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Grilled cheese and Galaga
by blank at 09:34 PM on February 23, 2004
In my attempt to get out more and actually meet people, I found myself at a local venue to watch some guy I know play in some band that had entirely too many members. There was a small choir, a string trio, two drummers, two keyboards, guitar and bass that created a sound that was remarkably dull. Unfortunately, I was the designated driver for the evening and couldn’t prescribe myself some booze. I probably wouldn’t have gone if a co-worker, who was in another band with a member of the band we went to watch, hadn’t asked me. He did and I offered to drive.
While there, we met up with another co-worker and hung out with her and her SO for the rest of the show. So much for meeting new people. I did exchange some glances with inde rock chicks but that had little appeal, mostly because I have a hard time telling the difference between inde rock chicks and inde rock guys, and partly because the inde thing is so fucking cliché. When the show was over, there was a unanimous decision to go home and get stoned. I mainly just wanted to go somewhere where we could talk without having to scream over a band.
We all got red-eyed and started talking about movies and music and the topic turns to writing thesis papers and how cigarette breaks are essential and, jokingly, how coke (the white kind) would really help with endurance. I laughed, because at that point everything was funny to me. Then the conversation turned to embarrassing moments of being high in front of parents. I had nothing to say, so I just sat and listened. There were a lot of stories about mushroom eating, acid tripping, ecstasy taking and other mind altering things that took place when these guys were still in high school! I felt like a two inch pecker in a basketball team locker room. Shit, I barely touched alcohol until college. Weed is as hard as I ever got. I mean, I feel guilty when I sniff my Sharpies. At that point, peer pressure was full steam and I was ready to trip on anything. There was a lot of catching up for me to do.
Then things turned to bad trip stories and acid flashbacks, reasons why they don’t trip anymore. I didn’t know what to think. I worked with these people everyday for a year – I thought I knew them. Nothing ever hinted at such a past. They all had or about had their masters in something, and from working with them, I knew they weren’t dumb. I was at a loss until the munchies hit. Then all I wanted to snort was that grilled cheese sandwich. After that a Galaga competition ensued until about sunrise.
comments (19)
From the little I know of white coke, it won't help with writing thesises. All it produces is a lot ot talk about all the things one is going to do...soon.
by anna at February 24, 2004 7:48 AM
Are you saying that you think only stupid people who can't get their masters try things beyond weed? Sigh... Blank, there's a whole world for you to explore, you sissy.
by Linz at February 24, 2004 9:14 AM
I find it amusing that the stigmata of the dumb drug user is still out there. Blank, you'd be surprised at how many "smart" prople have experimented with drugs other than weed. Some of the most brilliant minds in history belonged to people who dabbled in drugs from opium to cocaine to LSD et al. It's funny that you can have one perception of someone such as thinking they're smart, successful then find out they do or did drugs and then there is some blight on them or their IQ immediately goes down fifty points. I think it's people who have no idea of what they're talking about that perpetuate these myths. Just look at those idiotic commercials with the kids and marijuana. There's one about the two kids sitting in their father's study, getting high then one kid starts playing with a gun and shoots the other kid. One thing that kills me about this is why isn't the gun locked away where the kids can't get to it? Kids shoot each other all of the time with unsecured weapons and they're not high. Then there is the one where a little girl is chasing a ball towards a pool and as gets to the edge a voice over announces "How are you going to tell her parents you were getting high?" or something like that. This is pure propaganda. I'll grant that there are people who would do that but you shouldn't be letting those people watch your damn kid in the first place and if you do then you'd better be prepared to reap what you sow.
by Ezy at February 24, 2004 10:30 AM
At first I was falling into that feeling of regretting something I didn’t do when I had the chance, but now I’m glad I never fucked around with anything harder than weed. I’m glad I don’t get flashbacks from bad trips. I find it dumb to act all proud about getting away with tripping acid in high school in front of your mom. You can’t say it’s smart. To be honest, my opinions of these people have dropped a little because of the way they wore these experiences like war medals. It was something to brag about. What are you saying, Linz? That I need to get fucked-up on drugs to explore the world?
by MrBlank at February 24, 2004 10:31 AM
Despite the fact that our last two presidents were both hard-core drug and/or alcohol fiends, you have to be honest here and say that for every one person who's used significant amount of drugs and still managed to be successful, there are (at least) nine others who've never fulfilled their potential. Saying that drugs don't have any sort of lasting degenerative effect on a person is ridiculous. When you hear abotu Art Garfunkel getting arrested for smoking up alone in the back of his limo, despite his success and the fact that 40 years earlier all of his contemporaries partook in the smae, isn't it sad mroe than anything else?
by mg at February 24, 2004 12:29 PM
I've never done drugs in my life. Never. Ever. Not even weed. I rarely drink, and never to the point where I am drunk. I am what people would call straight-laced. The idea of doing drugs or getting drunk has never appealed to me. I also don't consider myself better somehow than people who do, I just hold a different opinion on the subject. I don't see how either is necessary in any way. People don't have to do any of these things to live a better life or to enrich their lives, they do it because they want to, because that is their choice.
