Educating non-smokers

[toots]

Went out to a bar last night and ended up sitting at a table with a mature English couple on holiday who were non-smokers, very nice couple, friendly. Anyhow I was of course using my mini istick (as you do) when they started asking questions about e-cigs in general, and how they differed to analogue cigarettes.

Well, during the conversation the woman said something to the effect 'but aren't they more dangerous than normal cigarettes' to which I obviously said no, they definitely are not and that they are much better for your health. Then she started saying something to the effect that she'd heard and read some articles (back home in England, as if I don't keep up to date with back home in England lol) that they were very bad for you. I then felt I had to explain and educate this person about NRT products not selling and how the pharmaceutical companies were losing so much money because people were buying e-cigs instead so these companies were lobbying the media etc with lies which was scaring a lot of smokers from switching to e-cigs. She couldn't believe that was happening but said it made perfect sense when money was involved.

It is such a shame that the general public has to be educated by us vapers in order to learn the truth about e-cigs and what is going on with Big Pharma etc. It should not have to be this way

[Greg]

Non smokers don't care though, why would they have any interest or take the time to research ?

[Perpetua]

Smokers are likely to quote the exact same clap trap as well toots . . . and we all know of course how ' safe ' cigarettes are.

It's not an ' ignorance ' exclusive to non smokers . . . . .

[toots]

Mar 22, 2015 19:18:42 GMT Greg said:

Non smokers don't care though, why would they have any interest or take the time to research ?

Well, these non-smokers were interested and had read articles, albeit obviously the wrong articles.

Anyway even non-smokers can have friends or family members who are smokers. I sometimes have heard non-smokers say they've tried to get their family members to switch to e-cigs so I do think some of them do and will take an interest, therefore they need to be properly educated.

[Greg]

Mar 22, 2015 19:24:26 GMT toots said:

Mar 22, 2015 19:18:42 GMT Greg said:

Non smokers don't care though, why would they have any interest or take the time to research ?

Well, these non-smokers were interested and had read articles, albeit obviously the wrong articles.

Anyway even non-smokers can have friends or family members who are smokers. I sometimes have heard non-smokers say they've tried to get their family members to switch to e-cigs so I do think some of them do and will take an interest, therefore they need to be properly educated.

Of course there'll be exceptions like most things but like you said that couple read the wrong articles and that's because generally that's what's available in the media.

its not the non smokers at fault, rather the media 

[toots]

Mar 22, 2015 19:19:18 GMT Perpetua said:

Smokers are likely to quote the exact same clap trap as well toots . . . and we all know of course how ' safe ' cigarettes are.

It's not an ' ignorance ' exclusive to non smokers . . . . .

Actually yeah, I've found one hell of a lot of smokers in the past saying they're not good for you or they don't work, however I've mainly felt that these smokers are just putting up a defence/excuse for carrying on smoking. It's the way smokers say it, unlike the conversation that I had last night with the non-smokers who were genuinely interested and actually wanted to have the discussion whereas smokers I've found often don't even want to have a discussion (unless of course they have been thinking about giving up analogues) and then are looking for some help and advice.

[toots]

Mar 22, 2015 19:28:00 GMT Greg said:

Mar 22, 2015 19:24:26 GMT toots said:

Well, these non-smokers were interested and had read articles, albeit obviously the wrong articles.

Anyway even non-smokers can have friends or family members who are smokers. I sometimes have heard non-smokers say they've tried to get their family members to switch to e-cigs so I do think some of them do and will take an interest, therefore they need to be properly educated.

Of course there'll be exceptions like most things but like you said that couple read the wrong articles and that's because generally that's what's available in the media.

its not the non smokers at fault, rather the media 

That's exactly what I was getting at when I said it's a shame that us vapers have to educate these people.

[bunglebear]

Mar 22, 2015 18:53:00 GMT toots said:

Went out to a bar last night and ended up sitting at a table with a mature English couple on holiday 

thought it was going to be a very different story when you started off with this sentence.....

[zebby]

Mar 22, 2015 19:18:42 GMT Greg said:

Non smokers don't care though, why would they have any interest or take the time to research ?

Yes but those who are losing money would like to get the general public onside whether they are smokers or not, its all ammunition to use against vaping and protect their profits.

[whiteshep]

It can be a brick wall to smack your head on sometimes but I've found once you catch their curiosity the mind becomes a lot more open and receptive to the other side. For me the most frustrating thing is we have all the evidence on our side but cannot seem to get it out large scale to counter the almost daily barrage of junk and badly executed studies out there and perhaps that's the direction we need to go in. I have managed to counter the rubbish with quite a few people locally but in reality it's not even a drop in the ocean we need to change the tide of.

[Deleted]

I get it from a polish girl all the time in the lift

The same girl who has a hairless cat when cats and dogs are banned in the block

All this 'it says what ya smoking on the internet is bad for you. Look it up! LOOK IT UP!'.

For the record polish wifey I have looked it up and I know more than thee!

I now don't talk to her

[djs]

Some non-smokers I meet seem pleased that they think vaping is really bad, maybe even worse than smoking.

I can't express how I feel about such people... it would be too uncharitable.

[clairea]

@johanino I find those hairless cats odd and ugly,
My mum who is a non smoker was glad when I turned to e cigs but can't understand why I won't stop vaping, although she got interested when ibsaid I was mixing my own liquid, she asked why would I want to do that, told her its cheaper,min an control exactly what goes into it and control the nic strength more than store bought ones,

But as for smokers I think that most don't want to beleive because they don't want to give up, the more I got nagged to about giving up the more I duf my heals in you have to want to do it really want to to change,

I think that is why I don't really understand those that are vaping still smoke as well, I am not judging them don't get me wrong I just don't understand why they are doing both but then I found it really easy to quit and vape dispite the fact I was a heavy smoker for 30 plus years and tried everything else to give up and nothing worked for me at all, I never in a million days thought vaping would work but it did from the first moment I picked up an e cig

Non smokers I think it helped my mum knowing my aunts was using a cigalike at same time but she has since quit both because she has copd but non smokers are more sympathetic towards vaping than smoking dispite what is written, they seem much more interested than those who smoke who don't want to or have no intention on giving up,

[charliehorse]

Mar 23, 2015 14:50:10 GMT @johanino said:

I get it from a polish girl all the time in the lift 

And where exactly is this lift please

On the original topic, I have only had one negative style comment the whole time I've been vaping and that was from my brother in law.

Wouldn't really expect anything else from him though. I took it as an opportunity to just ignore the idiot even more than usual  

[300]

When i was a smoker i used to tell the haters they should be thanking us for coughing up £12 billion a year to pay for the NHS, of course that argument doesn't hold any water for us vapers............ yet.