For all former Closet Smokers,,,,
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My wife always knew I smoked and so did some select friends (especially old friends), but none of my co-workers or aquaintences (little league parents, karate parents, pta members, etc.) or kids ever knew that I ever smoked.
Started vaping several weeks ago, and other than my wife, nobody knows I'm vaping either. It would just be too difficult to explain whey someone that never smoked (they think) would now be vaping.
So, I stealth vape at home (when my kids aren't in the room and I keep all my stuff on a top shelf in my closet), and really only vape in my car and my enclosed office.
I smoked for 30 years and the last 10 of that was closet smoking, so I'm pretty sure I'll continue to closet vape until I eventually give that up too (within 2 years, I would think).
My wife always knew I smoked and so did some select friends (especially old friends), but none of my co-workers or aquaintences (little league parents, karate parents, pta members, etc.) or kids ever knew that I ever smoked.
Started vaping several weeks ago, and other than my wife, nobody knows I'm vaping either. It would just be too difficult to explain whey someone that never smoked (they think) would now be vaping.
So, I stealth vape at home (when my kids aren't in the room and I keep all my stuff on a top shelf in my closet), and really only vape in my car and my enclosed office.
I smoked for 30 years and the last 10 of that was closet smoking, so I'm pretty sure I'll continue to closet vape until I eventually give that up too (within 2 years, I would think).
I was a partially closet smoker - only hid it from my co-workers (lots of judgemental Mormons). Never allowed a picture of me smoking to be put on Facebook, either. Once I've been stinky-free for a month, I plan on coming clean on fb and telling my story in hopes that other smoker friends will think about making the switch. Was recently laid off from my old job, so I'm not sure how I'll behave in whatever new job I get - will probably just depend on the general attitude in the office.
I was also a partial closet smoker. My family and friends knew I was a smoker but I had to/or felt like I had to hide it from coworkers. I work on a smoke free college campus, or that's what the signs say and didn't want to feel like a bad influence...waiting for an 8hr shift to finish was killer! I could have smoked in my car but didn't want the smell to linger...now I can vape on my breaks without giving myself away.
I was a "closet smoker", too. I'm an elementary school teacher, so smoking is very much frowned upon. I'm pretty sure I was the only smoker at my school... And if there were others, they hide it well, too! So, yes, now I'm a closet vaper. My family and friends know, and have always known, but I keep it on the "DL" at work. It's definitely easier to sneak in a vape than it was a smoke, because the smell just isn't there. In fact, I can hide away in an infrequently used staff bathroom and stealth a little, as opposed to having to drive far, far away from school on my lunch break, and make sure that I had plenty of time to air out before coming back. I just love vaping!
The only people that knew I was smoking were a couple of old friends and my husband. I would have been lectured terribly by my sisters, I didn't want that. I'd been a closet smoker from the beginning and my kids didn't know, nor do they know that I've switched completely to vaping. My husband, of course knows, and has been supportive.
I was a partial closet smoker. I hid smoking from my kids and my parents. My husband and his family knew I smoked (his father is a long time smoker, so we'd sit on the porch and smoke and I'd listen to him rant about Obama and liberals, lol).
I still do not advertise to my kids or parents that I vape. My parents probably suspected that I was a sometimes smoker, but I don't think they had any clue how much I smoked. I don't think they'd understand vaping, so I just don't go there. I don't vape in front of the kids because I don't want to model smoking behavior to them. I don't know if it makes any difference, but it's just what I choose to do. I do vape in the house, just not in front of them. If I'm out without the kids I vape anywhere that smoking is allowed and I love to talk to smokers about vaping (though I try not to be annoying or preachy). My neighbors all knew I was a smoker, and I vape in front of them as well if we are outside chatting. I tell them what the pv is, just in case they think I'm puffing away at something illegal.
Hiding vaping is so much easier than hiding smoking. When my parents would come visit I'd have to go crazy cleaning. Clean any butts up outside, air out my car and spray the hell out of it with air freshener, in the winter I had to wash any coats I wore to get the smoke smell out. Then I'd have to keep up with their estimated arrival time so that I could smoke one last cigarette and jump in the shower. It was exhausting. Pretty sad routine for a 40 year old to be going through, I know, but I just couldn't imagine telling them.
