Vaping at Disney (And Around Annoying Smokers)

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So I went to Disney World last weekend. I had planned as if vaping would be limited to designated smoking areas, even though I didn't find anything one way or another posted on site that said that…I'd read online that Disney had made statements to that effect. Which is fine. I felt no more need to vape than I used to feel a need to smoke at a place like that, and I was traveling with three smokers. So, pretty much half of our days were spent finding out where the smoking sections were, walking to the smoking sections, and then sitting in the smoking sections while the smokers got their fix.

What I wasn't expecting was that I would get really annoyed at my smoker friends. REALLY annoyed. It started in the car on the way down, traveling with a close friend who I've known for about 4 years. She was chain smoking on the way down…I mean literally lighting one off the .... of another. Which, fine, I'd be lying if I said I'd never done the same thing. But since I've stopped smoking, I am aware of how horrible it smells, and how nasty the smoke is. I would never presume to tell her she couldn't smoke in her own car, and I live in fear of becoming one of "those people", the reformed ex-smoker, possibly only slightly less annoying than the loud door to door religious proselytizer. But it was super bugging me. And then, she starts complaining about my vaping. It smells. It's giving her a migraine. If I'm going to do it, I need to roll the window all the way down and not just crack it, and make sure I blow "that stuff" completely out of the car. (She's only cracking her window to smoke, mind you, because it's pouring down rain outside)

So fine. I have an eGrip with an rba and am currently vaping my own mixture of Rear-Diff/Charlie's Custard/Valyrian Ore that I like to call "Death By Pumpkin.' I'm not blowing huge clouds, and I don't ever blow my vapor in anyone's face. But it acts similar to smoke, enough that in a moving car some of it is going to get sucked back in and haze around inside. How she could smell it over the reek of burning turd that is cigarette smoke, I don't know. She continues to chain smoke the entire trip, pausing only to occasionally hose herself down with Vanilla body spray (which will give me hives if it gets on my skin, but that's my problem and so I'm careful not to come into contact with it rather than complaining because she's using it).

But this BS continued the entire trip. Apparently, any flavor that I vaped produced a "smell" that was horribly nauseating and bothersome to three adult chain smoking women who were also all bathing themselves in body spray between smokes. I had to be careful in the smoking areas to stand so that my vapor went away from their direction, or they'd start coughing. They were acting about my vaping the way non-smokers act about smoking. I tried not to let it get to me, but it put a serious damper on the trip. I felt like a leper, like even in the smoking section I was the one doing something super bothersome and so I had to segregate myself further away from even the smokers just to do my thing. I only saw one other person vaping the entire trip…and he was puffing on an MVP walking right down Main Street in Magic Kingdom and nobody said boo to him.

And at the end of the trip, there I was, my eyes feeling like they were full of gravel, my throat raw, my hair and clothes smelling disgusting, between the three of them smoking in the car and hanging out in the smoking section all day…I might as well have just smoked. It really made me think about the practice of putting vapers in the "smoking" section. Part of the reason I quit smoking was to get away from the smoke and the smell, but there I was in the middle of it. And being groused at by smokers, like I was the low person on the totem pole and my habit was somehow worse than their habit. I don't know if my vapor really is that bothersome (my husband, my non-smoking mom, and my non-smoking friends all say NO) or if…and this might be stretching…my smoking friends were somehow bothered because I wasn't "one of them" anymore and were trying to bully me back into the fold. (They did offer, repeatedly, because they just couldn't see how vaping was as "good" as a cigarette, and didn't believe me when I told them I found it much more pleasurable.)

