Outdated Language - Let's be Cool

When was the last time you wrapped something in tin foil and put it in the icebox? Were you wearing sneakers and a blouse – or perhaps a housecoat? Had you been sitting in the front room or the parlor using the shears to cut out coupons that you keep in your pocketbook? Had you used the sweeper on the rug?

Okay, now be honest. How many of you still use the words in that first paragraph? If you do, your younger friends and grandkids will think you are as old as dirt. Over the hill. Don’t know your butt from third base. I could go on and on with these pejorative

phrases, but I’ll spare you. Consider this a conscious-raising column designed for baby boomers who don’t want to sound stale and out of the loop.

What got me thinking about all this was the mention to my friend’s granddaughter that I liked her blouse. She had no idea what I was talking about. That word has died it seems. Everyone wears shirts now.

This was very upsetting. We boomers were the original All-American trendsetters. It began with our poodle skirts, then our minis, maxis, midis, and somewhere in between culottes. What we said was in, was IN. I realize that our time has passed in that regard, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t still be cool in our own way. Yes, cool is still in use – has never gone out of style, and will probably always be useful in this context.

Since I have an Olympic-sized pool of twenty-somethings in my workplace, I asked them what they heard from their elders that was older than Turner Classic Movies. I got some good stuff to share with you. Don’t ask anyone if they’re “going steady.” They have no idea what that means. They’re “in a relationship” or “an exclusive relationship.” If they’re on the verge of a relationship, they’re “talking.” “Hooking up” is shorthand for a one-night stand – usually. This is kind of a grey area. Young women can’t really call their friend a “girlfriend” because that now has a same-sex relationship connotation. Whew! My head is spinning just figuring out the language, let alone the nuts and bolts.

They hate when their parents tell them they “sound like a broken record.” They have never seen a record. A broken record is someone setting a new marathon time, or home run scoring.

Expressions like “Oh my stars!” and “Holy Moley” just don’t cut it with them. Also, one complained that her dad tells her to “roll down the window” of their car, and still refers to the place where they get gas as “the filling station.” She goes there to fill up her Big Gulp.

Prepare to get blank stares if you tell a youngen’ to meet you at half past two. They see time as a digital read out and can’t comprehend the hands of a clock.

I hope some of this has been enlightening and helpful to you. I know that I’ve barely scratched the surface with my limited space here, so I’m opening the floor to you now. Ask the younger generation around you for some more examples, and e-mail them to me, and I will share them with my other cool readers.

Meanwhile, I still have an off-white half slip in my dresser drawer, and I’m not sure why.

What the heck is vaping?

I remember how shocked I was the first time I saw someone in a public place talking on a cell phone. It must have been 1990. I didn’t have the thought that some day most everyone would be toting around a phone device of some type.

So, now I’m wondering if this same phenomenon is happening with those e-cigarettes. You know, those funny, colorful devices that people are puffing on and sending out strange looking vapors. They’re vaping. Yes, in time my computer won’t underline that in red, because it will be as common a word as smoking.

Within the last two weeks I have seen people of all ages (18 and over) vaping all over the place. I’ve stopped being shocked by it. In fact, if they must have their nicotine, I’ve reasoned that this is much better than subjecting us to their second hand smoke and littering the highways with their cigarette butts.

Sidebar:  My most hated place for second hand smoke is standing in line to buy my ticket at the movie theater. There is always someone upwind from me having that last one before their 2-hour hiatus inside the multiplex.

Now, before you cast me as one of those judgmental, holier-than-thou non-smokers, I must refer you to a column I wrote in 2010. In it I said: “I’m grateful to be one of the few baby boomers who have never smoked, yet I feel enormous compassion for those who do whether they’re trying to quit or not. Smokers know that they’re killing themselves cell by cell. That they’re contributing to an industry that brings debilitation, death and economic hardship to the poorest people on the planet. That their second hand smoke and discarded butts pollute everything around them. They know this and more, and yet many feel powerless to give them up.” I know that nicotine is among the most addictive drugs on earth. Most older smokers were lured into it before the true consequences of the habit were known.

But back to vaping. If you haven’t already, soon you will see signs reading “No Vaping,” or “Vaping allowed only on the patio.” I’m trying to prepare you for the inevitable.

So, how does it work, and what are the advantages? According to USA Today, “these battery-operated devices don’t contain the myriad harmful chemicals of regular cigarettes, but by heating a nicotine solution into a vapor that users inhale, they still provide the addictiveness of nicotine.”

