Not taking the bins out...

Published by Neil McCallum on 19th Jan 2017

I'm a reformed smoker and now a passionate vaper, but unfortunately there has been a downside of my switching to vaping.

While I was a smoker, I never, ever could smoke inside our house due to the danger of second hand smoke harming my kids (not to mention the smell). So, when I needed a cigarette I would go out the back, where the bins are, drop off the rubbish and have a smoke.

This became my routine. A cigarette before I started work, one at lunch time, one on the way home, and the rest when I put the bins out. On a Friday, if I had a drink, my cigarette consumption would grow at an exponential rate.

So, I quit. And after 29 years of smoking, guess what - I stuck to the old routine and when I needed a vape I would go out back, and put the rubbish out.

I was so used to this routine that I never questioned it. My behaviour was a direct result of the conditioning I encountered throughout my life. Smoking was bad, and if I needed a cigarette at work I had to stand outside. Needed a cigarette on a night out? Stand outside. At home? Stand at the bins.

It took months for me to realise that vaping is not smoking. It’s not covered by the smoking ban, and the risk of passive vaping is non-existent.

I now don’t have to suffer the embarrassment of leaving my desk at work, made to feel that I am dodging my duties, by going for a cigarette. I don’t stand outside pubs and restaurants in the rain, and I even vape in the house. I vape with consideration to others, and to be honest in some locations I stealth vape or go without, if I have to.

If you're like me, not a cloud chaser, and using vaping as a genuinely healthier, no tar, alternative to smoking, you create a vapour that dissolves, leaves no residue, smell, or tell-tale sign that you have been getting your nicotine fix.

Whether I'm at a sporting event, at my desk, or at home, I no longer need to feel like a leper.

It has been a liberating journey, and I feel better for it. If only the bins were taken out as often.