I just erred on the side of keeping the peace, kept my mouth shut, and went on with my trip. Has anyone else experienced this kind of stuff from smoking friends? Is it possible that vapor could cause or worsen someone's migraine? I'm trying not to continue to have hurt feelings about it, but TBH it kinda makes me not want to hang out with these friends again in the future. If I were constantly bugging them about smoking, trying to convert them to vaping, etc I could maybe see them acting this way…but that is really not who I am, and I only discuss vaping and the fact that it helped me quit smoking with people if they ask directly.
 

samwest

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Sorry, that sounded like a real bummer. I have not experienced anything quite that extreme. I don't know if it's cause I'm gettin' old or just don't give a crap what people think anymore. But stuff just rolls off my back and I vape continuously all day. If they don't like it they can move away. Sorry, that's prolly no help but seems you are a better friend than me. Don't take it too seriously and vape all you like.
 

HecticEnergy

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My sister in law doesn't like that her husband vapes and complains of having headaches when he vapes around her. He's cloud chasing 6mg most of the time, and he's not super considerate of where he's blowing those clouds, so I guess there could be something to her complaint of headaches.
I could see how some smells bother people, like I hate going through the perfume section of any store where they let you sample. That gives me a headache. As do the ladies at work who seemingly bathe in their perfume.

Personally I think I would avoid that situation in the future... Being in a car for any period of time with someone chain smoking with the window barely cracked does not sound like something I want to put up with. If they didn't spend the majority of their time in the smoking areas, may I would say next time just meet them there, but as it stands I would avoid it all together. Maybe next time go with a group of vapers and turn the tables on the smoking area... Lol! (Kidding of course, I'm not one to go out of my way to piss people off.)


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ArdDarvis

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My mother (pack a day for 40+ years) can NOT STAND even the idea of vaping. She'll say "one day they'll find out that it's worse than cigarettes" which is a very VERY funny way of putting it. I mean, I understand what she means- that maybe there will be peer-reviewed research that correlates vaping certain chemicals to developing certain symptoms- but there is no way its ever going to be "found" worse than 7,000 chemicals per cigarette. Unfortunately, she not very up on the scientific method.

I say all that to say, I know the feelz. She smokes in her house, but I am not permitted to vape, and have to go outside. I don't have a problem with that at all, but bring it up to stress my point, that people suck sometimes, but it's not their fault, they simply don't know enough about what they are talking about. Its obvious that your friends choose to stay uneducated about the manner, and that has nothing to do with you or your decisions.

so, IDK. What I do know is this- when you take the high road, no one can see you when you are up there; it is a road you must choose to take for your own reasons, even if folks think lesser of you.




I enjoyed reading your story. thank you for sharing.
 

Dougiestyle

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You're stonger-willed than I am. First, I distance myself from smokers due to the stench. Second, you should evaluate the level of "friendship" you share with these people. If they are that willing to make you feel uncomfortable and make you feel as though your good choices are detrimental to their un-health for no just reason, maybe it's time to part ways. I'd have flipped a table over the scene you describe. You handled it better than I would have. Hell, I wouldn't have ridden in a car with a single smoker, much less 3, on a road trip. Hell no! Wife and I avoid bars that have heavy smoke even if thay have good beer!
 

gpjoe

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...and I live in fear of becoming one of "those people", the reformed ex-smoker, possibly only slightly less annoying than the loud door to door religious proselytizer.

Um, too late. You come off bitter and condescending in your attitude towards smokers.

...but there I was in the middle of it.

Why? You chose to put yourself in that position. You admit that you saw another vaper that was NOT in the smoking section. You could have vaped in the vicinity of the smoking section, but far enough away from the smokers to suit yourself and your smoking friends (who were being completely irrational, IMO).

My advice? Either accept your friends as they are, or find some new ones. You knew what they were going in, you were one of them at one time.

Sorry you are upset, and probably not what you want to hear, but that is my opinion.
 
