Anyone Else Get Embarrassed

[LemJe]

Embarrassed might be to strong of a word, maybe self concious.

So I am out and about in my little town with my Provari with a Vivi Nova on it vaping away and I noticed a lot of people looking at me funny. Granted I am a funny looking guy but I never had people stare at me. My only conclusion is that they are wondering what the heck I keep sticking in my mouth.

I don't mind explaining my e-cig to people when they ask about it but I can't help but feel a little akward with the people that just stare at me.

I work in law enforcement and the first time I brought the thing to work people were asking me if I had some kind of drug device. They even pulled out the drug sniffing K9 joking with me.

Anyway I just wondering if anyone else got a little self conscious when they are out in public with their apv?

 

[pathogenix]

I'm pretty well used to people looking at me funny, so I don't care. I try to even up the balance by looking funny at people with cigarettes.

 

[kiwivap]

Yes, and I know I shouldn't but I do. And that's just been at work when I started taking my 650mah X2 in. When I have to go out to other places during the day I take my Volts - they vape great and are more discreet.
Not saying you shouldn't take your provari to work - do whatever suits you. But yes, I can understand the feeling.

 

[hairball]

No, I don't feel awkward. I proudly parade it around. How else are people going to know about vaping if we don't become a walking billboard?

 

[eagarcia123]

living in los angeles, people do look at me funny when I have my telescope, twist, or gripper. they would normally ask me if I have drugs in it so they can take hit. when I tell them its an e cig, they have disappointed faces

 

[user808a]

Stop staring at the other people staring at you, problem solved.

 

[Baditude]

When I first started vaping, I used the Smokeless Image Volts, the cigalikes, because I mistakenly believed I would be self-conscious of using something bigger in public. Well, I found out that people don't pay any attention to you vaping, no matter if you use a cigalike or a huge mod like a Silver Bullet with a 7ml tank on it.

Maybe the people where I live are just too busy to be paying attention. I vape everywhere with my BB, Silver Bullet, or Provari. I bring one grocery shopping, to festivals and concerts, sporting events, etc. I'm in my late 50's and my devices look nothing like a cigarette.

I rocked with my lanyarded BB and handheld Provari at the Journey, Pat Benetar, and Loverboy outdoor concert at Riverbend a month ago. I did get a few looks there as I'm sure people were wondering if I had some new device to smoke wacky tobaccy in, but I believe it was more a curiousity thing than anything else. But one fellow in-the-know remarked with the thumbs up and comment, "I see you're rock'n your vaporizer tonight! Congrats on quitting the stinkies!"

The only time people paid any attention and joked about my "hooka pipe" or "stash pipe" was a going away party for a co-worker at an outdoor bar/pub. I had my Provari and tank in my hand continuously. I answered people's questions honestly and with a little sense of humor myself. Everyone thought it was great that I had been able to quit cigarettes because of the switch to vaping.

 

[ShogaNinja]

I suppose if one's APV looks like it belongs in the drawer of a woman's nightstand that could be a little embarrassing.

 

[bradleythesprog]

New to e-cigs myself and yes some looks can be strange, i just remind myself that its for my health, same as all new things peolple will grow accustomed

 

[meli.]

No, I don't feel awkward. I proudly parade it around. How else are people going to know about vaping if we don't become a walking billboard?

I sometimes feel awkward, I find the billboard quite cumbersome and doesn't really stop people from staring.

 

[chrisromano590]

yes i know the feeling all to well. i live in the philadelphia area and while there is supposed to be other vapers around there are literally none in my life. people at my work finally dont laugh at me for my devices i bring with me. most common comment is, is that a (MODERATED) . and when i am out and about most people have no idea what i am doing. my smoker friends have all tried my devices and liked them but i cant convince them to make the switch. but all the same i enjoy mods, tanks, cartos, and all the goodies of ecig community.

 

[sneakyfeet]

give them the stink eye...it works well in all situations

 

[Danana]

aye to my shame, in public i have been known to use an analogue vaper

 

[peraspera]

I work in law enforcement and the first time I brought the thing to work people were asking me if I had some kind of drug device. They even pulled out the drug sniffing K9 joking with me.