I agree with Linz and Ezy in that people can do drugs and still be smart. I know smart people who did/do drugs and are average or above. I've also met people who displayed an amount of stupidity I never thought possible and were also drug users. The thing to remember about this world is that it is not all black and white. There are many grey areas in between. Obviously I don't think Mr. Blank is a sissy for not having done any hard drugs, au contraire he is standing up for his beliefs and I applaud that.
by Lucy at February 24, 2004 12:47 PM
While I do agree with most of that MG, there's something wrong when you just lump people together as degenerates because they use or used drugs. It would be the same thing if you said all blacks are criminals, all white people are racists, all Jewish people are rich, or all Indians are gambling drunkards because some are. Just because you choose to smoke some weed, try ecstasy, trip on acid or mushrooms, it doesn't and shouldn't define you. Your actions and views are the only thing you should ever be defined by, not that you did drugs. There are some people who are too weak minded to handle drugs and should never do them. They're the statistics.
Blank, it is a badge to wear. It's no different than getting together with your male friends and reminiscing about past conquests in the female department. The reason it seemed so strange to you is that you've never done it so you a) didn't have a story to share and b) couldn't really fathom what they were talking about or what was so funny about those situations. It's be similar if you had never been skydiving and ended up in a group who were talking passionately about it. No fault of yours but you couldn't possibly understand because you've never been there.
by Ezy at February 24, 2004 1:03 PM
I never said someone was a degenrate for using drugs. The only assumption I'm making about drug users is that they all use drugs, and the point I was trying to make was that using drugs has a negative effect on the person taking them. Whether that effect is massive or small, temporary (the length of the high) or chonic, the truth is that it always has an effect.
I'm also including alcohol as a drug.
Ezy, you already proved my point when you mentioned the anti-drug ad about the girl and the pool. All things being equal between two people, are you going to choose the chronic drug user or the non-drug user to watch your kids?
by mg at February 24, 2004 1:39 PM
MG, I'll choose the occasional drug user so I can score some weed from them. Actually, I wouldn't let anyone I didn't know watch my kids. If no one like that was available then I would do it myself.
No one should choose a chronic drug user to watch their children but there are different levels of drug users, alcohol included, as you probably know. I have quite a few very close friends that occasionally use drugs, and some that smoke every day, that I would trust with anything. I would do this because I know that they're a hell of a lot more responsible than someone who would watch a child while high. They would babysit sober and wait until they got home to get high, on their own time. It just gives me the ass that someone who chooses to do drugs and still meets all of life's responsibilities can get thrown in with the chronic users and those who can't handle it. It's no different than classifying marijuana in the same catagory as coke, heroin, acid among other things. It's ridiculous.
by Ezy at February 24, 2004 2:18 PM
"are you going to choose the chronic drug user or the non-drug user to watch your kids?"
I'd like to know how you could tell the difference without submitting your judgment to the stereotypes mentioned above. I never said that people who took drugs were dumb, although I did hold that assumption. The point I wanted to make was that I thought I knew these people and now I know that I don’t. My views on the subject changed after that night, but I’m not going to feel guilty, or feel like I missed out on some great experience anymore, because I didn’t.
by MrBlank at February 24, 2004 2:22 PM
Blank, you shouldn't feel guilty or that you missed out on something in the least. Experimenting with drugs other than weed is a personal choice. Some people feel compelled to do it and some don't. I don't hold any assumptions about anyone who chose not to but I don't expect them to hold assumptions on me because I did. I'd like to know why you feel like you don't know these people. Is it just because they tried harder drugs than you were comfortable with and you didn't? That's the point I've been trying to make. Drugs usually aren't openly discussed by people who do or have done them unless they know you do them or have done them. The fact that they have tried these things shouldn't factor into who you think they are. As I was discussing with MG, drugs should never define the person, only their actions.
I don't know how to tell a chronic drug user unless they a a coke or crack user who is feening, they're usually irritable and very restless, or if you happen to smell something on them. That's why I would never let anyone I didn't know watch my kids.
by Ezy at February 24, 2004 2:44 PM
I think Ezy's comparison to sky-diving is an apt one, at least to a recreational dabbler like me. For some people, it's the stupidest idea in the world to jump out of a plane and fall through the air. Scary, dangerous, and downright crazy. But to some people, the absolute rush it provides, the life-affirming excitement, the mind-altering feeling, is worth the risk.