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bullet08

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it's amazing how bad cig smoke smells. i never knew that. when my wife says i stink, i thought she had over sensitive nose. after no smoking for nearly 80 days, i can't stand cig smoke at all. i smell it on smokers walking by. i smell it on the smoking court where i vape. i try not to show it since i was one of them. but still.. i try to walk by faster so i don't have to smell it.

if my friends were treating me like that, they would have fat mouth very quickly. then again, i was the only smoker, and they never complained before. they are all happy i switched over the vape. 3 friends i have are from college days and we have known each others for over 20 yrs now. we still punch each other out on occasions for fun of it.
 

amtseung

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I only find it properly annoying when I vape and chase clouds (outdoors) around smokers, then get chastised by the non-smoking public as a smoker. The new CA "Because formaldehyde EXTREME health risk to children" thing only serves to make my butthurtedness worse. My friend, a chemical engineer, used this issue has his senior project when we were in university, and he found nothing that could be more harmful than iron or nickel in the juices we tested, whether from China, USA, or even Thailand, custards aside. The metals were coming from the kanthal and nichrome, not the juice. Knowing this and seeing all this misinformation makes me yet more butthurt.

Sorry for rant, do continue the amusing anecdotes.
 
Um, too late. You come off bitter and condescending in your attitude towards smokers.



Why? You chose to put yourself in that position. You admit that you saw another vaper that was NOT in the smoking section. You could have vaped in the vicinity of the smoking section, but far enough away from the smokers to suit yourself and your smoking friends (who were being completely irrational, IMO).

My advice? Either accept your friends as they are, or find some new ones. You knew what they were going in, you were one of them at one time.

Sorry you are upset, and probably not what you want to hear, but that is my opinion.

Obviously you have misinterpreted my words. I am not bitter and condescending towards smokers…they are free to do what they want, and I have always been vocal about smokers rights and think that the rabid anti-smoking sentiment that pervades this country is some BS. However, now that I am not smoking myself, I realize how bad it smells and how nasty it is in the air, and can acknowledge that within a community of people who also understand it. I didn't comment about it to my friends, because it would have been pointless and only served to cause them to be defensive, as apparently it did with you. I found it pretty ironic that a group of people who were literally surrounded by a cloud of stench could supposedly be so bothered by something that most people tell me smells like "a little bit of vanilla". Especially when the smoke was compounded by gallons of perfume that also smells much stronger than my vapor.

As for vaping in the smoking section…it was my understanding that this is the only area in Disney where vaping is allowed. My companions, as much as they were supposedly bothered by my vaping, would have pitched an unholy fit should I have attempted to vape outside the smoking section…I know this because I took a random unthinking puff in the parking lot while we were waiting on the shuttle van, and they all acted as if I had done some horrible thing and was about to get us in trouble with the "Disney Police". If I'd whipped it out on Main Street….or gone off by myself to vape somewhere and actually been cited by the Disney Police, the drama would have been extraordinary.

And yeah…I know who they are. And they know who I am. The same person I've been all these years, except instead of smoking two packs a day, I vape. My annoyance and hurt feelings spring from them treating me like I was somehow different, a leper, and "less cool" somehow. My behavior hasn't changed. Theirs has.
 

Javamon

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I don't know how you were able to survive in the car. There's no way I could do a trip with people smoking in a car. I couldn't survive it.
These days I can't even survive a car where the heater is on too much. I need cool fresh air in a car or I get very sick.
Cig smoke in car? No can do.

[I grew up hermetically sealed in a station wagon with two chain smoking parents and the windows rolled up. Didn't realize how much it Stank until I moved out.
Then I'd go home to visit and be absolutely repulsed. I'd also strip naked when I got home and immediately launch all clothing into the washer.]
 

HecticEnergy

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My inlaws smoke - they only smoke in the garage/cars/outside, but their house stinks of cigarettes as they bring it in on their cloths. They think they are hiding it from their kids... but all the kids know (youngest kid is 28).

When I'm in a place that is posted for "no vaping" I usually stealth vape higher nic when I'm in the bathroom. That carrys me over longer, and everyone has to pee every now and then :) Lately my steath setup is all DIY nic base, so it barely has any smell to it. I hold it in and exhale slowly so no visible vapor remains.