I decided I had to go to the source and get the story, so I visited Naples Vapor on Cape Coral Parkway which has been there for two months. A nice man named Frank was vaping away, and explained that it costs about $60 to get started. This will buy you a batter, battery charger, liquid tank and 10 milliliters of liquid flavored nicotine. Frank’s store offers about 70 different flavors, the most popular being snickerdoodle and cheesecake torte. Fried peanut butter and banana is gaining on them.

Customer, Courtney, age 29 had been smoking regular cigarettes for 3 years, and decided to try switching to vaping 4 months ago. She enjoys not having her hands, clothes and environment smelling of cigarette smoke. She pays $6.99 for a bottle of the nicotine juice which lasts for 5-7 days. She finds this more economical than the $6.00 she would spend for a pack of Marlboro Lites.

Courtney reports that real cigarettes don’t taste any good to her anymore, and that she has cut down her use markedly because she doesn’t vape in public. She hopes to quit eventually.

The vapor stores all have methods to help smokers taper off their nicotine habit. The nicotine comes in about 6 different levels of concentration, and users can gradually decrease their intake. Frank says that most of his customers tell him that it is their intention to quit.

My friend Norman who owns Volcano Fine Electronic Cigarettes in the Gulf Coast Town Center in Estero underscores this. He says about 80% of his customers want to quit, and he has seen some successes.

Then he threw me a real curve by saying that about 10% of his customers are there to break their hookah habit. Hookah habit? What the…..

You’ll just have to Google that boomers, because thats a whole nother column.

Dangers of Vaping

When her mother announced that she was going to cut down and then quit her lifetime smoking habit, my friend Lindsey was thrilled. A few weeks later, Lindsey’s enthusiasm had shifted to disappointment. You see, her mother had decided to try using electronic cigarettes to kick her nicotine habit. Some advertisers have suggested that this alternative can assist people in quitting by gradually reducing the nicotine content in their e-cigarettes.

As I mentioned in a previous column, I have met vaping store owners and customers who make this claim. If you’re new to this phenomenon, that wasn’t a typo above. Vaping is a word we’re likely to become as familiar with as texting. E-Cigarettes are battery operated devices that heat a liquid vapor allowing users to inhale nicotine from a non-combustible product. Shorthand for using these devices – vaping.

So, Lindsey’s mother bought the starter package for $60.00, chose some flavors, and vowed to begin cutting down her almost pack-a-day habit. Thing is, she loved the variety of flavors and the ability to feed her nicotine habit without people complaining about her second-hand smoke. Lindsey says her mother is now practically surgically attached to her nicotine delivery device. She sees it lots more than she ever saw her mother’s cigarettes.

After my last column, I heard from people who were very concerned about the growing use of e-cigarettes. I knew I needed to know more about them so I contacted the Florida Department of Health and the American Lung Association. Both groups wanted me to know that there is no government oversight of these products. Without Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight, they say there is no way for the public health, medical community or consumers to know what chemicals are contained in e-cigarettes or what the short and long term health implications might be.

Then there is the issue of flavoring -- something the FDA forbids in standard cigarettes. All electronic cigarettes are flavored, so to ban flavoring would be to ban the product entirely. Tobacco Free Florida is concerned that, in addition to their possibly harmful effects, e-cigarettes may become a tool used to get youth and young adults hooked on nicotine.

Having said that, I give you 15-year-old Ashley who told me that in her school she sees kids mixing the liquids to create designer flavors like waffles with maple and peanut butter and jelly. She says that the liquids are purchased for the younger kids by older siblings or friends. Here the belief is that they’re not as dangerous as smoking cigarettes.

Then, there’s my co-worker Devon who told me that his 20-year-old friend Natalie wears three of the e-cigarettes on cords around her neck because she loves the variety of flavors. Her favorite being Sweet Tarts. Just when I was ready to close my gaping jaw, he added that all three were brightly colored and bejeweled with rhinestones.

Does this leave any doubt about the appeal that this has to impressionable, status-conscious teens? I’ve learned that the e-cigarettes are available online, at mall kiosks and of course at local retailers. You may have seen some brands being advertised on TV, which tobacco companies have been banned from doing for years.

I want to say here that I have a friend (well, maybe up until now) who owns a vaping store in an upscale mall. Also, I’ve met some other very nice owners, employees and customers while researching this story who claim that the benefits of this new nicotine delivery system outweigh the risks.

It’s been more than two years since the FDA announced that it would regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products and not as a drug or device. So far, they have not acted, and people are wise to do their own research concerning the chemical content of these products. They are often imported from foreign countries. Believe me when I tell you that some of what I’ve read is scary.

So, what about Lindsey’s mother? Does she still intend to quit? Maybe. Meanwhile, she goes nowhere – not even to the next room – without her e-cigarette.