Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Is it just me or am I too sheltered?

Today I had to stop in a less than savory part of town to buy gas. I was so far down past "E" I was afraid I couldn't make it much further down the road, so I stopped at a station where I would not have normally stopped. I went in -- another thing I normally wouldn't do -- because I was thirsty and wanted to get some water.

As I was standing there waiting to pay, I glanced around at some of the "offerings" in the store. Keep in mind I had already passed a c*nd*m display on my way to the register. Then I saw the magazine stand. Of course, I was not nearly as shocked at the girly magazines as I was the one I saw on the bottom of the stand: The High Times. Again, I needed that video camera following me around as they watched the cogs in my head start to turn.

I am pretty sure that my mouth fell open as I stood there.

Cover story from this issue: Build Your Ultimate Grow Room. Really? No. Can't be, I think to myself.

I'm a little naive. I'm wondering (seriously) if this is a gardening magazine. I'm trying to see the photo on the cover to see what it is (it IS a plant after all; it might be broccoli or something).

Another heading confused me a little more: Grow Big Buds in Small Spaces. Ok, so this is a FLOWER magazine, right???

The bottom story title: Stoner Conservatives. I'm starting, at this point, to think it might not be a gardening magazine. I didn't DARE go pick it up because what if the police come in while I'm perusing The High Times. I resolve to go home and investigate more.

I leave the store wondering HOW in the WORLD they can be selling a magazine about m*riju*na in a CONVENIENCE STORE????? It's illegal to buy, sell and grow here so how can there be a magazine detailing how to do it. I ponder this the entire time I pump gas. And then, of course, it leaves me until I get home and bring it up with Kevin.

I came home and googled it to see if that was really what it was (still holding hope on the gardening angle). I told Kevin that should I die and they search my computer to PLEASE make sure he told them why I was googling this magazine. It is billed as the voice of the m*riju*na community. Seriously? Wow.

I am too sheltered, I think. I like it in my little bubble.

2 comments:

Jeanne said...

It's not just you--I had a lot to learn when I moved to California several years ago.

However, speaking professionally, I would recommend all parents educate themselves about the pressure all kids face today in regards to using substances. And, if parents have plenty of information, they can use it to educate their kids to make good choices, too. Here is a good website: nida dot nih dot gov

Hope that can be helpful to you.

Mark said...

I was immediately reminded of what I'd always thought was a verse: "be in the world but not of the world" - yet a little Googling shows this is actually a paraphrase of several verses, most specifically John 17:14f and 2 Corinthians 10:3.

Whilst your little bubble may be happy, you need to ask if you can be fully effective whilst inside it. Could you minister to the sick and needy of the slums of Calcutta through the window of an air-conditioned SUV, for example?

It's good to have a clean and pure heart, and I wish mine were as uncorrupted as yours, but as Jeanne says, I think it's important to understand what's going on out there to be able to relate in a meaningful fashion.