I was at the hospital with my son this last weekend and the hospital we were at was a "Tobacco Free Campus." I stealth vaped in the bathroom a bit in the morning, but mostly vaped my face off when I went on food runs.
At home I'm trying to be more cautious and vape only in certain areas where my son is not around... It's my habit, no need to inflict the unknown side effects on him.
 

Frenchfry1942

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I don't consider myself a smoker anymore. But, I am courteous. My wife smokes and I notice it a lot more since I quit. I don't go with her when she wants to smoke. I really don't think smokers realize how far down the stinky pit they have fallen. I did to, but now I see the other side.

When we are in the car, we take turns cracking the window on our own side and the fan comes on to over-pressure the air in the car to push it out. It helps.

We are courteous with each other. It is an addiction. At first she complained about the vape "stink", but it was apple and the minimal cloud said "no" way. I told her that she can't smell well enough and it is THR. I told her I can smell her and it is not a nice smell. Deep down she knew.

If there was a road trip with a car load of smokers, I would say no smoking in the car, we stop every hour. Actually, I think I would have drifted from them prior to such a point.

It does smell and I don't like to be around it anymore. I can tolerate it a bit at the 7' distance. Inside that... Smokers just don't realize how much it smells, and really don't want to. I think some get resentful.

I'm very glad that I made the effort to use a PV.
 
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gpjoe

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Obviously you have misinterpreted my words. I am not bitter and condescending towards smokers…they are free to do what they want, and I have always been vocal about smokers rights and think that the rabid anti-smoking sentiment that pervades this country is some BS. However, now that I am not smoking myself, I realize how bad it smells and how nasty it is in the air, and can acknowledge that within a community of people who also understand it. I didn't comment about it to my friends, because it would have been pointless and only served to cause them to be defensive, as apparently it did with you. I found it pretty ironic that a group of people who were literally surrounded by a cloud of stench could supposedly be so bothered by something that most people tell me smells like "a little bit of vanilla". Especially when the smoke was compounded by gallons of perfume that also smells much stronger than my vapor.

As for vaping in the smoking section…it was my understanding that this is the only area in Disney where vaping is allowed. My companions, as much as they were supposedly bothered by my vaping, would have pitched an unholy fit should I have attempted to vape outside the smoking section…I know this because I took a random unthinking puff in the parking lot while we were waiting on the shuttle van, and they all acted as if I had done some horrible thing and was about to get us in trouble with the "Disney Police". If I'd whipped it out on Main Street….or gone off by myself to vape somewhere and actually been cited by the Disney Police, the drama would have been extraordinary.

And yeah…I know who they are. And they know who I am. The same person I've been all these years, except instead of smoking two packs a day, I vape. My annoyance and hurt feelings spring from them treating me like I was somehow different, a leper, and "less cool" somehow. My behavior hasn't changed. Theirs has.

I'm not the least bit defensive. Just posting an observation based on your tone.

And your behavior HAS changed in their eyes. You used to be one of them but now you are an ex-smoker. They are merely doing what they have always done. If you hadn't found vaping, you would have been puffing away right along with them in the car and the smoking area.

Look, I am on your side with regard to your friends being boorish and mean-sprited. They acted like jerks and I would never have tolerated it without at least making my feelings known. There is not much you could have done in the car, as it wasn't yours, but I would have at least rolled the window down on my side and let the rain drip in.

I think they are threatened by the new you and secretly want you to fail and come back to the fold. Get some new friends or hang out with another group of current friends - these gals don't sound like true friends.
 

GMM213

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If someones going to complain about my vaping Im going to complain about their smoking, dont care if its their car. At the park I would have ditched them. Generally smokers who complain about vaping, I find, no nothing more than what the general public knows. I have had three conversations with people in the last few days that they read on FB about how its super bad for you. So of course since its on FB and they read the headline they have to inform me that its worse than smoking. As for the smell, even as a smoker I hated the smell of people smoking, oddly enough.
 
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