I'm actually thinking about coming clean to my kids about vaping. I have recently told them that I used to smoke and that I wish I had never started. Neither of them remember that I was a smoker. I'm sure they smelled it on me, but I think I hid it well enough, and they were young enough to never associate the fact that mommy stank to smoking. My 10 year old has been snooping in my stuff lately and has probably found some vaping supplies (not nicotine, I keep that all locked up). So I'm thinking of telling her about vaping just so she knows what's going on with all this stuff. I still don't think I'd ever be comfortable vaping in front of her though. I don't think the vapor is dangerous at all, it's just that the act of doing something that looks like smoking in front of her would feel really weird.
I still do not advertise to my kids or parents that I vape. My parents probably suspected that I was a sometimes smoker, but I don't think they had any clue how much I smoked. I don't think they'd understand vaping, so I just don't go there. I don't vape in front of the kids because I don't want to model smoking behavior to them. I don't know if it makes any difference, but it's just what I choose to do. I do vape in the house, just not in front of them. If I'm out without the kids I vape anywhere that smoking is allowed and I love to talk to smokers about vaping (though I try not to be annoying or preachy). My neighbors all knew I was a smoker, and I vape in front of them as well if we are outside chatting. I tell them what the pv is, just in case they think I'm puffing away at something illegal.
Hiding vaping is so much easier than hiding smoking. When my parents would come visit I'd have to go crazy cleaning. Clean any butts up outside, air out my car and spray the hell out of it with air freshener, in the winter I had to wash any coats I wore to get the smoke smell out. Then I'd have to keep up with their estimated arrival time so that I could smoke one last cigarette and jump in the shower. It was exhausting. Pretty sad routine for a 40 year old to be going through, I know, but I just couldn't imagine telling them.
I'm actually thinking about coming clean to my kids about vaping. I have recently told them that I used to smoke and that I wish I had never started. Neither of them remember that I was a smoker. I'm sure they smelled it on me, but I think I hid it well enough, and they were young enough to never associate the fact that mommy stank to smoking. My 10 year old has been snooping in my stuff lately and has probably found some vaping supplies (not nicotine, I keep that all locked up). So I'm thinking of telling her about vaping just so she knows what's going on with all this stuff. I still don't think I'd ever be comfortable vaping in front of her though. I don't think the vapor is dangerous at all, it's just that the act of doing something that looks like smoking in front of her would feel really weird.
Partial closet-smoker here as well (work, etc)
Looking back, I wonder how many people really did know and we were just fooling ourselves? It is so hard to really hide that awful smoke smell - it gets everywhere. Non-smokers can especially smell you.
Looking back, I wonder how many people really did know and we were just fooling ourselves? It is so hard to really hide that awful smoke smell - it gets everywhere. Non-smokers can especially smell you.
I was a closet smoker at work (or so I thought) A few months after I retired I started vaping and within a short time realized how bad I used to smell and no "airing out" of my clothes was enough to get rid of the stink. And to think of all the effort I put into trying not to smell like smoke! So now I vape pretty much anywhere and can always sneak a vape privately in places where smoking is not allowed. Of course I make sure not to vape a "stinky juice" when I'm out so as not to bother people with delicate sniffers. At this point, even if I ran into a former co-worker I wouldn't hesitate to vape because I don't think I was really fooling anyone anyway.
Not long ago I was vaping when a child came up to me and asked what I had and I just told him it was a way to keep me from smoking cigarettes and he was good with that.
Not long ago I was vaping when a child came up to me and asked what I had and I just told him it was a way to keep me from smoking cigarettes and he was good with that.
Wasn't a closet smoker, but I was a "clean" smoker. Many associates didn't know I smoked because I always smoked outdoors or with the windows down and washed up afterward. I actually vamped for about 5 weeks before my wife found out (she tends to jump to conclusions and overreact), but it turned out she was okay with it. Ingrained habits - I still don't make a spectacle out of vaping. I'm also a teacher, so it's nice to be able to grab a stealth vape in the bathroom.
i was a closet smoker for only 2 years. once i was 18 i let everyone know. i still didn't smoke around certain people because i only really saw them at their houses and such but if they had asked i would have told them. as far as vaping goes, i really haven't announced it yet. the only people who know are my wife, my parents and siblings, and whoever they told. as far as work goes i haven't told any of them. though i am sure they seen me go outside less often haha.