Anyway I just wondering if anyone else got a little self conscious when they are out in public with their apv?

I only use a cig-alike in public. Vaping was a miracle for me in quitting cigarettes. While I would not be the slightest bit embarrassed to use any vaping device in public I don't want to tarnish the image of vaping by using anything that is most likely to be construed as something associated with the use of illegal substances. If that is someone's first impression of vaping you are fighting an uphill battle to convince people that vaping is a vastly superior alternative to smoking. I'm out to win hearts and minds rather than creating adversaries.

 

[vsummer1]

Nope. I have the attitude of "it's not MY misconceptions, I am not doing anything wrong, I am not hurting anyone" so why in the world would I give a hoot what other people think?

The more of us who vape like it is the most normal thing in the world the sooner people will get used to them.

 

[chrisalis]

I like the billboard- where can I get one

 

[PosingOwl]

Truthfully, I do feel a little weird about vaping in public. I also live in Germany and my experiences here is that if you do anything out of the norm you are wrong. Don't get me wrong I love Germany but just some of my experiences. I have a lavatube.

 

[grandmato5]

Nope, no embarrassment here to use in public my APV's that look nothing like a cigarette. I am happy and proud I gave up smoking. I dont want people to think I still smoke. I want people to see there are differences between smoking and vaping. I want them to know vaping is not the same as smoking and if I'm using what looks like a cigarette I'm just encouraging those uneducated about ecigs to continue thinking vaping is very much like smoking. I also like the fact that my APV's dont look like cigarettes because I think that sometimes encourages people to ask questions and the more questions people ask, getting honest answers, the better educated the public becomes and that can only be a good thing for the vaping world.

 

[Baditude]

I only use a cig-alike in public. Vaping was a miracle for me in quitting cigarettes. While I would not be the slightest bit embarrassed to use any vaping device in public I don't want to tarnish the image of vaping by using anything that is most likely to be construed as something associated with the use of illegal substances. If that is someone's first impression of vaping you are fighting an uphill battle to convince people that vaping is a vastly superior alternative to smoking. I'm out to win hearts and minds rather than creating adversaries.

Different strokes for different folks, but I totally disagree. It is not my responsibility to decide what vaping device is "more appropriate" to use in public because of a couple of ignorant people's inaccurate first impressions.

I switched to advanced personal vaporizers from the cigarette look-alike batteries because the latter are by far inferior in performance to my more advanced devices. As an anology, why should I need to drive a Yugo instead of a Cadilac because a few ignorant people may believe the Caddy is too big or flashy to drive on city streets and everyone knows that drug pushers drive big fancy cars?

Why are vapors so paranoid that an advanced personal vaporizer or mod will be construed to be an illegal device associated with the use of illegal substances?

Ask yourself this one question: How often have I or anyone else seen one of those illegal devices used out in public? Would you even know what these so-called illegal devices would actually look like? I sure don't.

The notion is totally ridiculous. No one in their right mind would use an illicit drug device in full view of everyone else. Anyone who assumes that because something looks different than to anything that he or she is accustomed to seeing before and that it has to be drug related is just plain ignorant and needs to be pistol whipped.

Well, forget about the pistol whipped part. I was just joking.......maybe...


I use my big battery mods out in public everywhere I go. I don't use them to draw attention to myself. I go about my business as everyone else should.

There is no way that anyone is going to mistake my APV for an analog. If they mistake it for something illegal, that's their issue, not mine. I have not once gotten a stare or negative comment of any kind using my mods in public. If I ever do, I will either just ignore them or take the time to educate them of their incorrect assumption.

 

[SDave1969]

I suppose if one's APV looks like it belongs in the drawer of a woman's nightstand that could be a little embarrassing.

I had a few women the other night ask if I had any "other attachments" for my Zmax. I treated it as a come on line. Otherwise, people are in awe that a pack and a half smoker can not have a cigarette for over a month and not want one...