Almost kicked out of a concert for vaping with the rest of the smokers

[Madcowvt]

A friend and myself went to see Kill Switch Engage last Saturday night in NY at a venue called Upstate Concert Hall. Everything was great and we were enjoying ourselves until I went outside with the smokers to have a few tokes on my box mod and Mutation X.

I was talking and vaping with people and even some security staff. I even had someone interested in vaping and ask to try the device. All of a sudden a security guy came up to me and asked "what is that". I explained and he immediately started puffing his chest asking me to leave the venue. HI again tried to explain and showed him the juice and ingredients. I am all for the safety of the patrons and understand it is 'Their house' to make sure things go well but this guy just could not be reasoned with. He had the attitude that I must have been doing wrong instead of listening and trying to understand.

Keep in mind that I was polite through the whole conversation and respectful as I understand the people they have to deal with as I saw first hand on and off all night. In the end he allowed me to go to my car and and put it away. I was allowed back in.

Upon receiving an email to review the show and venue I suggested they educate their staff as e-cigs are not going away. Ironically enough I saw people using more traditional e-cigs through the night outside and no one said a word. Lucky me i suppose

 

[Treborsmug]

First off. The jerk was a 'wannabe' couldn't cut the grade or pass the test to be a cop. So now he's just an idiot at large. I'd drag the agency through the mud if I was you.

 

[Steamix]

Yeah, reminds me of some TSA yokels - give 'em a sliver of 'power' and some revert mentally to schoolyard bully...

Easy to deal with : Offer to call the police on the premises to have your '....oil' analyzed. Then make it clear that his employer will hear from your lawyer about slander and false accusations with a hefty claim for damages

 

[electravaprNC]

It is unfortunate that we get grouped with those who use other products, but until education happens, it will continue to be that way.

 

[LMS62]

First off. The jerk was a 'wannabe' couldn't cut the grade or pass the test to be a cop. So now he's just an idiot at large. I'd drag the agency through the mud if I was you.

The general public is, unfortunately, still very uneducated when it comes to vaping. On a side note.....Most concert security staff do it as a part-time gig for extra $$$$$ versus an alternative to being law enforcement.

 

[philoshop]

Sorry you had to go through that. Thanks for handling it well.

 

[ReigntheGamer]

Man that sucks, but it sounds like you handled it well and got to enjoy the rest of the show. It's not fair that we are lumped into that crowd due to ignorance, but it's just another classic case of the actions of a few making it hard on the many.

 

[Madcowvt]

After speaking with a few people they mentioned that there are many venues that are actually frowning on and not allowing e-cigs (meaning in the smokers area even outside). This just doesn't make any sense to me at all.

 

[*deleon517*]

Key word is NYC where you can even smoke in a public park. They have been really running with the no smoking and the no e-cig campaigns in public area's not just building. One guy in upstate ny even got a ticket for vaping while driving, since it's a electronic device the officer saw it fit to pull him over.

Im originally from there and its a place governed by fear, still remember when they were proposing the ban on 2L bottles of soda being sold.

 

[MrPlink]

Well given the stringent qualifications one needs to be a security guard I must say I am shocked. . . .

This is the reason I am kinda hesitant to take box mods with attys that are capable of producing considerable cloudage out in public.
Not to say I dont, but I certainly dont like the attention.

Im from San Francisco but live in Portland now. In SF it was not that big of a deal, if anything you meet a lot other vape enthusiasts that way.
In Portland it is almost completely foreign and novel to have anything above an EGO set up.

On a side note how was KSE? I saw them quite a few times way back before Howard was on vocals, and even a few times with Howard. Im pretty out of the loop now will all things metal and HC.

 

[Madcowvt]

@mrplink....

KSE rocked as usual. Great show all around. I'm impartial to Howard or Jesse as they are both really good.

 

[James Wilson]

Knowing me I'd have told him to f off and pointed to the people with cigalikes. If he still gave me problems I would have just left the place. Then I would have done everything I could to drag the venue's name through the mud. It is a freaking concert for god sake. I wonder how many people got away with smoking doobies in there. If they should have been after anyone it should have been those. Those right there they could be sure are against the rules. You were outside vaping annd not doing anything wrong. They singled you out because you were different. Not a part of the crowd. Something which isn't right. Unfortunately that is how many of them are. They look for the ones that stick out the most and target them.

 

[crxess]

Maybe he was moonlighting from his Day job at the FDA

 

[relapse]

I'm rather surprised actually. Being from the deep south I kinda assume new York to be farther ahead than us as far as matters like this go. I went to see 5fdp last month in Mississippi and had no issues with my mech @.3 Had a few people look at me funny when blowing clouds, but there were a handful of massive clouds being blown around. Staff was all over the people actually smoking in the crowd, but didn't give any vapers an issue from what I saw.

Sorry you had to go through the concert without it though. That would have really upset me to say the least.

 

[samturdo]

im a security guard so i can relate to this...was there any rule that ecigs arent allowed? obviously not, or they werent being enforced (the people with cigalikes and the other security that you were talking to and didnt seem to have a problem with it). so it was his own ambition to try to be the cool guy and look like he was doing something productive.

heres how it works: if you look busy, and are annoying people and arent contributing to any good, you arent doing your job. if you dont look busy and nothing wrong is happening then you are doing your job. if you dont look busy and stuff is happening around you that shouldnt be happening, youre not doing your job. if you look busy and are actually keeping peace/enforcing rules/answering questions etc you are doing your job.

so im assuming hes either new and didnt know any better or was just trying to show off to other security/the boss/random people, i dont know. but if there was no rule that says you cant vape, he has no right to tell you not to. you dont have to leave if he tells you to as long as you are confident you are doing nothing wrong. if he wants to call the police, let him, hes only going to make a fool of himself. if not, then he knows hes wrong and he will have to give it up anyway.

you could have stayed there and vaped if you wanted to

 

[ProjektMayhem]

Man that sucks to be threatened to be thrown out of a concert because of vaping. Perfect example of ignorance to vaping right there. I mean if I was a non vaper and non smoker I probably wouldn't care to learn about vaping either. But, when you're talking about throwing someone out of a concert that they paid for because they're vaping and you're trying to educate the person on what you're doing then that's just stupid of him. But good for you for handling it well. That just shows what we're up against with the whole FDA thing.