but I make sure to draw a lot of air into my lungs and blow it at my feet afterward just to not make a scene. I've never been asked about it, but employees often approach me and ask if I need help. I think once they get close enough to know I'm not smoking they think it's pretty neat. At the local Dominic's I've gotten to know the night manager this way. The first time we met I was just grabbing a bottle of scotch and we chit-chatted all the way to the register about unrelated stuff, me respectfully-stealth style vaping the whole time. Last time I saw him I was looking for tea lights and I've never been treated so courteously; he had an employee check one side of the store while we looked through their seasonal selection. Again, I was vaping all the while but being as discreet as I can with 100% VG. I vape in the Jewel, too. I haven't been to a Walmart for years so I haven't tried it there. One place I don't bother, though, is at Trader Joe's simply because the store I go to is so small that other people would be walking through it (the vapor)

In my experience, non-smokers who disapproved of my smoking before love the PV. Cigarette smokers, especially those who have quit, on the other hand often get very hostile, either raising their voice and stating that nicotine is the problem or by spouting homophobic nonsense (saying PVs are gay, accusing me of being gay, etc ...

 

[curiousJan]

What do you all call your e cigarettes in public? I don't normally vape in public, but if I do I'd prefer to use a word that doesn't include "cigarette."

I call it what it is ... a Vaporizer

 

[chet]

I look at them, drop my PV into my shirt pocket, and tell them I'm not smoking. The looks I get when I drop a "hot cigarette" into my pocket are priceless. Depending on the WTF reaction, I may take the PV back out to show them what it is and give them a quick course in Vaping 101.

I like that

 

[Mindless Sheep]

continue to vape. There is nothing they can do.

 

[Tendril]

continue to vape. There is nothing they can do.

Well- Yes, there is. Walmart could decided not to let people vape in their store. That's exactly what I don't want to happen. It's their store and it's their right to say you can't vape in it

 

[curiousJan]

Well- Yes, there is. Walmart could decided not to let people vape in their store. That's exactly what I don't want to happen. It's their store and it's their right to say you can't vape in it

Yes, they do. And if they proceed to make that ignorant and uninformed decision, I will choose to shop elsewhere.

Jan

 

[QBass]

The employees at my local Walmart are absolutely fine with my vaping in the store. The first time I entered with my pv, I specifically asked the greeter where I could find vegetable glycerin to make my own personal vaporizer liquid. I chatted with him about how the pv finally allowed me to quit smoking, and how it's great that it doesn't have carcinogens or pollute the air around me. Once I realized he was interested (everyone knows someone that would love to quit smoking), I very intentionally pulled my pv out to show it to him and made a big atomic mushroom 'just so he could see the vapor'. He got a tiny bit freaked out by the cloud, but it was in a co-conspiratorial sort of way, as he knew it was for his benefit that I did it. I told him that it's tough vaping in public because it looks so much like smoking. He said he understood that and wished me luck as I headed into the store. He also had no idea where VG would be or what it even is.

I asked the same thing to a group of 4 employees that were 'having a meeting' in an isle near cosmetics, as that's where I expected the VG to be. One of them knew where it was (not in cosmetics ), and the conversation had already turned to my vaping due to my quickly explaining the nature of my search, so we all headed over to the isle with the VG. One of the ladies was really happy to hear what I was doing with the VG, as she bought a cheapo pv at the local smoke shop and has been having trouble getting along with it. Show and tell ensued and that conversation went on a lot longer than the one with the greeter. I suspect the stock-person with the poor vaping experience has been lurking in here lately. I gave her a few cards from various vendors I'd ordered from and wrote the forum address on the back of one for her.

All of this leads me to believe the Walmart has broadcast no official stand on vaping, as no employee at the store has said a thing to me about it.

