Why are people so inconsiderate with their vapes?

[MrCollinsandhisboiledpotatoes]

What is it with people and their vapes? They produce these massive clouds of stinky, sweet, gross vapour and they are either blissfully unaware or they don't GAF, I don't know which.

School sports day today so a lot of the parents went to the cafe next to the school between dropping kids off and waiting for sports day to start.

I sat indoors and a few parents were outdoors, door propped open as it was a hot day.

I'm sat there, eating my breakfast and suddenly, a huge cloud of stinky strawberry vapour that's been inside someone's manky lungs descends over me and my food. I could taste it in my mouth 🤮

I looked over and it's a dad sat just outside with his back to the door, his vape clouds going behind him and straight inside the cafe.

I moved seats and no more clouds descended on me but I had made a mental note to either say something or passively-aggressively close the door, not sure which I would have done.

Then later I am standing by the track on the school field ready to cheer my daughter on and right in front of me, a vape cloud desends again, this time from another dad in front of me.
On the school field.
At sports day. In a three-person deep crowd of parents, some with toddlers.
This time I am pissed off so I went and told the headteacher who was stood at the side and he announced over the tannoy that vaping is not allowed on school premises. I mean, who does that??!?

As it may be apparent, this is more of a rant than a AIBU, but I am curious why people this this behaviour is OK?

Unreasonable - They are just gormless and don't realise what they are doing
Not unreasonable - They must know, because it's obvious, but they are so addicted to their stinky plastic puff pens that they don't care.

I just found this website

https://www.cancer.nsw.gov.au/prevention-and-screening/preventing-cancer/damaging-effects-of-vaping/vaping-harms-your-health

I hate vaping almost as much as smoking. I find it classless, rude and unsociable. I also make judgments about anyone who does something so harmful to their body.

Actually, it means I wasn’t looking at Mumsnet! A key difference with my experience on this visit was vaping being done indoors (by someone who always automatically went outside to smoke, and has also always been very considerate about keeping other irritants away from me) and continuously. Whilst vaping may not be ‘as bad’ as smoking dose for dose in terms of what’s released into the air, the fact that it never stops and happens in an enclosed space means that, over the course of a weekend, it had far more of an effect on my lungs than my friend’s smoking ever did. What people do in their own home (taking into account children / family members / visitors with lungs issues etc) is of course entirely their own affair.

However, I did find the level of panic whenever the vaping device was briefly mislaid a real concern - particularly when my daughter described the same reaction among the majority of her university friends who either arrived last September as vapers or have taken it up since then.

I agree, the normalisation of car fumes is crazy but hopefully car ownership will continue to fall as it is already doing in cities like london

Not complaining does not mean they don't mind. Also as a frequent train user i have rarely shared a carriage with the shit faced gangs. What routes are you doing?

You bet . Disgusting chemical poison.

Most of the chemicals quoted as dangerous in these reports are found in illegal / under the counter vapes.

I get mine from a reputable supplier and the ingredients are Propylene Glycol, Vegetable Glycerin, Nicotine Salt + food-grade flavourings, which all meet UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) standards.

Food flavourings aren’t meant to be lit up and inhaled via a plastic pen. They’re supposed to be used to… flavour food. I eat haribo occasionally but I wouldn’t light them up and inhale the contents.

I guess I just find it interesting that you're happy to inhale that random stuff right into your lungs. Do you get any side effects like the ones on that website I linked? Breathlessness etc?
Are you worried about damage to your lungs?

Actually the car fume situation is way better than it was even 20-30 years ago. Not due to use levels:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-and-environment-statistics-2023/transport-and-environment-statistics-2023

Food-grade flavourings, not food flavourings, as in they're fit for consumption🙄

No side effects at all, thanks for your concern. I run 2-3 times a week (when it's not a red alert heatwave!) and have no problems with breathlessness.

I used to smoke so this is way better and keeps me chilled when things get stressful. On balance I think stress is more harmful than vaping for me.

But you’re not consuming them, you’re vaporising them in a plastic pen and inhaling them into your lungs.

NHS to the rescue in 20 years…

PG, VG, and flavourings are still chemicals, and food grade does not automatically mean it’s safe to inhale. Safety for eating the substance and safety for repeatedly inhaling into the lungs are two different questions.

Regardless of the annoyance etc, my main concern is doing it in front of kids which is such a bad influence and normalising it. You've never been able to smoke fags in a school so it shouldn't be allowed, in my opinion. And I'm a chain vaper. If that was me I'd be doing it discreetly.

I absolutely hate walking down the road and having these massive, repeated plumes of sickly smelling air engulfing my kids. They toke and toke and toke, they never just take a few puffs and stub out like with a cigarette. It’s absolutely rank and I guarantee every vaper on here is seen this way by the public.

Agree. We don’t know the long term effects of lighting up synthetic ‘food grave flavourings’ and inhaling them upwards of 100 times a day. If you think 20 years of this won’t damage the body, you’re nuts, frankly.

Agree . There is no doubt it will have its health repercussions.

I’m not a vaper but people used to moan about cigarettes and now they complain about vapers.

Unless your children are unusually tall or the vapers are unusually short, the vapour won’t be going anywhere near them in the open air as the ‘smoke’ rises.

Your life may be less stressful if you can reconcile yourself to tolerating people around you indulging in perfectly legal behaviour even if you don’t like them.

I find most behaviours irritating but as an adult I understand that’s basically tough.

It wouldn’t be legal if I was in charge!

The main argument on here for people saying that vapers blow big clouds of smoke in people's faces seems to be "no they're don't".

Which raises the question; why are all these people lying?

Well what is your definition that makes the posts I have made seem unsensible then?

To be honest we also don't have the long term effects of meeting many of these chemicals - I think we will look back and regret that as well!

Well, I think it is something that a significant number of people do not do, and something that absolutely everyone is aware of, that the government are trying to reduce and that is actually improving.

While you are not wrong exactly, I don't think it's comparable to vaping. It seems almost every vaper on here wants to defend it, and the main defence seems to be denial. Excepting I think two of them, who say they vape with consideration.

One even said she doesn't GAF who tastes or smells it.