I actually, Blank, was providing the opposite of your stereotype with my stereotype of sissy, which I didn't mean. I do think that people that don't ever try any drugs have missed out a little. But the truth be told, we are both wrong. You can easily generalize that non-users are uptight or that users are dumb. But like anything, you break it down and there's a whole spectrum of ways to be within each category.
I would like to suggest that there are the idiots and go-nowhere types out there who give users a bad name. But in my Fate-based philosophy, I guess I think that even without drugs available to them, they would find another way to fail.
I think (of course), that people should do it the way I did it. I did not try anything besides weed until I was 20. Since, I have tried ecstasy, coke, acid and mushrooms, a few times each, and in moderate quantities. A few times over five years. And honestly, mg, these things all have had an effect on me: but a positive one. Why? Because it showed me another way to feel. However, I am very fortunate. I have compassionate friends who are recreational users as well, who have showed me how to be responsible.
Drugs, like sky-diving, are dangerous. If you have some moron tying on your parachute, you might be in trouble. I regret that anyone reading this who disagrees with drug use will just roll their eyes and not feel that it's the same thing. But it IS. We take risks every day. Driving in a car can kill you. But that is a socially sanctioned risk. Drugs are not socially acceptable, hence people cannot even begin to compare them to other every-day risks.
If I sound like I am glorifying, it is because I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences and haven't regretted a one. There are other experiences like this that I feel very similar about. Scuba-diving. Singing to 3,000 people. Not everyone wants to try those things either, but for me, they just FIT.
I respect people no matter what side of this fence they sit on. Just like I respect my parents for not ever in a million years wanting to sky dive. I can understand. But that's not how I feel. And for the record, everyone who knows me will tell you that I am quite driven and very high-energy (if you can't tell).
by Linz at February 24, 2004 3:05 PM
p.s. Blank, thanks for such compelling topics as of late. Now we're gonna have impossible expectations of you.
by Linz at February 24, 2004 3:20 PM
I'll second that Linz.
by Ezy at February 24, 2004 3:30 PM
As one who's been way far down way too many of these roads, I'll just say this: It gets hard to know where to draw the line and when you're crossing it. Or already did. I have thought about sharing some of the horrors that lurk on the other side, but I doubt I ever will. It's not amusing in the least. Let's just say I'm lucky to be alive.
by anna at February 24, 2004 6:36 PM
And one more piece of drug advice: If anyone ever offers you a hit of freebase, run. If you don't run, don't learn how to make it. Nothing good can ever come of that.
by anna at February 24, 2004 8:53 PM
I agree that there seem to be recreational drug users, and then addicts. I think the two groups are different. I was in Vegas this weekend, staying with some friends of friends, and I think that they were the second sort. Some of my actual friends do drugs sometimes, but they're nothing like these people. It's like fear and terror followed them around all weekend. They couldn't get their acts together, everyone was flaky, everything kept going wrong. They were like these wierd, lost, pot-smoking and Vicodin- and Ritalin-popping kids...
by jean at February 25, 2004 2:23 AM
Plenty of people out there would think less of you Blank for smoking pot. In lots of people's minds an illegal drug is an illegal drug and if you smoke pot you've got to be brain dead. But these are people that have never tried it. In my mind, just or unjust, I feel that "non addictive" drugs, like marijuana, lsd, mushrooms, etc. are not the same as addictive drugs, coke, crack, heroin, etc. That is my justification.
by Shannon at February 25, 2004 12:20 PM
"...I thought I knew these people and now I know that I don’t." I think this is true for all of us all the time. We fool ourselves into thinking we know what encompasses the experience or ability of others. People who work around me under-estimate me all the time as to experiences which would stand in contrast to how I come across. If asked, they would likely say that I haven't taken drugs. And they'd be wrong. I'm in Linz's camp. I've tried quite a few things, and am glad I did. There's definitely something informative about seeing the world through an altered perception. And after acid, I was definitely intrigued that our brain biochemistry seemed tuned to a particular channel that could be so drastically modified with such tiny tweeks. But I could also see that drugs are not for everyone. Some people have a hard enough time coping with reality as it is, and seem to simply unravel further when chemicals alter the view. I find my natural state stimulating and dynamic enough that drugs just seem distracting. Like traveling, stepping outside of something can inform your view of where you are. Some people travel to gain experience, some for recreation, some to run away from things, some just have bad trips. Regardless of how you travel, you have to avoid becoming road kill.
by chris at February 25, 2004 8:09 PM