Anyhoot, nearly all of the employees working the late shifts know me as a vaper by now and are cool with it. I've struck up conversations with most of them on the pretext of finding food flavorings, batteries, electronics project boxes and other things to mod, or what have you related to vaping. It's usually easy to strike up a conversation with strangers if you're asking them for help. On occasion, I intentionally let the ones I have spoken with see me comically hiding my pv when another customer comes into view, as I believe it furthers their sense of comradery and empathy with me, and by proxie, all vapers. Also, they probably wouldn't be quite so cool with my vaping if random customers started taking offense, whether based upon ignorance or not.

Protests come in as many flavors and strengths as e-liquid does.

 

[Tendril]

Yes, they do. And if they proceed to make that ignorant and uninformed decision, I will choose to shop elsewhere.

Jan

Yep, you can absolutely shop elsewhere. Like I said in my first post in this topic: I haven't shopped at Walmart in years. I would be very alarmed though if they banned e-cig use. Walmart is one of the most visible corporations out there. They are successful and as such emulated. I intend to use PVs for years and the last thing I want is a metaphorical avalanche of establishments choosing to follow and perpetuate a trend of banning vaporizers. Just because you don't shop at Walmart doesn't mean Walmart doesn't have a large effect on your shopping elsewhere

 

[pdwallace]

As I am finally posting for the first time I would like to say that I have been a lurker here for 7 months. 30 minutes after receiving my eGo I quit smoking and have been analog free for 4 months. A big Thank You to ECF and its members for all the info and comfort I have found here!

Where applicable, I ask first. Where it's not applicable I stealth vape. When I'm asked about it, I tell them it's my inhaler. If questioned further, I tell them it's my nicotine inhaler and it has saved my life after 28 years of smoking. When I am met with criticism, I educate in a respectful manner. If I am asked not to vape, I don't go back to that place or I use the bathroom to take a few hits. We are the face of vaping and it's up to us to make a good impression. Respect breeds respect and most people don't have a problem with it, they just need to be educated.

I bar-tend 3 nights a week and many of my patrons vape at the bar while smokers go outside. I have sold 17 Ego kits to friends and patrons, most of whom have successfully quit smoking. I recently had a girl in the bar who has been vaping for a year or so on a 510. I asked if she wanted to try my eGo with a tasty RY4, she declined. I later found out that she told a patron that the eCig I was using was full of bad chemicals. I had to educate her to the fact that it had nothing to do with hardware and just because she ordered her carts pre-filled, didn't mean she had a better or healthier product. She didn't even know that PV's use ejuice, or that you could refill a cartomizer. People fear what they don't know, education is the key.

 

[Ralikar]

If you make vaping annoy people it will be banned and taken away... There's no reason to push it and try to vape in every spot 24/7.

 

[MrsCasey]

As smokers, or former smokers, we have been vilified and ostracized for years. I realize it is tempting to some of us to be "in your face" and cause arguments with anti smokers but that only serves to ensure they will have a negative opinion of ecigs and the people who use them. Isn't the argumentative, self-righteous, indignant behavior of some anti smokers exactly what makes us so put off by them? Should we behave the same way? In all honesty don't some of us who use ecigs to quit analogs also find smoking distasteful? We, as some of the initial ecig users, have an excellent opportunity and a big responsibility to introduce people to ecigs in a friendly, positive, informative way. You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar! To all you who say this is - backing down/bowing to pressure/not standing up for what you believe in, I disagree. This is a plan of action. Make no enemies, kill them with kindness, create opportunities to teach. IF that doesn't work, I will gladly stand up and fight. That's my two cents.

 

[curiousJan]

Yep, you can absolutely shop elsewhere. Like I said in my first post in this topic: I haven't shopped at Walmart in years. I would be very alarmed though if they banned e-cig use. Walmart is one of the most visible corporations out there. They are successful and as such emulated. I intend to use PVs for years and the last thing I want is a metaphorical avalanche of establishments choosing to follow and perpetuate a trend of banning vaporizers. Just because you don't shop at Walmart doesn't mean Walmart doesn't have a large effect on your shopping elsewhere

I also intend to use my vaporizer for years. I behaviorally trained myself to stress release by smoking, and I did it over 20+ years. I've yet to discover if I can go 0-nic; I'll cross that bridge if I come to it. I have, on the other hand, cut my nic levels in half since I started vaping more than 18 months ago.

