Felt odd vaping at a bar

[DSFA]

So I went to a bar this past weekend. First time I've been to a bar since I started vaping. This bar has a patio outside where all the smokers hang out. I spent most of the evening inside, but a few times went out for my nicotine fix. I didn't know the bar's policy on vaping inside and even if allowed, that would have made me feel even more self-conscious as I'd have been the only one.

When I went outside for what used to be a normal routine for me, my friends stayed inside, like they would have if I had just gone out for a quick smoke. So I'm standing outside on a very large but very crowded patio and just about everyone was smoking. As if that wasn't enough for a very weak moment....

i brought along my e-roll so that in essence I would "fit in" with the smokers (wow, did I just say that?) or at least not look like somebody smoking something else with my ProVari or ego setup, but all I kept thinking about was that everyone was going to stare at me and my blue light at the end of the e-roll. In reality, nobody was probably even paying attention to me, but being by myself at the time, I just felt really odd and out of place. Thinking back, I probably should have just had my small ego c and a T3, which might not have been as noticeable as a bright blue light on the end of a black stick, held like a cigarette.

Don't really have a question regarding this, just figured I'd share the story and see if anybody else has ever felt this way. It's one thing to be the only one vaping in a small group of smokers that you know. It's quite another to be the only one in a group of 100 or so of complete strangers.

 

[Iffy]

... that would have made me feel even more self-conscious as I'd have been the only one.

How can anyone be self-conscience in a bar (unless you're naked doin' da Macarena)?!?!?

Be proud that you're no longer puffin' 'bakky! Missed opportunity... shoulda asked da management 'bout vapin' inside.

 

[Paul Maul]

Next time throw the biggest mod and tank you've got into a case and then vape that outside with the smokers. Sure to generate some comments and questions.

 

[Wizzlefits]

Yep! It can be rather awkward especially in that situation.
While you're getting your nic fix, just think about how much better YOU will smell going back inside. Not to mention better feeling.

Personally, I'd rather have someone say something.. what is that thing?.... than just stare. But then again, if they stare, I tell em anyway. LOL!
I don't know if anyone has ever noticed this, but when talking to a smoker about e-cigs it's pretty cool to have them blow cig smoke across the back of their hand (it's warm) then you blow vaper across their hand (it's cool).
Makes for some niffty reactions. LOL!!!

 

[317Vapers]

I had that same feeling at a bar when I first started vaping. Now I hope someone asks me. Heck I took the family to the Cincinnati zoo this weekend and this older lady that worked for the zoo stopped me and said your the 3rd person today I've seen with those fake cigarettes. I said yea there starting to get more popular. She said nothing but good things and wished me luck on my quitting journey. I think now people are starting to know what it is so I'm not even concerned anymore about it. I mean I dont sit there and blow it in peoples faces I still step back a couple feet etc... But I havnt had anyone to this point say stop, and generally they like the conversation when I start telling them about it

 

[JuiceMonkey]

Yeah, it's totally normal. I avoided alcohol and bars completely for the first 3 weeks, then gradually regained my ability to be in a social scene while drinking without having powerful urges to smoke. There's just something corny about a fake cig with a blue light on it. It almost looks ridiculous, in a sense. For me, I prefer to vape on an evod with a small ego while in public. I'd rather someone ask "what is that" and start a conversation than hide in a corner with a flashing led light. Lately I have been carrying my Provari mini with me when I go out at night, but I don't puff on it openly. Luckily beer drinkers take plenty of bathroom breaks, so I save it for the bathroom. I have accepted the fact that it's going to take time for people to realize what this is all about, and people are quick to judge something they don't understand.

 

[Wizzlefits]

Next time throw the biggest mod and tank you've got into a case and then vape that outside with the smokers. Sure to generate some comments and questions.

And make sure you have some sweat smelling juice loaded up.

 

[2coils]

Think of vaping in public places an opportunity to share the gift of e-cigs with those less informed about them. I vape everywhere I can and hope I can help save someone from smoking any more traditional cigarettes. You are doing people a favor by introducing them. I am sure many smokers have seen them in stores and got curious but never tried.

 

[bunnomatic]

Yep! It can be rather awkward especially in that situation.
While you're getting your nic fix,

just think about how much better YOU will smell going back inside

. Not to mention better feeling.

Personally, I'd rather have someone say something.. what is that thing?.... than just stare. But then again, if they stare, I tell em anyway. LOL!
I don't know if anyone has ever noticed this, but when talking to a smoker about e-cigs it's pretty cool to have them blow cig smoke across the back of their hand (it's warm) then you blow vaper across their hand (it's cool).
Makes for some niffty reactions. LOL!!!

Sorry to dash that thought but unless he is standing upwind in a good breeze after being surrounded by smokers he will smell just like them but you will definitely feel and breathe lot better!

 

[BostLabs]

Heck I am getting where I don't even think about it anymore. I took a vape in the vegetable section in Sam's club the other day. Didn't think where I was at. You know it is really cold in there. I didn't take that bit of a hit but the plume was enormous.

 

[FinallyQuit]

This happened to me in a restaurant quite by accident, my pv was pinching me in my pocket, so I placed it on the table. The elderly hostess of the restaurant stopped by to check on us, asked me what that newfangled thing was for, and when I explained she nodded, smiled, and told me her husband had quit smoking by holding and rolling around a small pencil in his fingers. His motto was "I'm not letting something this little tell me what to do." Cool story, and when I checked out she said if she had any pencils handy she would give me one. It was kind of embarrassing being the center of attention there.

I waited til I got outside to vape, the restaurant was crowded and I didn't want to start anything with the owners. Now I wonder what she would have said if I had demonstrated for her!

