To tell those who lecture me on vaping to Fuck Off

[Dogsitterwoes]

AIBU. No, let them lecture you
YANBU - Yes, be rude to them

I'm in my 50s and was a long term smoker. I switched to vaping in January. I am considerate and only vape outdoors and move away from other people or into a smoking area. People sometimes
comment, there's a brief convo around my giving up smoking, and 9 out of 10 respond nicely in a 'well done you' kind of way.

The 1 out of 10 though start lecturing me on the evils of vaping. These can be complete strangers, or acquaintances. They go on and on.
Usual themes:

1. Just as bad for you or worse for you than smoking.
2. Children are vaping.
3. Environmental impact of disposables.

I respond politely. I acknowledge there is a concern around all of this, and
1 - I know they aren't exactly good for me but I think they are not as bad as cigarettes, and it's my intension to also stop vaping this year
2 - I agree the manufacturer's should stop targeting non-smokers with the sweet flavours
3 - I agree, I use a rechargeable, but there's probably a lot more all of us could be doing for the environment.

But they do not let it drop. I've literally been lectured at on and on.

YANBU to stop being polite after my initial response and tell them that if I stopped vaping today, I'd be back on the fags tomorrow so mind their own fucking business?

I agree with your DD - it’s gross! And I also agree that people will have huge problems with their health in the future because of vaping

I absolutely agree with you and definitely the social equivalent to someone taking a shit besides someone! Absolutely disgusting! Yes Haribos - that is exactly what it smells like!
I’m sorry for your personal losses

Nah still disgusting!

But light hearted but if you develop health issues from vaping aren't you putting strain on "our" NHS? Lmao

Yes, probably. Catchiness is definitely part of it. It's dramatic - people imagine their lungs turning into popcorn 💀

Very few people have the critical thinking ability to actually question stuff like this.

I disagree with this, I think they do have the ability but they're not using it for some reason.

I think this might have a lot to do with the way public health and tobacco control have deliberately used shame, stigma and disgust in anti-smoking campaigns for many years.

Everywhere else in public health, shame and stigma have been presented as obstacles to overcome. Only in tobacco control has appealing to these base instincts been openly advocated for as a useful strategy.

It was quite an effective strategy in the 90s and early 00s when there were a fuckton of casual smokers who could be emotionally nudged into quitting. But once that low hanging fruit was harvested, what was left was a still huge number of mostly poor smokers who were now also stigmatised and made to feel ashamed and disgusted at themselves because they still could not quit.

These people were seen as expendable in favour of preventing youth uptake of smoking and so the ends were seen as justifying the means however nasty, cruel and dishonest the means were.

So it didn't matter that for decades, a picture of dyed-black pig's lungs circulated everywhere with the caption 'a smoker's lungs'. It didn't matter that smoking-diseased lungs don't even look like that. What mattered was that this was what smokers' lungs should look like.

And it didn't matter that the NHS presented zero evidence for 'Every cigarette rots you from the inside out', or ever even explained what they could possibly mean by such a statement. What mattered was that smokers were associated with rotting flesh.

See also early versions of WHO's 'The Smoker's Body'.

For years, people have been encouraged to not-think about smoking and to instead react from their most basic emotions in response to any smoking-related cues. It's no surprise then that faced with something that looks a bit like smoking, all those kneejerk emotional reactions are still there, even though they are now counterproductive.

A perfect example.

🤣

Interesting and well thought out post. I didn’t think about it from this perspective.
It’s still frustrating that people are literally saying they don’t plan on educating themselves about the differences, and still being incredibly emotional about their irrational hatred for vaping.
It is definitely a shame for people such as the OP, that they will get thought of as ‘less than’ for doing something positive for their health.

And here is another example. Right on cue.

The disposables are bad though.

The disposables have a lot of nicotine in them in one small vape bar. It's equivalent t to smoking a pack of 20.

The non disposable ones you can buy much less nicotine ones.
Take yourself if you can to a vape store they will be able to give you some better advice.

