I’m an ex-smoker. I vape now, follow regular smoking rules, use no flavor juice so I don’t bother people with an obnoxious smell, I try to be as small of a dick as possible. I’ve been going to the same vape store for four years. The kids that work there are a bunch of really great guys, they’re cordial and funny and they always act like they want to see me, the hallmarks of great salesmen. I always chalked it up to familiarity and that I spend money there every week without fail.

With everything closed, they’ve moved to a free delivery mailing service so I don’t spend any more to buy from them and I get it shipped the next day, it’s kind of cool but I missed going in. This last time, I find myself with limited funds. I can only afford the coil, not the nic juice. I can sort of break open some old bottles and salvage the drops inside till I can get some kind of income but that coil is nasty. However, when I ordered my stuff I noticed a field for notes and I thought that since they were shipping it from the local store...maybe the guys would see it? I often do this with the owner of a sub shop who is a friend of mine and she always said that getting the notes made her smile. I missed the social interaction more than I wanted to vape so I just included a little smiley face and an “i hope you all are doing okay, miss you guys!” in the note field.

The next day, I go to pick up my mail and I got my coil, but the package is too heavy. Inside the mailer is a large bottle of my unflavored juice...with a big smiley face drawn on the bottle and the initials of the guys.

When I get my stimulus money the first thing I’m going to do with any leftover money is order them a pizza and have it delivered.

They’re the only ones who’ve checked up on me during the pandemic. No one else seems to remember I exist. So vape store guys, I salute you and thank you from the bottom of my mod box, turns out that they really DO care and aren’t just trying to sell me something.