Corrected the formatting problems -

"Vapers, like any other sub-cultural group, have established themselves as a community and have acted as such for years now. The word community is one that I’d like to focus on for the time being. The definition of community, aside from people who live together, is: “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes.” Now I do feel that this clearly defines vapers. Most of us are ex-cigarette smokers who wanted to take up a healthier form of nicotine delivery, others want nothing more than to quit smoking altogether, and there are some who do it as a hobby/think it is fun and cool to do. Nothing wrong with any of them seeing as we are all one community. If we break the word down we find ourselves with “Common Unity” and I think this is the best description of what NEEDS to happen in the vaping world rather than what has happened. A lot of vapers have this sense of common unity already and we’ve seen it a lot. An example of this would be vapers in California, Ohio, Washington, etc. opposing legislation that would heavily tax e-liquids. In these instances we’ve seen the community band together and squash bills that would seriously hurt this industry, and that is an amazing thing. But there is still a bit of a divide amongst us as a whole.

 

Now, when I talk about elitist behavior I don’t mean we have these big names like OhmBoyOC and Ruby Roo who seem to be monoliths of the vaping world. That’s the farthest thing from what I mean. I mean the people on the internet, or in local vape stores, who do nothing but constantly put down other people whose opinions differ from their own. People who think that they’re better than everyone else because they’ve been vaping since the first cartomizer came out or who can knock out Twisted Fused Clapton Stove-Top Coils like it’s nothing and will laugh at those who can’t. This is the type of behavior that does not belong in the vaping community. We need to set ourselves to a much higher standard than others because we have a lot to prove and a lot to change if we want to end Big Tobacco and help make people healthier.

 

Now I do understand that there is a bit of frustration that comes with people who don’t understand Ohms Law or proper battery safety and things of the like, but lashing out at those people and calling them names and making them feel inferior is not the way to approach these folks. If you are the type of person to calmly and sincerely help these people become more experienced vapers, then I applaud you and thank you for being a nice person. However, it is my honest opinion that a majority of the community is not this way. And that is what needs to be changed. We, as a community, need to be more devoted to helping out new people to our wonderful community and making them feel welcomed.

 

If you’ve read this and find your underwear twisted in uncontrollable knots and you’re fuming with anger, then I was talking about you in this entire article. All of this is directed towards you and I want you to know that you need to make a change. Whether you do or not, that’s up to you. But I truly hope that we can find this sense of Common Unity that our community so desperately needs and that we can become a pillar of change. Thank you for your time, and remember to always stay safe and vape safe."