Vape and hug your mother!

I stopped to visit a friend yesterday.  He is opening Ocelot Brewery in Dulles, VA next month and it's been a while since I've seen the progress of the build-out.  They are a vape-friendly business, so of course we were all sharing some vape flavors and catching up on old times.

Another friend of theirs was there and I noticed he was vaping on a starter kit e-cig, so we started talking about vaping and how it has helped him to quit smoking.  Then he said the most profound thing to me.

Now we all know the immediate benefits of quitting smoking.  We chatted about how after a night of drinking and smoking a pack or two throughout the evening, we would wake up with lung pain, hacking and coughing.. just feeling generally shitty.  Since vaping, this is no longer something we experience.  Also, the fact that our clothes don't smell anymore, we can vape indoors without the smoke permeating everything we own.  Not to mention reducing the harmful chemicals, tar and other byproducts of cigarette smoke that we've been inhaling for years.

But the one thing he said, beyond all of these benefits, was one thing that has no equal.  He started telling me about his mother, who was a immigrant from Vietnam and is deeply rooted in their culture.  He said that the biggest change that vaping has made to his life is he now is no longer embarrassed to hug his mom.  He said when he smoked, he wouldn't hug his mother.  This is the woman that "exploded you from her vagina", he said, "and I wouldn't hug her when I smoked".

Wow, I thought.  This is some deep shit!  Sure, he's now benefiting from all of the reduced health risks, but this is something you cant put a price tag on.  Smoking cigarettes stopped him from doing the one thing that every son (and daughter) should do at every possible opportunity.  Life is too short and at the end of that life, we always wish we had more time to spend with our loved ones.  This transcends just the argument of whether or not it's a safer alternative to smoking.  It has allowed this guy to get back a valuable aspect to life.  It may seem simple, but because of vaping, he has re-established a new loving relationship with his mother.  So if ANYTHING is a reason to quit smoking, this, in my opinion, is the greatest benefit of all.

So I leave you with this: Quit smoking. Vape and Hug Your Mother!