Vaping at playgroup

[Imnotbilly]

I go to a very busy and popular playgroup once a week. There's lots of different rooms and activities, but the largest room is the most popular. It's like a mini bedlam for kids.

Last week I was there with my 2dc and a mum was sat there vaping. I don't care what crappy science you've got to try and prove they are safe - what sort of person vapes at a playgroup???!!!

AIBU to complain to management about this? AIBU to be hoiking my judgy pants well and truly up under my armpits?

[OurBlanche]

OurBlanche It's really interesting to hear your experience of vaping as a cessation aid. Two smokers I am friends with have tried vaping and gone back to cigarettes. Many do, but significantly less than go back after other NRT. There are a number of studies on that and you have ti keep in mind that many vapers still use nicotine, so some would say it is not quitting but exchanging one carrier method with another. But the health benefits tend to make that something of a moot point.

As you have surmised, it is the change of habit that is key. A smoker know where to get cigarettes, vaping kit is less available. A bottle of juice 'suddenly' turns up empty, the number of cigarettes in a packet is easily checked. Like any other addicted habit 'the usual behaviour' is really strong and can be the root cause of relapse, regardless of any benefits already experienced. Oddly, given the immediate benefits of vaping are cost, taste buds, ease of breathing etc, they aren't enough for some.

I don't work with pregnant women, a colleague runs that group. But I think the 'I'll wait' behaviour is common, many women believe/hope that being pregnant will firm up their resolve, especially if they have failed before.

As with any quit attempt, you really do have to be ready and willing.

Sorry, that was a bit long. But it is nice to talk about something else, for a change

[Reapwhatyousow]

Gone off topic now.

[hollinhurst84]

Third - I tried quitting once but I didn't really want to. Used a cheap e cig and it didn't work
This time I randomly bought a decent one for no reason, wasn't wanting to quit. The first 24hrs were hard but after that I thought well I've done 24hrs may as well crack on
That was nearly a month ago, and I'm vaping custard cream which is 1000 X better tasting than cigarettes!

[ThirdThoughts]

OurBlanche It's really interesting to hear your experience of vaping as a cessation aid. Two smokers I am friends with have tried vaping and gone back to cigarettes.

Obviously it was better for them when they were vaping but I didn't know whether there was a problem about it maintaining all the habits around smoking so that it was really easy to start back again. Or whether they just weren't really ready to quit yet and had they tried other methods they might have failed too?

Certainly for one of them it seemed to be if she ran out of the refillable stuff, it was easier for her to get cigarettes again rather than refills. But there's maybe ways of organising things around that (like buying it in bulk, choosing one readily available) to make it easier to stick to.

My best friend is TTC and is certain that she'll give up smoking if she conceives, and of course people do. But it's also a stressful time and isn't necessarily going to be easy just because she's pregnant (though motivation will be higher). And it's taking a while to happen, so it's putting her own health on hold.

[Reapwhatyousow]

OP yanbu and I hope you have mentioned it to the playgroup. I wonder what the woman would say to a small child who is curious as to what it? It's wrong imo because A) it could be imitated B) It is a bad example of dependency. The woman may not have really been aware of it being inappropriate unless someone tactfully mentions it. When at a playgroup it takes a bit of concentration to keep an eye on your child/ren as well as to interact and support their play and she may not have those skills so that is something the playgroup should work on. I'm surprised tbh that this wasn't noticed and addressed by staff and I would be asking why was that?

[crianriea]

I use an electronic cigarette and my rule is that I smoke it only in areas that you would a normal cigarette, irrespective of how less harmful it is. In a playgroup!? Really!? Young children copy and mirror adults, it's how they learn. That aside, wtf is the manager of this place doing!? YANBU!!

[SparkleMotions]

I think I'd be quite annoyed by this if someone at my playgroup was Vaping, I know it's not supposed to be harmful, but it just doesn't seem appropriate and might raise questions from younger children about what that person is doing exactly!

[OutsiderInTheGarden]

I've been wondering for a while whether it's OK that we now see people vaping in lots of public spaces where smoking is obviously illegal. I really don't like it. I am not convinced there's no risk (admittedly I haven't done any resesrch, this is my gut feeling) and I think it normalises a behaviour very closely linked to smoking. I definately do not think it's ok to vape in a play group. What is she thinking? YANBU, and yes I would complain. My judgy pants would be well over head height.

[Hulababy]

Vaping inside a playgroup or playground really isn't acceptable. It's setting a poor example, and it's not a behaviour we should want our children to copy.

I'm sure they could wait a short while or find someone to watch their child so they could go outside or elsewhere.

They must have to at other times of the day after all. You wouldn't be allowed to vape at most work places so they must be able to cope with waiting.