Well done on stopping smoking!

@Mybusyday okay, of course you can smell it. You are a special cookie that can distinguish between myriads of smells inside and out.
Perhaps you should present yourself to the police as a replacement for their sniffer dogs?
I'm going to work, I'll probably be complimented a few times on how nice I smell as people there seem to like a couple of my perfumes....they mustn't have your distinguished sniffing abilities though 🤣

You seriously think vaping isn't harmful? Okay dokey.

If you’re not going to bother RTFT, or even the last few pages - then I can’t help you.

It's mostly about superiority and "Look at how good I am" by pointing out how bad someone else is and apparently the more dramatic, rude, 'edgy' and derogatory the better.
The ones I've come across are the wine or gin o'clock type, or with lips you see coming round the corner before they do and a forehead that doesn't crease.
But vaping is associated with smoking and that's associated with poverty, where as a glass bottle of wine every night or a few gins and pumping your face full of crap is associated with a more affluent section of people and a far more civilised way of poisoning yourself.

I wouldn't have a go at anyone for vaping (unless they are doing it around me in my breathing space - vape clouds make me cough as much as passive smoke) but I do think they need to make it less appealing to children.

And it's ridiculous that cigarettes are locked away behind the counter at the corner shop and all contain messages and images of the harm, but vape products are front and centre, loads of different colours, flavours, and generally made to look as attractive as possible. And significantly cheaper.

While it helps some people stop smoking, many are then just addicted to vape, and the risks are not fully understood. DH stopped smoking years ago but is completely addicted to vaping. He has a chronic, deep, nasty cough and will not see the GP about it.

@AussiUnHomme Absolutely this!!! You talk so much sense but be prepared for some horrible comment just because someone doesn’t agree with you - ignore them, they know they are in the wrong but would rather attack someone for having an opinion than admit it

Ahh you must be one of those that try to mask their vaping smell with perfume. They end up smelling like a Lush factory reject. Its like those sweaty blokes who try to cover the smell up with Lynx. The smell hits you before they even come in the room. They still smell of sweat but its mixed with the hint of Lynx Africa.

Face it, ANYONE who vapes cannot escape from smelling of it. You can claim whatever you like but I could go through the 100 people at my workplace and pick out every single one of them easily.

@Tessasanderson - absolutely this! And you are so, so right - they know it makes them stink so try to cover it up with cheap perfume!

I sure as hell know the difference between vape and laundry detergent/perfume/moisturiser! What a ridiculous thing to say! Believe me people CAN smell a person who vapes! They just don’t tell you!

Nic salts should be legislated against. That was a nice much more about customer retention than anything.

I vaped when it was still kind of a scene, lots of small independent businesses, very much focused on smoking cessation and ending nicotine addiction, totally uncool and shunned by teen-agers because it was all weird old blokes interested in electronics doing it, but it was a closed ended business. When salts, pods and disposables came onto the scene it was completely counter the ethos at the time. Loads of small businesses wouldn't sell the salt stuff and the companies producing them didn't want a dwindling market share and the focus for selling them switched to supermarkets and attracting new customers. They should 100% be covered up

The 20mg things are savagely addictive. It's quite literally the crack version of nicotine

So now everyone who vapes wears cheap perfume and stinks

Vapes smell very strongly. It's not a magical smell which doesn't linger in people's hair or clothes. You can smell the blue raz everywhere.

Depends on the flavour. I vape milk biscuits which is pretty subtle, and it doesn't linger. I tend to wear gourmand perfumes so I usually smell sweet anyway
The most common comment I get is how lovely my house smells (and I vape inside)

The OMG VAPING FKN STINKS thing was something that happened much later once people took a moral position on it as well. Originally most people were falling over themselves telling you it smelled great.

I get that not everyone likes the same things but people wouldn't walk round a sweet factory going OMG THE HORROR! and it's frequently the same ingredients, it's just delivered via the lungs of a filthy degenerate 😅