This reminds me of one of my early experiences going to a B&M vape shop. I had already moved up from my eGo start kit to an iPV VV3 with a mini Protank 3. I was out on an on-site job about 15 miles out of town when darned if my coil didn't go bad. And while I had an iClear 16 for backup, it wasn't new, and it kinda sucked too. AND - while I was hoping my vape mail came that day, I was very, very close to running out of juice.
So I'm driving along on the way back from the job --- and there is a vape shop. What luck! I pull over and walk in... and then I notice that
A-I'm the only woman there
B- I'm the only person over 40
C-There are a couple of guys on a couch blowing immense clouds with these boxy mod things while they watch some tv show.
For some reason,all of this makes me feel a little self conscious. But hey - I've got aging coils and precious little juice. So I think, what the heck, I've got to give this a try.
And then I notice -- in addition to the comfy couches and tv, this store has the nicest tasting bar I've seen in my brief vaping life, though of course, I don't quite know how you're supposed to act at a vaping bar. Put the atty on your setup? Use one of the store's? There are no instructions, so I'm a bit unsure of myself and decide to avoid it. And of course, I'm well aware that I'm pretty damn ancient and look really weird here with my office pumps and blazer/skirt combo while apparent slackers/hipsters/young-men-with-sparse-facial-hair are blowing way big clouds.
But then the young guy behind the counter asks if he can help me -- and I say Yes. Sure, he's got my coils, and when he asks me what ohms I want, I actually have an answer. Then I ask what juice they carry ('cause my darned myopic eyes can't read the really cool blackboard list), and he kindly lists them. Both house juices and name brands. Turns out they carry a local brand that's getting a lot of attention, and I ask if I can try it. This guy who looks like a "hipster", apologizes that Zuro's Milk isn't on the tasting bar, but hey, it's what he's vaping today, and do I want to try it? In his mod? Let me repeat: in the mod he pulls from his pocket. His personal device. OMG! as the kids say.
So he pulls some sort of fat tube out of his pocket (what is it? I have no idea!) and pops one of those prophylactic plastic thingies onto the drip tip and -- hands me his mod!! In front of other "hipsters"!! Instead of mocking me, he tells me how the guy who makes this juice is one of his friends and clues me in, a little, on how it was developed and tested. He makes sure I can find the firing button on this amazingly fat tube thing. He's a little bit proud, and a little bit shy, when he tells me that his was the first store to carry it.
And it is lovely. I buy a bottle. When he asks what MG of nic, I say 3, and he says, Yep! That's what I use. Somehow, we have bonded over Zuro's Milkl juice. And then, since my iClear coil is aging, and he has been so darned nice, I ask if they carry those too. They do! He sells me one. Not one person in the store makes a comment or even rolls their eyes. Though I felt so darned self-conscious initially, by now, I'm feeling like a regular.
I've abbreviated the whole exchange a little bit, but you get my drift. I felt very different from everyone in the store, and yet -- I was welcomed and treated like a valued customer on my very first visit, despite my differences from the customers who were already there. I'm so very, very glad that I didn't turn around and walk out when I noticed that folks already there weren't "like me" -- weren't female or older or "professional" looking. Creekside Vapes is still my favorite store in the Pittsburgh area, and I love that these"hipster-ish" folks welcome me, and anyone, who's trying to start vaping.
While this is not the OP's experience, it was mine, and perhaps it is an equally valid experience of encountering "hipsters" in the vape store?