 

[Iffy]

Now I wonder what she would have said if I had demonstrated for her!

Well, just go back and have a dessert and vape some coffee latte or banana Foster joose.

 

[Wizzlefits]

Sorry to dash that thought but unless he is standing upwind in a good breeze after being surrounded by smokers he will smell just like them but you will definitely feel and breathe lot better!

You're right!
I just gotten used to standing up wind. LOL!

 

[Rat2chat2]

Thanks for your story. We can all relate to that feeling. There has been a lot of comments from people on this one. How many blew vaper on their hands like I did. bahahahahahaha

 

[zapped]

Why? Did you stop to consider that some people were there to cheat on their significant other, some were drinking themselves into a stupor and some other were spending money drinking they could have spent on bills?

Sounds jaded I know, but I was a bartender for 25 years, taken in that context vaping shouldnt seem out of the ordinary at all You should congratulate yourself for being one of the smarter people there.

 

[JoJoVa]

I vaped my cigalike in an airport smoking lounge and felt like everyone was staring at me. The airport smoking lounge was once my haven, now I get ticked that I come out reeking like smoke anyway. I also used it at a casino table (where smoking was allowed) and I was nervous that the smokers may make fun of me. Of course, they didn't and after the smoker left, the dealer said "I wish everyone smoked those...it would make my job easier."

 

[M_DuBb716]

Yupp!! I definitely had the same feelings going out to a bar.. Obviously pretty much everyone at the bar is a smoker!
.. The first time vaping at the bar was the most awkward no doubt, it gets more and more comfortable each time I come back, at least for me.. But yeah the first time, I even held back and didn't vape as much as I wanted too because I felt weird pulling out my big Vision Spinner/ProTank setup around everyone. I'm still wanting to get a cig-a-like (eRoll would be awesome but I'd like a red light instead of blue) for occasions like these, just to blend in more - I'll be getting one soon.

And like you, I would only vape outside, and only take a few short puffs, trying my best to conceal my PV in my palm.. It felt less awkward after I had a few drinks in me, unsurprisingly hah! But now I vape at the bar all the time, sometimes inside it too but I don't like being rude and blowing vapor right at other guests

... One time I was vaping at the other more popular bar next door, and security told me I couldn't do it there.. That was pretty stupid, but I wasn't going to argue, I don't go there often anyways

 

[Snake973]

Oh man. I love vaping at the bar. I usually only go to bars where I know someone working, but I just love being able to sit at the bar and drink and only have to get up to go to the restroom. When my friends ARE working, they know all about my PV, and will defend me if someone tries to start something about it (has only happened twice, thankfully), and if I'm somewhere new, I just ask the bartender if they mind. If they say I'm cool, I go to town on it, if they aren't, I'll pop outside. I've only ever had one bartender ask me to do it outside, though.

 

[Baditude]

I attended Cincinnati's "Taste of Cincinnati" food festival this past weekend and openly vaped with my Mini Provari with an AGA RBA attached (same setup as the mod on the left in the above picture) in front of half a million visitors. Only one person gave any sort of reaction to me, and that was a thumbs up and an enthusiastic "Yeah!!"


I don't generally frequent bars. The last time was last summer for a going away party for a fellow employee, and it was an outside patio where smoking is allowed. Several co-workers had never seen an e-cigarette before, and here I was vaping on a full size Provari. I got several joking comments about my hookah pipe or bongg, but everyone was quite positively amused with my success with quitting cigarettes by using this device and asked a lot of questions on how it worked.

I have openly vaped at outdoor concerts and professional sporting events. At first I would ask security guards if they approved, and have always gotten a thumbs up. Now I don't even bother. I stealth vaped at an indoor Muse rock concert a couple of months ago, but that was because of the facility's policy forbidding indoor smoking and I didn't want the hassle of challenging that with vaping. I also stealth vape at the movie theater, but that's another topic for another thread.

Generally speaking, any intimidation you have vaping in public is entirely all IN YOUR MIND as far as I am concerned. If you vape scared of what others MAY think, and act like what you are doing is illegal or socially unacceptible, you WILL attract far more attention to yourself than if you vape confidently.

Unless there are laws forbidding vaping in public places where you live, you are doing nothing illegal. Have no concern what others may think. Any THOUGHTS that they might have can not hurt you unless YOU allow them to. From my experience no one pays much attention to this upper-middle-aged guy vaping with a Provari topped off with a colored glass cartotank.

My advice is: Vape hard, vape strong, and vape proud.

 

[AaronM]

My best friend's brother runs a bar, the only one I go to now just because. Anyways I already felt comfortable there because of the man running it. But, the first time I went I asked him if it was OK to use and ecig inside and he said yes. What I asked him about and what I showed him when I did was a Njoy King disposable. By the end of the night I had pulled out my Volt Spinner with a T3 clearo on in it, after a few beers I really didn't care. I got a odd look or two, but really, those who said anything about it asked because they was interested in ecigs. Or, the have seen some one else use them but knew nothing about them.

I have gone too a couple other bars, but generally I get the best response from people in a bar. This is my experience, but they don't really care about cig-a-likes(general masses) If the see someone with something more advanced they actually want to approach the person. There is a general interest in ecigs. The sad part is there is really no one around to talk to them about it in my area. If there is I have not met this person.

Ohio is smoke free in public buildings. With a disposable or cig-a-like, people think you a just trying to side step the laws of smoking. If you pull out something more "advanced" you are different then joe blow who got an Njoy from the gas station. I have had a couple good nights at the bar that started with questions about my Volt Spinner. I really can't wait till I bring in my ProVari with a carto tank.