I smoked at work openly, in my car, but never in the house. My wife knew but it was don't ask don't tell. She didn't like it. Then I told her a friend of mine hooked me up with some starter e-Cig gear, and she was interested, because it made me quit. Now I openly vape at home and wherever else. Now instead of "Why are you smoking??!!??" I get "What flavor is that??" 
Partial-closet smoker. Hid it from my co-workers and certain casual friends. I hide vaping from these ppl, too. Hiding vaping is *much* easier! I used to go all day at work without smoking because I didn't want to reek like smoke . .then I would smoke a bunch as soon as I got home. Now I can easily vape on breaks and at lunch and nobody has any idea about it.
I was pretty good at hiding it. I spend about half my day in the car driving to various meetings/appointments. I had a little routine where when I arrived somewhere I would go straight to the restroom and wash my hands and face really well and then pop about 3-4 Altoids. I also always smoked with the car window all the way down and blew the smoke right out the window. In the last year there were a couple of occasions when I would greet someone with a hug and they'd say "Do you smoke?" and both times I replied "No, XXXX smokes and I gave them a ride" or something like that. Of course, I didn't hide them smell around my kids (8 and 10), so I'm sure they could smell smoking on me, but they didn't realize what it was. Sometimes they'd ride in my car and say "your care stinks", and the other one would say "it's cause he keeps it in the garage where the gas can is". So, they could detect the smell, just didn't associate it with smoking.
TRULY REMARKABLE stories of closet smoking! I had NO IDEA!!! I have to believe that closet smoking for years on end, probably being in a somewhat chronic state of nicotine (and other ciggie chemical-additive withdrawal----constantly----is very, very rough!
To me, it just goes to show:
1.) the power of peer pressure
2.) discrimination (against smokers) is REALLY BIG in the workplace, apparently and even if the accused is abiding by workplace policy! (This effectively leads right into institutional discrimination against smokers by employers due to insurance costs. Apparently, there are some that could care less if they financially RUIN YOU if you smoke cigarettes, which of course, should be illegal and punished, imnsho....). I don't consider myself to be naive, but I really did not realize how serious that the economic discrimination against smokers really is. After all, they're still LEGAL, are they not? You have an awful situation if you are a smoker, and you happen to work in the American workplace these days.....
3.) the power of the 'cigarette police' (they are REAL, and they are WATCHING! Why can't people just mind their own G-DAMN BUSINESS???...)
4.) the power of cigarette addiction (we all know this...)
5.) how truly remarkable the positive effects of the ecig revolution (and it sure does look like a revolution) really are.
WOW, folks.....keep these stories coming. They are really fascinating to me, and probably many others!
And, kudos to you all for the extra degree of difficulty you have had to endure to quit the stankies!
To me, it just goes to show:
1.) the power of peer pressure
2.) discrimination (against smokers) is REALLY BIG in the workplace, apparently and even if the accused is abiding by workplace policy! (This effectively leads right into institutional discrimination against smokers by employers due to insurance costs. Apparently, there are some that could care less if they financially RUIN YOU if you smoke cigarettes, which of course, should be illegal and punished, imnsho....). I don't consider myself to be naive, but I really did not realize how serious that the economic discrimination against smokers really is. After all, they're still LEGAL, are they not? You have an awful situation if you are a smoker, and you happen to work in the American workplace these days.....
3.) the power of the 'cigarette police' (they are REAL, and they are WATCHING! Why can't people just mind their own G-DAMN BUSINESS???...)
4.) the power of cigarette addiction (we all know this...)
5.) how truly remarkable the positive effects of the ecig revolution (and it sure does look like a revolution) really are.
WOW, folks.....keep these stories coming. They are really fascinating to me, and probably many others!
And, kudos to you all for the extra degree of difficulty you have had to endure to quit the stankies!
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I think I'm breaking even on the vaping supplies just on the savings from not buying Tic Tacs and chewing gum!
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