The Embarrassing Subculture

Yesterday was a day that thoroughly confused me. Every year on April 20th in cities throughout the world people gather to celebrate, or protest, or generally just sit and think about marijuana. Personally, it is a day that I am thoroughly put off by for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I don't associate myself with pot culture and do my best to distance myself from it, that's just me. But the day raises some interesting questions about law and the so-called "War on Drugs."

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but if you live in Vancouver and were trying to get around yesterday it is pretty likely you ran into some obstacles. The festivities blocked city streets, held up buses, and brought things to a halt to the same extent that a city-sanctioned event would. I find that incredibly perplexing. Marijuana is supposed to be illegal but yesterday downtown Vancouver became a no-holds barred pot market. It is inconceivable that police didn't know what was going on and the lack of problems that arose seems to imply that nothing out of the ordinary took place. My question is, why do we bother to pretend that pot is some underground drug that only the seedy underbelly of society indulges in if it's clear that it's ubiquitous?

The fact of the matter is, no matter how much society attempts to ban the voluntary use of certain substances, certain things are never going to disappear. If people want to smoke the by-products of a plant that they can grow in their basements, they are going to. Now I don't claim to be overly familiar with the specific laws surrounding drug possession but, from what I have seen, the average police officer is more likely to turn his glance than reach for his cuffs when he sees people indulging. That creates an embarrassing situation for the police officer, the smoker, and anyone who expects him to act any differently. All we have done by outlawing marijuana is create the seedy subculture that we want to associate it with.

Stop and think how the world would change if you could buy pot at any place you can currently buy cigarettes. Instantly there would be no reason for people who enjoy the drug to seek out shady characters in dark alleys. Police wouldn't have to waste their time dealing with dopey kids when actual violent crimes are happening. Things would basically exist in the same way they do now. People who don't like pot would remain distant from it and people who do wouldn't need to block of city streets and shove the drug in everyone's faces once a year. Best of all (depending on your perspective) we could tax it like crazy. Legalizing marijuana would create an overnight revenue stream for federal and provincial governments that could be used to maintain infrastructure and pay for services.

People might call me a hypocrite for writing something like this because anyone who knows me understands that the last thing I want is to be around drug culture, but that is exactly why I have chosen to take this position. If we take a problem and turn it into an opportunity, not only will we benefit in terms of safety and fiscal fortitude, we won't have to hear about it as much. Nobody organizes imposing festivals to promote cigar  smoking. The obvious counter to this is that every once in a while an event that is strongly based on alcohol imposes on the lives of people who decline to participate. To that, all I can say is that the stigma is nowhere near as strong because there is no onus on the police to put a stop to it.

All I'm saying is that we need to accept that marijuana isn't going anywhere. No matter how half-heartedly we attempt to enforce the laws surrounding it, advocates will continue to come out in force and argue for its general acceptance. The sooner we acknowledge that the current system represents a large scale failure, the sooner we can begin to reap the benefits of supply an demand. Eventually law makers are going to need to wake up and realize that all they have done is make this out to be a bigger issue than it ever should have been and created a situation of mutual annoyance for everyone involved.

That's about all I have to say on this.

Steve

Image courtesy of: http://imgur.com/gallery/1ovI9

The Time Travel Test

It's funny how when you're in the middle of something it can drive you nuts, but the minute you leave it behind, you miss it. Its an odd trick on human perception that the grass is always greener in the place you aren't standing. It probably has something to do with out inability to make predictions about future emotional states and our inclination to misremember our previous feelings... But let's just avoid that whole jargon laced bag of worms and stick with a light hearted blog about my life.

Back in Ontario I was lucky enough to have the only retail job I could have tolerated. I worked at an outdoor gear shop called "Adventure Guide" for two years. The job allowed me to save money for my eventual move to the west coast, but along the way I got to learn more about the activities I'd always been interested in while meeting great people who shared my interests. Like any job, though, there were some days that grated on me. I suppose it has something to do with my predisposition to boredom but, on the rougher days, I got tired of explaining how backpacks work and which shoes people ought to buy. It happens to everyone I'm sure. You get so used to doing the same things everyday that occasionally you lose sight of the aspects of your job that you once found fun and exciting.

