Last year when I first tried out the Joye 510s, the little ones, not the ego, I was working in my parent's video game retail store. We had a whole wall of TVs with those high end video gaming chairs (the $500 a piece ones.) I'd sit in there when it was slow and I had other people on, testing out various games to put reviews on our facebook. (tried to keep it updated once a day.) Instead of getting up from my seat and needing to go outside to smoke, I could just vape away while playing a game. So, I'd sometimes be sitting in there, in a cloud of vapor (we also had laser tag in the building, so there was also actual fog machines running...lol) and inevitably some upppity soccer mom would come in with her snot faced brat of a spoiled child, and cause a fuss about "smoking in a retail store."
The funniest one involved a cop. I know most of the cops in town, working downtown in a video game store...yeah, they all came in eventually as shoppers, so they'd often hang out for a few minutes, pull up a stool, and chat. One of the younger officers was in chatting with me, and I pulled out my vapor and started vaping in front of him, we had that kind of friendly relationship that I knew it was fine. I didn't know he had also quit smoking and switched to vaping. He pulls out his own e-cig and added to my clouds of flavor. A woman with an obvious NYC accent comes in wearing her ski jacket with her passes dangling, with 3 kids in tow. The kids were whining and fighting, so when she first entered the store she hadn't noticed us at the cash wrap. I called out a greeting to her, welcomed her to the store, and told her if she needed any help just wave me over.
Officer "Jones" , I'll call him, just took a puff and commented quietly to me his dislike for the tourist industry of our state. I just giggled and we went back to our conversation. I could tell she wasn't the type of person who wanted the help hovering, so I just let her wonder around. The kids were hell on two legs, they were running around the store, climbing on things, messing with the tvs and systems. I had to go physically remove a couple of children from areas they weren't supposed to be in, and I told the woman to control her children or leave the store with them. I felt a little emboldened anyway with Officer Jones at my back in case she got rowdy.
She instead flips out on me and starts trying to threaten to take Officer Jone's badge number and report him for smoking in a public place. Of course diverting attention from her own ill behaved rug rats. I calmly told her "Ma'am, these are vapor devices, not real cigarettes. These are not illegal to use in public areas as they are not emitting smoke, but water vapor which is harmless to both the vapor and people around them. Isn't that correct Officer?" Jones agreed with me.
The woman was feeling some strong emotions cause her head looked like it might explode off her shoulders. "Well, I've never been treated so rudely before. If it's not illegal it should be. My children shouldn't be subjected to chemicals in the air and the vision of people smoking. I'm never shopping here again, and I want the number to your corporate office."
I just chuckled at this. I couldn't even get angry at how ridiculous she was being. "I'm sorry, but this is a family business, and right now, I'm the boss. I could give you my parent's number, but I'm going to call them as soon as you leave the store and tell them the entire story, so when you finally do call them, in your angry tirade, who do you think they are going to believe? You, an angry New Yorker customer with a hoard of brats, or their child? And as for losing your business, you were going to buy what? a couple movies, so $6, and maybe you'd bring your monsters back to play video games or laser tag, which I don't think I'd even let them do either due to their behavior, so maybe another $20. I think we can do without your $26 worth of sales, and really, you're not going to be talking to our customer base, cause your a tourist. So if I have to take your attitude for $26 in sales, I'll lose the money. Thanks, but no thanks, take your brats and leave my store."
With that she huffed out in a hailstorm of cuss words, all three whining children trailing behind. They were upset because they wanted to play games for a little while before dinner.
Aside from when I was working there, I was vaping when I'd normally smoke. I don't normally smoke when I go shopping, cause I need two hands. I vape in the car between stores. I'll vape in a restaurant, or a bar, and I rarely get questions. Around my area you're likely to already see a few people vaping in public. So I am generally comfortable doing it where ever. The local population around town rarely has issue with vaping, it's generally the tourists from the other New England states that take issue with it and are very friggin vocal.
I did vape one time in TJ Maxx's dressing room, while waiting for my daughter to try things on. The dressing room attendant, an older woman, looked a little disturbed at the sight of white clouds out of my mouth. I smiled and explained what it was and that it was nothing harmful for her or would it make the area smell bad. She walked over closer and took a sniff of the vapor, and commented that it smelled like strawberries, and that it was nice. She asked some questions cause her daughter was a smoker. I vape with confidence because I'm not doing anything wrong. So if I'm not looking all guilt sitting there trying to sneak my peeps and do stealth vaping, I just don't. Most people aren't going to be confrontational. But you'll get about 10% of the people who will say snarky or downright rude things. I just stay calm and speak rationally because I'm not in the wrong. I generally avoid fist fights that way. When people give me that look, the angry one of which you speak, I will go so far as to give them a big grin and sometimes a happy wave. Usually embarrassment hits them and they will stop look at me, sometimes it does initiate a confrontation though...so beware with that one.
