Why are some people so resistant?

[Ciara]

What seems to me to be the most efficient course of action.

The less you seem to proselytizing, the greater the chances of your message getting across. Smokers can be very defensive. I know.

You hit it right there! In my zeal to get my son off cigs and on vaping, I talked and talked on and on about it, about all the positives and how much fun it was, etc. I'm not sure if that was proselytizing or just sharing a great thing, and he didn't seem to mind hearing about it at all. The thing with him is that he didn't do any homework or research for himself. He wanted me to do it all for him and show him everything without him doing anything. I am so very happy to help him with everything I do know and have learned, but there's sooo much more to it than that. It sure is frustrating though because I so much want to share this wonderful thing with him and for him to be free too!

 

[StormFinch]

You know, I think there really has to be an epiphany for a smoker to finally quit, and that is also the reason that the majority of us past our 20s. We've been berrated all our lives with shock ads, lectures, sneers, and we got really good at ignoring it all. Then, it suddenly starts becoming personal; the first time you wake up and your lungs are on fire, the first time you get a simple cold that promptly turns into bronchitis and can't catch your breath, the first time you spend half the night waking yourself up coughing, the first time you try to be active but feel like there is a hot coal inside your chest... Even then some of us didn't have that epiphany, but sooner or later the realization dawns and we go "I've really got to quit this." For the most part, those times don't start coming until your in your thirties or forties. Whenever it happens though, and until then, the e-cigarette may well look like just another way to make smokers quit smoking.

We really are standing in the twilight at this point. The smokers tend to look at us like non-smokers, and the non-smokers look at us like we are still smoking. We know we are doing neither, but we all had to come to our own epiphany to do the research and get here. Hopefully we have cut out some of the research for the smokers we've met along the way.

 

[Jturse]

you will always have problems trying to change peoples minds of what they do not know. A lot of people have heard tons of rumors about them and all this harmful stuff regarding E cigs. I trie to get my father to even take a puff on one. He is 58 and a smoker for also 40 years. How do you change the mind of someone that age. It is rare to be able too.... All you can do is show them and if they wanna try it they will ask.

I tried to get a friend to do it by being pushy. She went on and bought a 510 full kit with PCC and some juice. Did it for 1 week and then was ...... cause she spent the money on "a waste" is what she calls it.....

Just show and let them make the first move....

JTURSE

 

[D4RKW1NG]

I haven't pushed it on anyone. I have my PV and smoke it and when my friends see it, they start asking questions. I get a lot of people making fun of me, and then those same people get curious a few weeks later. I have never asked anyone if they want me to get them one, but have been asked to get 5 friends PV's after seeing mine.

 

[ooo00zen00ooo]

I dont know, I mean giving some one an e-cig or suggesting it, is kinda like suggesting jenny criag to an overweight person or rehab to a heroine addict. I suspect people are slightly hostile toward any critisism however good intentioned it may be. Idk I didn't even wanna quit smoking when i ordered my 510, but I did, and imo it is superior to smoking in many many ways. BUT, if someone had given me and e-cig or suggested it, I prolly never would have tried it.

 

[quakereject]

I'm not pushy, at all, with showing my 510 to friends that smoke.. I let them know what it is, what it does, and that I haven't touched a cig in 6 weeks (yay).. but more times than not, that's as far as it goes.. I haven't converted any of my friends at all! Like I said, I'm not pushy at all and I'm not preaching to them, but when I saw my 1st ecig (someone at work was puffing away) I wanted one NOW! And I'm so glad I got it!

Anyone else have a rough time converting friends/family? Maybe I should be pushy? Maybe bring clean or new carts over friends house and let them give it a try?

Just wait till all the stoners and cool kids in school are vaping e-cigs, then everyone will convert in line.

As far as converting, well, people like to think that they don't want to be told what to do, plus with the history of other nicotine based smoking substitutes hasn't really been stellar. It's a skeptical sell at first glance, and most smokers don't really want to quit smoking, or they have it in their head they can quit anytime and just keep on smoking.

It's all about timing, and desire, I've been working on one of my best friends for around 4 months now, since I converted, in fact.. she's even in the Marines (duh! can march longer!) and is resistant to it. The only time I really have success is when I give em the saving money pitch, that perks alot of people's ears up, especially when they hear I get my nic fix for what I paid for 3 days worth of cigarettes a month, per month.