Thankfully I never grew to hate my job and right up until my last shift I was generally happy to be there; something that I know a lot of people will never experience. With this in mind I don't suppose it is overly surprising that I have grown to miss the gear junkie atmosphere. Planning trips, comparing products, incessant arguing. I really did like that job. That is why, a few weeks ago, when I found myself at the local Mountain Equipment Co-Op I caved to my impulsiveness and grabbed an application. To my surprise, a few days after filling it out I got a call and yesterday I was formally offered a part-time job.

I'm more excited than most people in my situation would understand. Most grad students aspire to summer co-op positions of a different nature. One's that will get their feet in the door at companies related to their research. Not me. I'm happy to throw myself back into something familiar and enjoyable. I live in one of the greatest places in the world for hiking and climbing and adventuring in general and now I will be surrounded by people who know all the secret places to go. I have high hopes for my summer.

The lesson to take from all of this is one that most people already know. You don't know what you'll miss until you find yourself deprived of it. Don't become jaded by exposure. Fight to maintain the interest and excitement of someone doing something for the first time. There is a reason kids seem so happy. Everything they do is novel. It's hard to hang onto that feeling but, if you can figure out how to do it, you will have discovered a treasure trove of happiness.

I'll leave you with a simple reminder to be grateful for what you have. I like to take a moment every now and then to stop and think of how the me of, say, 10 years ago might react to seeing the life I lead today. That kid would be thrilled. Out of his mind ecstatic. I owe it to him to at least enjoy things half as much as he would have. I realize this is a chancy exercise but it helps to put things in perspective. If ever the day comes when past me would have been disappointed to see his future, I will owe it to him and myself to make serious changes. For now, though, I'll just enjoy myself.

Cheers,

Steve

Image courtesy of: http://www.cloudcentrics.com/

Thinking, In Spite of Ourselves

One of the most awful things that most people endure is the quest for employment. Sure, some people are lucky and their connections come through with perfect timing, but for the rest of us, getting employment requires serious legwork. The better the job you want, the tougher and more stressful your search will become. Recently this has been on my mind a lot. Not only do I need money to pay for school, rent, and the various other pleasantries that go along with living, I also need to consider what I am going to do once I'm finally finished with the never ending slog that has become my academic career.

Today I came across an interesting article that discussed a recent employers attempt to help hapless job seekers strengthen their chances, and was surprised by the general tone of it. The jist of the story was, after reading 900 applications to a writing job for his website, Shea Gunther took it upon himself to offer some advice. Admittedly, it was a lot of advice; but he did read a lot of applications. Gunther drafted and BCCed a 3,000 word email with 42 points summarizing the Do's and Don'ts of applications. 

The details of his advice aren't important for our purposes but links to the article, Gunther's response, and the original email can be found below. The thing that caught my attention, however, was the backlash... And really, who doesn't love a good backlash? People were irate. The internet rang out with calls of "Dick!" and "Douchebag!" and various other insults of increasing vulgarity. But why? Don't people want constructive criticism? Don't they want feedback from the people who decide whether or not they get called?

The sad truth is that people, as a general rule, don't like bad news. As open minded and inquisitive as they appear to be, the will go on the defensive if you actually start tearing them down. It's that pesky fight-or-flight response that evolution has endowed us with. The problem lies in the fact that we often choose to respond to a situation before we give it the thought it warrants.

I'm as guilty of this as anyone. I have been quick to react and slow to think in more situations than I care to consider, but whenever it happens I get embarrassed and try to learn a lesson from it. The trouble with a public forum like the internet is that when people realize they've made a mistake, they are far more likely to dig in their heels and defend it. The result is digging themselves a hole from which dignified escape becomes impossible.

Gunther broke with tradition in going beyond the expected "Thank you for your application but the position as been filled" and, at least partially, that was his undoing. When you surprise people and hit them with bad news at the same time, (to quote South Park) you're gonna have a bad time. As observers, though, we can learn from this situation. We can decide not to be offended when someone offers us legitimate advice. We can be grateful for someone taking the time to go beyond what is expected, even if they aren't telling us what we want to hear. It's something that's much easier said than done, but it is an important lesson for job hunting and life in general.

Cheers,

Steve

Links, yo:

The first thing I read: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/work-blog/2012/mar/29/job-rejection-letter-to-end-all-others?newsfeed=true

The response: http://www.salon.com/2012/03/30/sorry_gawker_my_42_point_plan_helped_job_seekers/singleton/

The offending email: http://www.scribd.com/sheagunther/d/87226611-42-Job-Application-Dos-and-Don-ts