Feeling guilty before and after

[AlexTM]

This is just a quick one to test a hypothesis of mine.

Said hypothesis is that vapers feel a lot less guilty about vaping than they did about smoking. (BTW, I also think the same is true for people who switch to smokeless tobacco.) A person or group that feels permanently guilty is of course a perfect victim – for rabid anti-smokers, for example. Or any other bully, for that matter. Which means, if we feel less guilty, we are less perfect victims. Which would explain some of the anti-vaping (and anti-smokeless) hysteria in certain quarters.
Naturally, if I am wrong about the guilt part, the rest does not stand up to scrutiny, either. Therefore, this poll.

Please: Only vote in this poll when you have vaped for at least a month. I would prefer to keep that first-days-enthusiasm out of it, just as I would like to give people time to get used to be vapers instead of smokers. I do not ask people who still have an occasional analog not to vote, because of the whole WTA/X-Factor/MAOIs question; I did have to start to supplement with snus myself, after all. However, you should identify as a vaper now, instead of a smoker.

 

[Kelemvor]

i choosed the last option. but i now feel guilty of smoking in the past because i know now more than ever how much i stank in the past.

but, i hope never to become one of these extreme exsmokers that hysterically attack every smoker they see coming near them

 

[Arvidx]

So the guilt thing is close enough to how I felt about smoking. My health had definitely taken a toll from years of hand rolled cigarettes. I felt like every year, especially during season changes and cold season, I was taking another stride towards my early grave. I was ready to quit but had no desire to stop the actual habit as far as all of the distracting and nurturing qualities that came along with the action of smoking... Now I get all the same rewards sans killing my lungs. I love playing with the vapor, love taking that moment of self reflection allowed by a cigarette, love having something to occupy me between all the things during the day. Like I said I was ready for an alternative and it took one day to truly switch from being a smoker to a vaper. I have smoked cigs since, with other people in specific circumstances, but have had no urge to buy or smoke any outside of those and in total maybe 2 packs in 3 months since the day my 510 arrived most of which were in a couple days with a poisonous ex. :O Vaping... if anything makes me virtually proud. I love it and share my story with people almost every time I am in public.

 

[mwahle1]

Never felt guilty about smoking; just knew I was being an idiot. No guilt from vaping.

 

[Thyestean]

Guilt is a wasted emotion. So obviously I chose the last one

 

[Dudeman]

Guilt is a wasted emotion. So obviously I chose the last one

I endorse, and support the above statement.

 

[HighHeeledGoddess]

Vaping makes me feel guilty when I smoke now.

 

[Melanie]

I feel guilt is rather pointless. I never felt guilty about smoking cigarettes, even knowing it was bad for me and expensive.

 

[notsoogood]

Never felt guilty about smoking! No reason to feel guilty about vaping.

 

[bestthingever]

Yes, guilt is a pointless emotion. However, that hasn't stopped me from feeling a little guilty when I tell folks that I am an ex-smoker, then they see me with a pv in my mouth. With what they think is smoke coming out. And yes, I explain the pv to them. But I still sometimes see facial expressions on them that come close to eye-rolling. For the most part, most of them seem genuinely interested in how it works, but when they hear that my body is still receiving nicotine, then here come the looks, as if "yeah, okay, whatever you say.."
So that attitude gets to me a little. A little. Not enough to stop vapeing. I love it, and at least I know I'm much better off, even if they don't quite buy it.

 

[NCC]

This is a weird poll. Guilt? That wasn't even a factor in my desire to quit smoking.

 

[CaptJay]

Not sure what I would be feeling guilty about - but no - i didnt feel any guilt for smoking - slight annoyance at being addicted but no guilt.

 

[BadState]

Doesn't "I felt guilty about smoking" mean "I know this is really bad for me and I shouldn't be doing it"? Yeah, I felt that way about smoking.

 

[jace]

I knew I was being an idiot, especially since my mother died from lung cancer, and I have been diagnosed with diabetes...But that was guilt. I would say it's a feeling of idiocy, not guilt.

 

[MaryMarcelle]

My reply "felt very guilty when I smoked, and feel not guilty now for vaping"

I see a few people didn't feel guilty about smoking! I'm surprised... for 22 years my friends/family (and it was especially hard when my now 15yr old begged me for 12 years to quit!) and even the surgeon general's warning on EVERY pack of cigs I smoked...wracked me with guilt! In fact I think it was GUILT moreso than anything else that made me consciously make the decision to quit smoking...which led me to vaping!

P.S. to OP...Although my quitbanner says I've only been smoke free for 24 days which wouldn't qualify me for poll according to your rules/request...I have been vaping for 1 month and three days...just didn't completely quit analog when I first got my PV

 

[nansc]

I never felt guilty, just stupid to be a slave to butts.