Now if I could only stop plotting on my next PV purchase to really make that true...

 

[Rosa]

Most people who switch are ready to quit cigs and have probably already tried to quit several times with many different methods.

In order to stop smoking, you really have to HATE it, you have to hate yourself and hate your life. That's the problem, most people love it. I know at one time, I sure did.

I sort of feel the total opposite. I LOVE smoking. Love, love, love it! I think it even smells romantic. I even think that smokers are more honest, kind, and down-to-earth than non-smokers (o.k., a little biased maybe). The only problem I had with it was that it was going to kill me in a really painful and humiliating way, and on top of that I'd have my children standing around my deathbed with their "told you so" faces on and trying to hide it.

I think that's why I love e-cigs so much. The whole experience of vaping is almost the same to me if not better. E-cigs give me a better throat hit than my smokes did, they taste better too. And I'm pretty sure they're not going to kill me. It's like I found a really, really good new brand of smokes and also found out that I never have to quit unless I want to.

To me e-cigs are about not having to wonder if I'll quit when I have to go on home oxygen. Because, I really don't want to quit. Ever.

 

[BradSmith]

My friends who were sick of their smoking habit were very interested and most of them have either quit cigs completly or cut back a ton using e-cigs. My friends that have no intention of quiting don't seem to care to even try it. I would bet when they are ready they will give it a chance.

 

[lcwhitlock]

I have two neighbors that are no where near the heavy smoker I was, and I can't get it through to them how much better vaping is. I don't even start a conversation about it. When they see me, they always ask "so how's the e-cig coming along?" And I give them the same answer "oh, I'm LOVING it ... still satisfies my cravings ... *then I stress here* WITHOUT THE SMELL" heh They knew how much I smoked and that my intentions for the conversion to vaping is an alternative. I fully intend to vape for years to come. I'm sure they'll come around, eventually. I try to rub it in when they leave the door of opportunity open for me.

 

[bwood12043]

I tried to get my father to even take a puff on one. He is 58 and a smoker for also 40 years. How do you change the mind of someone that age. It is rare to be able
JTURSE

I was 57 and had been smoking nearly 40 years when I discovered PVs... found them on my own after seeing an internet ad for the Gamucci (glad I did the research and didn't buy one of those)

Length of the habit is not as much of an issue as attitude... as PVs become more accepted, more folks will come around, and we will be there to guide them to right sources.

We are the pioneers. The technology/vendors/prices have come a long way in just the last year and a half, and will keep improving if we keep the impression others get positive.

IMHO

 

[rosesense]

When I started several co-workers were interested but flat out told me they would wait a couple months to see how I did. I don't think they expected it to work. When they saw it did work, they asked me to help them get set up which I did. A couple of them went back to smoking but the others have made it for about 2 months. It is better to just let them decide on their own. I have helped at least 10 people get set up with equip.

I had forgotten about that awful cough. I was so embarrassed in the mornings, you could hear me coughing down the block. I rarely cough anymore and I now hate the smell. Don't mean to be an anti but I move far away from smokers cause I don't want it on my clothes and hair.

One of the ones who went back to smoking after 2 months vaping is back to coughing in the mornings at work. The other day I heard her hacking and realized that she had completely stopped the morning cough and now it is back just like before. She keeps saying she is going to stop the analogs again but so far she has only cut down. I am afraid it would be very hard for me to quit again so I am trying super hard not to ever light up another one. Some people can get right back on track but I have a really hard time after a first attempt at anything I try to change habits.

Sorry for the book.

 

[mixitman]

I'm having to convince the higher-ups at work to let me vape in the non-smoking break room.. maybe that'll help some co-workers decide if they see me in there in the nice clean fresh air, vaping away haha.

After taking a few big drags off my 510 in the manager's small office, and him not able to even tell I was doing it, I've got them pretty convinced to let me vape in my office and in the non-smoker's break room... which would ROCK on a 12 hour shift with a passthrough and about 8 computers around me

 

[ragnarokstar]

When I first started vaping in January, some of my coworkers just made fun of it. after four moths, some of them are starting to show serious interest. I'm confident some will try it and like.