Vaping in public places

[Gizmopup7]

Do you ever vape in public places just to see what kind of reaction you'll get?
I like vaping in department and clothing stores just to watch the expressions on the employees faces, LOL. When my son & I were shopping at Kohls for his school clothes I had three employees following me around trying to figure out if I was smoking. After several minutes of being followed I finally heard one of them say "It's okay, it's one of those new vapor thingies". I just chuckled a little to myself and continued shopping.

 

[Heatherport]

I vape in local grocery store and Walmart...was at a resaurant last night but wasn't in mood to start "trouble" so I didn't. No one who works in stores has ever approached me...only people who want to know what I am smoking and how they can get one!

 

[Bigham1]

I don't vape anywhere cigs are not allowed for two reasons. First is out of respect for people who are not educated about e cigs. They just think its smoke. Second If someone were to approch me with an attitude I am not the type who would deal with being yelled at and being told what to do and I don't want to waste my money on bail or fines. I could use that money for a new mod or juice.

 

[JohnReagan]

Here's a link to a great thread that discusses this very topic with some controversial views thrown in for good measure. Helped me contemplate what to do when I had the same question.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/e-cigarettes-public/77166-please-dont-vape-where-you-cant-smoke.html

 

[Bozzlite]

I might stealth smoke in Target early on Sunday mornings when there are no customers or employees around, but I don't intentionally try to start a confrontation in what is normally considered a Non-smoking area.

I think that if we all want to continue vaping, we need to have as many on our side as possible. There is just too much false info and bad press out there now, what with the FDA wanting to regulate and all the individuals that have demonized smoking and therefore consider vaping the same thing as smoking.

 

[Col. Gaunt]

I have vaped in a hospital room, restaurants, busses, trains, grocery stores, clothing stores and the only time I was given a hassle was when I was vaping in the Secretary of States office while waiting for a new license.

 

[Windpray]

I do not vape in places where smoking is not allowed, except in places of privacy, for example the bathroom stall in airports, where I am going to be for awhile and do not want to go outside. No point in giving e-cigs a bad rep.

 

[HAndersen]

i always ask first in resturants... dont smoke in any stores and stealth smoke in airplanes

 

[mokeyjoe]

I wouldn't turn on a smoke machine in a shop so I wouldn't vape there either. It's just courtesy.

On the other hand I'm an expert stealth vaper and can happily puff away for ages without a hint of vapour. Best of both worlds, I'm enjoying it and not bothering anyone - hell no-one even realises.

 

[HAndersen]

i am thinking about buying some stealth juice...

 

[bustall]

At this point in time your just asking for trouble, people don't know what your blowing in their air. At least let it get on television a bit more as most people don't have a clue of what this thing is!

 

[Heatherport]

See, the way I see it, is if we're going to sit here and say how safe it is and tat it won't hurt anyone then why not put your money where your mouth is. I have yet to be confronted in any negative way and that is certainly not why I vape in public places...I don't like to fight. I vape because I like to and it makes me feel good and feel happy...and I vape in stores because I CAN and because other people get interested and I WANT other people to get interested. I vaped at the customer service desk at Walmart and the gals were really nice about it and really interested.

 

[Skud]

i don't vape in non-smoking places because to me, it would be the same as drinking non-alcoholic beer in places you're not supposed to be drinking. i wouldn't vape in a department store or daycare center or fast food joint any more than i would crack open an O'Douls in one of those places. i vape inside at my work now because i work at a recording studio and everyone's a smoker anyways (although we don't allow actual smoking inside the building at all, we've all decided vaping was cool), and i also vape in my house. a few of my friends are cool with me vaping inside their house, but that's more of them telling me it was ok, not me asking if i can. i pretty much treat it like smoking unless instructed otherwise.

however, it's definitely important for all of us to go out of our way to educate people. pretty much every smoker i come into contact with gets the low-down on how awesome e-cigs are and info on where they can get their own if interested. and when i'm vaping around non-smokers who probably have never even heard of an e-cig, i'll try to find clever and subtle ways to bring the subject up and educate them a little bit. it's definitely much better that they hear it from one of us than from some skewed, misinformed news story that gets their "facts" from FDA cronies.

now is the time that we can all make sure e-cigs have a proper and respected place in society, and it's important for us to be subtle and tactful in our actions. the last thing we need is a backlash from the uninformed. remember, people tend to fear what they don't understand.

