Did that just happen?

[Moosenogger]

Had a customer walk into the store with a lit cigarette last night. He was puffing away and blowing smoke like a chimney. I was shocked, since all smokers everywhere should know that most buildings are smoke-free.

A co-worker eventually went up to the guy and asked if it was an electronic cigarette. The customer laughed and said it was, as though that somehow made it okay. Dude, even if it's an electronic cigarette, you're still blowing smoke everywhere.

Some people's children, I swear.

[FenigDurak]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought e cigarettes were very nearly smokeless. Fairly certain that guy was lying.

[Sleepwalker]

Some have chambers that actually burn dry materials.

[corwin02]

Most electronic cigarettes do not blow smoke but water vapor (steam) , would be a bit silly to prevent people blowing steam now would it.
How else can our dear customers vent <smirk>

[Zaiida]

I use ecigs it does look like you blow 'smoke'. I have had people freak out and swear I'm smoking a real cig. It's not smoke, it's a water vapour fog. It dissapates much faster than real smoke and has no smell unless you stick your nose against an ecig in action.

That said if you could smell cigarette burning smoke he was lying. Very, very few ecig models can be smelt in action if they are liquid based unless you go insanely OTC with certain flavourings and even then it's a minimal slight.

[Andara Bledin]

My mother and aunt were using ecigs for a while, and there's didn't really have any visible vapor.

But there was definitely vapor coming out; turns out that I'm rather sensitive to nicotine vapor and the things were giving me problems until I figured out what it was making me cough.

^-.-^

[LillFilly]

Those e-cigs have made me do a double take more than once, but they're allowed to use them where I work. Though we did catch a guy smoking in the bathroom who argued he 'didn't know he couldn't.' It's been illegal to smoke inside a public building for something like 10-15 years now, hasn't it???

[Zaiida]

My mother and aunt were using ecigs for a while, and there's didn't really have any visible vapor.

But there was definitely vapor coming out; turns out that I'm rather sensitive to nicotine vapor and the things were giving me problems until I figured out what it was making me cough.

^-.-^

It was probably the PG liquid nicotine I'm also allergic to it too now after 2 years of use. Wish I knew about it before I bought another years' worth I'll trade it off somewhere and get some VG liquid nicotine. A lot of people react to the PG stuff, wheezing, coughing, heavy chest, mild athsmatic reactions. Your not the only passive smoker that I know that was having a reaction to the vapour. My brother did as well so my dad switched to the VG stuff and bro is now fine. I just make sure I 'smoke' outside with the other real smokers and stay away from people when I am smoking just in case of someone being sensitive to something in my ecig. Allergies pop up everywhere.

Visible vapour depends on the model of the ecig, the amount of liquid in the reseviour/tip (sp?) and generally the more powerful the ecig and battery the more likely you will see 'smoke'. The ones that look like normal cigs are the least powerful on the market and have little to no visible 'smoke' unless it's just been fully charged with a brand newly refilled tip. It doesn't put out that much power for long and goes to non visible 'smoke' pretty quickly. Unless you have a model of ecig that looks like it could be the base of a light saber. That thing is powerful and I couldn't take a full drag and that gave out some serious 'smoke' cloud. I could have created smoke signals visible for miles .

Still if you tend to smell anything other than moisture/wetness in the air with possibly a slight flavour tint (chocolate cake anyone) they have either burnt the plastic tip from it being too dry (holy CRAP that tastes FOUL) or they really do have a real cig and are lying.

Edited to add - PG Petrolium based liquid, VG Vegetable based liquid. When in doubt, choose the VG. I'm not sure you can with the pre filled stuff though, it may only be avaiable to people who mix their own liquids.

[NorthernZel]

Those e-cigs have made me do a double take more than once, but they're allowed to use them where I work. Though we did catch a guy smoking in the bathroom who argued he 'didn't know he couldn't.' It's been illegal to smoke inside a public building for something like 10-15 years now, hasn't it???

Some people are just oblivious. I remember when the smoking ban was enacted in 2006, some people chose to do a "civil disorder" action by... smoking in supermarkets (which have had a smoking ban for as long as I remember, at least 25 years if not even longer)

Anyway, regarding the original post, I think the customer should have approached the desk, informing them that he is using an e-cig and ask if the hotel has a policy re: e-cig vaping in the lobby before he started vaping.

[blas]

I tried e-ciggs, but felt like I was inhaling burnt rubber

[Andara Bledin]

A lot of people react to the PG stuff, wheezing, coughing, heavy chest, mild athsmatic reactions. Your not the only passive smoker that I know that was having a reaction to the vapour.

I'm not a passive smoker; my mom lives about 350 miles away but happened to be visiting. Plus, it was probably the nicotine itself. I have similar issues with regular cigarettes, but since they also have visible smoke, it's easier to avoid those.

^-.-^

[vloglady]

So are people allowed to smoke the electronic cigarettes everywhere? I work in a public library and yes, it would freak us out.

[NorthernZel]

So are people allowed to smoke the electronic cigarettes everywhere? I work in a public library and yes, it would freak us out.

I think it depends a bit on the policies instated by the business in question + what's in the electric cig (though the latter would be a bit difficult to base a decision upon).

But as I stated, if folks bothered to ASK whether it's allowed to vape before they actually start puffing, AND accept whatever answer they'll get, things would be a whole lot easier to handle. (But on the other hand, I just reminded myself of what this site is about <sigh> )

[NorthernZel]

Oh, and by the way, to make the Mods' work easier, I've already posted a thread in Fratching where e-cigs as an issue can be discussed:

http://www.fratching.com/showthread.php?t=6916

This way, the thread can continue focusing on the customer suckage instead.

[veniteangeli]

Though we did catch a guy smoking in the bathroom who argued he 'didn't know he couldn't.'

If he "didn't know he couldn't", then why was he hiding in the bathroom to do it? I call bullshit on him.

People who genuinely "don't know they can't" have no reason to be furtive about whatever rule they're breaking, because they're genuinely unaware the rule exists. People who hide it know damn well they shouldn't be doing what they're doing and are only dissembling because they got caught.