I don't want that avalanche to happen either ... and I don't believe that it will. As worrisome as some of the trends that I see in our society and government are, I do not believe that the law of the land will allow pure emotionally based judgments to be rendered into law. Science backs us as vapers. There are studies that have been done that support everything that we know about the differences between vaping and smoking. There are also studies that are negative wrt vaping ... many, if not most, if not all, of which have been quite readily and quickly proven flawed or otherwise discredited. As an American I have to believe that Science will prevail here.

Wrt to the original topic, I stealth vape or straight-out ask. I will not patronize a business in which I am refused, though. As a consumer that is my right and my only means to express my opposition to their chosen business practice. I've only been refused once, for the record.

As long as we are courteous and respectful there should be no issue. There are people who can do that and those who can't ... that's just LIFE.

Jan

 

[DC2]

This......

I'm all for sneaking a puff here and there in an empty grocery store isle, but I never make a spectacle of myself in places I can't smoke. The truth is, most non vapers don't have a clue what we're doing, or even what vaping is. Once people understand, it's a much easier sell. Problem is, if we generate complaints before people take the time to learn about ecigs, then it's easier for places to simply ban vaping then to learn about it. And like it or not there's not enough vapers to make a dent in the sales numbers of a place like walmart lol, so our position trying to get them to change any anti-vaping policies down the road would be pretty weak. So I for one will continue sneaking around, invisible ninja Vapist!

And also this.......

Way to crumble under the weight of self-image and social/governmental/corporate biases. What are you overweight folk out there gonna do when you're ostracized and taxed for being so (check out NY and Kalif; that's not counting medical insurance companies)?

Lil' story fer ya'll:

I can remember when Florida would ticket motorcyclists for not wearing helmets. But yet during that same period, when some large motorcycle clubs gathered and traversed the Sunshine Skyway without helmets, the state and local counties had the FHP, Pinellas and Manatee County sheriff deputies escort the them over the bridge... not one helmet was worn by the club members and not one citation was issued! Why... think about it!

How did they get away such a grievous, in your face and illegal action? Massive civil disobedience! Forward to today, no Florida MC helmet laws.

BTW, do I wear a helmet when riding an MC? Yepper, but by my choice!

So continue to duck into the restrooms, fitting rooms or step outside 15 feet/miles/counties/states to take a PV break. You're missing out on a terrific opportunity to educate the clueless, even if it doesn't do any good. If you do nothing, then don't come on here b*tchin' about your 'no vape here' experience.

On the other hand, when 'challenged', be polite, respectfully ask for permission, explain your stand and comply with the resultant decision.


Day-um, guess I'm really gettin' crotchety in my advanced years. But I'm VERY tired of having someone else making my decisions. Whatever happened to the days when the air was clean and sex was dirty?

This doesn't have to be all or nothing.
Find a balance, be polite, use common sense.

And if you can't be polite, or don't have common sense, please don't try to be an electonic cigarette advocate.

 

[breaktru]

This thread is turning in to a Novel. Is this War and Peace?

 

[curiousJan]

This doesn't have to be all or nothing.
Find a balance, be polite, use common sense.

And if you can't be polite, or don't have common sense, please don't try to be an electonic cigarette advocate.

+10 for this!

 

[Wooden indian]

I see those "encounters" as an opportunity to educate the folks on what vaping is. No need to get snippety with them because their ignorant, but don't just roll over, tuck your tail, and mope away, either. Like other posters have said... There is a happy medium.
Just be polite. Who knows.... Maybe you can lead them or someone they know into vaping over smoking.
/My .02

 

[Eternityroad]

At Walmart I stealth vape. I usually go into an aisle that has no shoppers, do a nice healthy vape and continue with my shopping.