 

[smilin0117]

Ya I also dont openly vape where smoking is not allowed without first asking permission. I do stelth vape however. Probably not politically correct either but PG juice makes it so so easy its hard for me to resist.

 

[symorebutts]

I tend to vape is stealth mode, not that I care what people think, but in order to get solid public acceptance, I think freaking them out is counter-productive. Restroom stalls are a great place to quick juice up. Furthermore, I tend to hang with the smokers outside out of respect of the non-smokers. If we want them to respect us, we need to start out this relationship respecting them, until they are educated enough to relax on the issue.

I also vape a lot in the car in bumper to bumper traffic, and often get tones of looks. And the few folks who have asked me about it, have been cool as I tell them that A) the "smoke" is only water vapor and harmless, and B) it's a tool slowly become less addicted to nicotine, and for that, they are on board to support me.

 

[Tracey1]

We need to use common sense and and show basic, common courtesy when we vape in public. The problem with this kind of “in your face vaping” is that you only see the reaction of the people right in front of. You have the opportunity to explain it in detail. There are many more people who will see you vaping without hearing about the benefits. These are the people who walk out of the store, theater or restaurant upset about it. I was reading somewhere about a woman who saw someone vaping in a line at the DMV. (Maybe this was you Col. Grant! lol) The lady behind him said something to the effect that "he was smoking something and had a little bottle of something that looked like urine that he kept putting in it". This one woman's experience of seeing someone vape in public made it to an internet forum where a lot of discussion took place. A co-worker of mine pointed it out to me. I'm willing to bet that a lot more people read that and walked away from it with a bad feeing and mis-information about e-cigs than the two gals at the customer service got of the good.
It's great to be able to vape in public and there are a lot of places that we can do that without risking upsetting people. But to do it just because we "CAN" can cause problems down the road as more and more people start using e-cigs. Most people have no idea what an e-cig is and it is our responsibility to educate as many people as we can. But it takes time. So many of us have lost loved ones to smoking. It’s a sensitive matter that requires explanation. Seeing someone vaping is of no comfort to them without the needed benefit information to go along with it. Stealth vaping is easy enough to do. If you need to, you have that option. Vaping without permission in a place that doesn’t allow smoking is just asking for a negative reaction. You run the risk of pi$$ing off a lot of people. There is no value for us as vapers in the long run.

 

[Heatherport]

Why would you need permission to vape somewhere where it isn't NOT allowed? I just don't get that. Again, I haven't had any problems so maybe I'm just missing something with this whole "stealth" thing. I guess I'm just not much of a sneaker, lol, especially if I'm not doing anything wrong. It may depend on where you live as well.

 

[JeffTM]

Just because it's technically allowed by law doesn't mean that store managers/servers/patrons are aware of the law or even know what vaping is. I will stealth vape sometimes if I'm in dire need of a puff, but I don't rub it in anyone's face. I just don't see a reason to start any arguments or educate people about vaping when all I really want to do is get my nic fix. Perhaps when more people are aware of what e-cigs are, I'll feel more comfortable vaping in places where smoking is banned.

 

[Godzilla]

Although I have not hesitated to vape in stealth when I really needed to, I am very self conscious about vaping where smoking is not allowed. I am a considerate person, but my friends will tell you I am far from shy.

Its for me, a lot like smoking analogs outdoors. Even though I was in an area that smoking was allowed, if I knew there were a lot of non-smokers nearby, or near a table where someone was eating, I always made sure to walk to an area so as not to disturb anyone with my smoking, and I smoked a pack + per day for 25 years.

But I also know plenty of smokers (many are my friends) could care less about what anyone else experiences around them, and I would expect that they too would like to vape in public places for the point of it.

Dont get me wrong, I love telling people about my e-cig, and am quite proud I have quit analogs. Sometimes I feel like an e-cig salesman and I have to ask myself, what the heck am I doing this for? I guess I just want to spread my good fortune.

 

[Clover~]

I started a week ago and already my bf is getting really into it. he is using my other battery until he orders his own. We went out today and ate at a restaurant and he took a few vapes but kinda blew it down. there wasnt a lot of people around and no one ever notices anyways. We just got back from seeing the legend of the guardians (cute movie btw) and we vaped here and there with the light covered and we held it in and blew at the floor but really no one ever can notice. For him it was a big thing cus he hates going to movies cus he cant smoke. I looooove movies! this was a special night cus he never takes me to movies. so Im happy. As long as we're considerate there's no problem.