To Vape or Not to Vape?

That is most definitely the question of the moment.

With the recent secret squirrel meeting of WHO in Russia (of all places) there has been a lot of talk in the media recently about bans.  Specifically, banning the use or cigarettes (including e-cigs) in Parks, Coffee Shops and of course TfL have decided to sneak in their own vaping ban.

Now, I’ve been stewing on these for a while waiting for any further fallout or other commentaries.

Turning to social media, questions have been asked time and time again about the “right” to vape in public places and of course as with any public discussion there is a multitude of opinions on this matter.  The underlying response that I saw from many was that they don’t want bans.  Fair point, I sure don’t want vaping to be banned either, but the burden is on the vaper to prove to the general populace that vaping isn’t scary, that it isn’t going to hurt them or their children.  Neither is it going to “re-normalise” smoking.

But, let’s switch our viewpoint for moment shall we?

You are an average, everyday person strolling through your local park (and let’s assume you are in London here).  You decide to take the weight off and grab a bench, well why not it’s a lovely sunny day for once.  There’s only space on a bench with a young chap.  So you sit, enjoying the sunshine when you get the whiff of creamy custard and are then shrouded in a cloud of vapour (I’m generalising here – note the spelling Mr US Dictionary!).

On one hand, you caught the whiff of lovely creamy custard and on the other you’ve been shrouded in the young chaps “fumes”.

As a vaper, do you think that is at all fair ?  Of course not.  This is one of the main reasons people want it banned in public places because they don’t want to be shrouded by our clouds, to be fair I can’t say I blame them.  I vape at work, in my small office on my own and don’t (often) take a tug on my Nautilus if there is someone about to walk in.

So, not only is the burden of proof on us vapers to prove that vaping is “healthier”, “safer” etc etc. but also for us as a community to show a little restraint where the general public are concerned.  Maybe, if you are that vaper sitting on a park bench when someone takes the weight off, just politely ask if they mind you vaping.  A little courtesy goes a long way folks and can only serve to improve the relationship of the general non-smoking populace that we are not in fact the bad guys they currently believe we are.

Of course, there is the other end of the spectrum in that some members of the general population are so anti-smoking that they would probably do the “if looks could kill” thing if you asked.  In which case, you have an option of being the good guy and not encasing said Mr Anti in a cloud of your custard vape, or you could reinforce the opinion of us vapers.

The choice, as they say is up to you.

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