Have you ever wanted to vape but just been utterly confused when and where to do it? Is the lack of a clear set of universally accepted social guidelines getting you down? You’re not alone, more than half of the 2000 vapers surveyed by e-cigarette brand Vype, complained they were utterly “baffled” about the logistics of their vaping habits.
In a world of uncertainty, sometimes we all need to seek the comfort of a strict set of arbitrary rules and regulations imposed upon our favourite habits. Which is why, here at Superior Vapour, we’ve worked around the clock to bring you our light-hearted take on the recently published etiquette guide to vaping in polite society. Never again will you wander the streets on your lunch break trying to find an appropriate place to vape, or express your boundless confusion via the medium of a survey, just follow our tips and we promise you, it’ll all be okay.
The Do’s
We know that sometimes vaping around other non-vapers can be a social minefield, when do those vapour clouds turn to storm clouds? Follow our simple etiquette tips to ensure that you’re always vaping politely.
DO always vape in a job interview
Always make sure to let a potential employer know where your true loyalties lie and be clear that your job will always come second to vaping.
Creating a memorable first impression and impressing your future employer with demonstrable core competencies are key elements to really nailing that job. Making your employer wait until you finish vaping to answer a question is an efficient way to show you’re an excellent communicator with a firm grasp on the importance of prioritising.
DO always vape in someone’s face
Some people will complain about the invasion of personal space and boundaries etc. etc. but they’ll get over it as soon as they can almost taste the sweet second-hand flavour of your new e-juice. Besides, it’s hardly like it’s second-hand smoke.
DO always vape in confined spaces
Usually doing anything that disturbs the precariously balanced eco-system of a densely populated confined public space, like a bus, would be cause for passive aggressive stares, but somehow no-one seems to care about clouds of vapour infiltrating their air space. Vaping in a confined space is truly economical, none of that vapour is getting wasted. If you’re feeling extra benevolent, why not pass it around so everyone else can get a little more of the joy?
DO always vape in bed
Nothing says romance like a heady cloud of Mf’n Boston Cream Pie. Set the tone for a night of pure bliss by completely ignoring the needs of your significant other and spending some quality time with your vape mod.
DO always vape in queues
The ubiquitous cornerstone of British society and full of people who are stuck with you and your vapour clouds for the foreseeable future, the queue, is, obviously, an excellent place to vape. A queue, for all you sub ohm vapers out there, also provides you with an excellent opportunity to show off those big clouds to a captive audience. Entertain and impress as you wait.
The Do Not’s
DO NOT ask about private locations vaping policies
Whilst vaping has yet to be banned by law in most public premises, private businesses do have the right to withdraw service or entry using their own discretion, but who cares? You’ll find out soon enough!
DO NOT date a non-vaper
Clearly, not vaping is an indicator of poor taste right off the bat - it doesn’t matter if they were never a smoker, to begin with. Realistically, what do you have in common if they don’t vape? What are you even going to talk about if it’s not the performance capacity of the newest Sanagi RDTA? Whilst Debrett’s research showed that one in five non-vapers would date a vaper, this vaper is saying no thank you.
DO NOT use common sense
You may have thought that the question of vaping in public is all down to some simple common sense, good manners and a little consideration, but without this groundbreaking etiquette research, let’s face it, we’d be lost!
Despite over 900,000 smokers using vaping to quit smoking in 2014, and numerous studies proving that vaping, as a whole, is less harmful than smoking, there seems to be some dissonance between the facts and the public conception of vaping and vapers.
With tabloid news coverage tantamount to calling vaping the new gateway drug, to groundless debates over whether it is actually worse than smoking, there seems to be a constant resistance in the media to buy into the idea that vaping, is not only here to stay, but a part of, and an asset to, UK culture, with over 2.8 million British people already vaping.
The legislative restrictions and battles vaping has had to face with a legal system that doesn’t quite know how to lawfully define it, has seen vaping and those that both sell and buy it, placed under some, perhaps overly, harsh restrictions. 2017 is set to be the most difficult year for vaping yet, with the Tobacco Products Directive coming into force in May, severely restricting what can and cannot be bought and sold. New laws capping the maximum nicotine strength at 20mg and maximum tank capacity of 2ml, seems set to destroy some of the vital aspects of vape culture - a blow for those switching over from a heavy smoking habit looking to quit, and massively reducing a lot of the higher performance and “sub ohm” products on the market.
Often it is vapers themselves that are blamed for the misconception in the press and public. The culture that has quite naturally grown up around the growing trend has found itself unfairly stigmatised. The large vapour clouds favoured by sub-ohm vapers are called out as obnoxious, and the reporting on aspects of vape culture such as the vape trade exhibitions, cloud chasing competitions and genuine pride in the DIY ethos, lean towards the scathing. Something that when distilled to its base elements, is simply a conscious health choice and benign hobby, has been victim to the kind of coverage usually reserved for something a whole lot more damaging.
It seems that because of this, there is a certain onus placed on vapers to be overly cautious of their public persona, making the extra effort to not invite any more negative criticism, and attempt to change public perception at the grassroots. And whilst some of that is understandable, with calls of toxic masculinity aimed at recent vape conventions, and the more outrageous vapour cloud chasers attracting a lot more visibility than the decidedly more understated vaping majority, both on the streets and online, it seems that a lot of people, including Debrett’s, seem to forget that we vape because we’ve got common sense, not a lack of it.