[Mia1415]

YANBU! Not on around children

[OhGodWhatTheHellNow]

Hmm, comparing harm rates with cigarettes, possibly the most dangerous thing ever invented to voluntarily put in your mouth, is setting the bar pretty low but that isn't really the issue for me.
At a playgroup, it's the normalisation of the adult dummy cigarette- type sucking activity in front of impressionable toddlers. Not really on.

[Purplebluebird]

Yanbu, I agree vaping should be done outside imo. It's just more polite I think, so you don't damp up the whole place!

[DancingDinosaur]

I don't plan to give up vaping. I like it. Like I liked smoking cigarettes. But vaping is better for me.

[awesomeness]

I vape to help try and quit, I don't care for anyone getting on the high horse and saying I've swapped one addiction for another, I don't care

but I vape the same way I smoked, go outside etc won't do it in shops and things, I was in Alton towers last week and used it in outside open areas but wouldn't use it in the queues, partly because of the routine side of it, but partly because it's pretty new and untested etc etc and not everyone likes it and it can kick up some pretty big obnoxious clouds but you wouldn't be unreasonable at complaining at all, even as a vaper, I'd still complain

[hollinhurst84]

Not sure in answer to the stop vaping question
I plan to reduce the nicotine very very slowly so I don't go back to cigarettes. Not seeing I will vape forever but for now and the foreseeable future I'm ok with it

[Toxicity]

YANBU, it's a poor show that the vaper couldn't wait until they were outside the playgroup to vape, very inconsiderate.

Less people smoking cigarettes is obviously a good thing. Personally though I really don't enjoy when I am walking down the street and a massive cloud of vape mist goes straight into my face, it stinks and as someone who doesn't smoke I resent having to breathe vape in.

We live in a polluted world but I understand the point of cars and buses!

Can I ask the vapers on here a question? Did you use vape as a means to stop smoking and do you plan on stopping at some point or are you happy to carry on vaping indefinitely? (sorry that question is nothing to do with this thread - just me being nosey!)

[1cupoftea]

IMO:
Health aspect - unproven but still a concern (risk)
Social aspect - Inconsiderate to those around them

I would for sure mention it, I appreciate them trying to quit smoking (possibly), however, I would expect them to be more courteous in this instance!

[Soon2bC]

I am an ex smoker and have become a vaper. My personal opinion is that I wouldn't vape in front of kids as they can see smoke coming out of a thing which lights up and looks 'cool'.
Some places have signs which say no smoking or e-cigarettes.

As a vaper, i would have complained if someone was doing that in a play group. it is really poor form. Any health implications aside I dont even do it at home when little people are visiting, i take it to the garden or another room out of sight.

[TwoLittleBlooms]

I think it is disgusting in a playgroup - would she smoke there? NO! So she wants to put her vapour stick away! (I say this as an ex smoker who used to use a fake cigarette to help me quit!) It is setting a bad example whether it is a real cigarette or a fake cigarette (which it is).

[OurBlanche]

They are certainly at odds with the Support to Stop! lobby, utterly and completely.

That piece does at least say clearly that they base their 'worries' about vaping not against cigarettes, so presumably (in the absence of any further clarification) they measure the 'threat' against fresh air... which makes me laugh as any smell from any source is a contaminant. From daisies and roses to cats, dogs and hippoes... and those pink sweets I hate so much

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

The BMA have always been anti-vaping for no sensible reason. They're not saying anything they haven't said before and the evidence to counteract their vague baseless 'concerns' is getting stronger all the time. Their stance on ecigs is increasingly at odds with the rest of public health.

BMA should stick to what they're good at: being a trade union for doctors.

[OurBlanche]

Not sure that was the full message. We will be discussing this next week..

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/23/ban-e-cigarettes-in-bars-and-restaurants-leading-doctors-say/

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

There was something on the radio today saying the BmA want to ban vaping in public places. They say that nicotine from vaping lingers in enclosed places.

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

Scary - and 1000% more dangerous than just normal air!
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You completely undermine your argument when you come out with bullshit like that.

Hahaha priceless! Thank you for cheering me up on this gloomy, referendum-tense day. What is this 'normal air' of which you speak? Do you live at the top of a mountain or something?

[OurBlanche]

Scary if that is all you ever say on the matter then no, you wouldn't be one of those I would include in the Hypocrite Games. I said as much in the post you are referring to. The smell of sweets will probably make you feel equally nauseous, they certainly make me fee ill (especially the pink ones). Oddly that is because they contain the same flavouring ingredients. My solution is to move away from the person eating them... not to try and get them banned.

Many asthmatics vape.

Those of you against vaping think of it like this: the sooner every smoker vapes the sooner there will be a total ban on cigarettes. The sooner everyone vapes the more likely it is that the nicotine based liquid will be reduced and eventually banned. The sooner that happens the sooner the vaping fad is likely to disappear, or become far less prevalent.

In being so outraged against vaping you are prolonging both cigarette smoking and vaping. You are acting against your own best interests.