Smokin’ Weed, Drinkin’ Beer

Alcohol should be illegal. Weed should not. Think about it. When it comes to alcohol you have to debate between things like whether you want to remember anything from the night, how hungover you want to be, the list of side effects goes on. But with weed, the main issues aren’t anywhere near as bad – the biggest issue you may face is the dab rig vs bong debate! Alcohol has been proven to be harmful (liver problems, drink driving, etc.) so why is it so welcome in society?

I posted this bold and very true statement as my Facebook status on Thursday night while enjoying a very awesome moe. show at the House of Blues. Since we were enjoying a rare night out, my husband and I arrived as the doors opened and were among the first fans there. We had been observing the crowd as the venue slowly filled up. In anticipation of the show, many pre-purchased multiple alcoholic beverages. Double fisting, if you will.

It used to be easy to smoke pot at a show in Cleveland. But now since it is a smoke-free city, it’s next to impossible. I know a few people who buy weed from websites like weedsmart, to relieve their anxiety or to get themselves high and they’re happy to smoke it in public places. I often smell weed when I’m walking around town and I can smell it from a mile off. Not only is the smell overpowering and obvious, but now the plumes of smoke are completely unmistakable making it entirely too risky to blaze a doobie in a public place. Not only do you risk getting thrown out of the show, but you risk a ticket, fine or even jail time. With this being said, with their being options of being able to take edibles, it may not be as difficult as you once thought to get your dose of cannabis (only if it is legal in your state). If you are new to this, it may be worth finding out how long do edibles stay in your system, just to be on the safe side! I don’t have a problem with people smoking cannabis. It has some fantastic health benefits and people smoke it for many different reasons. As long as they’re not causing any havoc, I don’t have an issue with weed.

Since we had arrived quite early, we got the pick of the litter of places to sit and enjoy the show. We picked stage right, immediately next to the general admission standing room only area (aka the mosh pit — which is also a taboo term these days apparently). It was raised up by about three steps. We had a nice “bar” to rest our drinks and could enjoy the show either seated comfortably on a bar stool or standing up and dancing. We had sat next to a cute, very young, couple. Before the show had started, the girl had gotten a band t-shirt. I was immediately jealous and was checking it out almost the entire first set.

Throughout the course of the show, we had become friendly with the young couple. We would watch their stools and belongings while they went to smoke cigarettes, and we asked them to watch our things while we scoped out the band merch. They were our buddies. It was cool.

First set was great and fun. moe. opened with Rebubula. Priceless. Everyone was enjoying themselves, getting sufficiently buzzed. At one point we smelled the unmistakable stench of herbals and were joking around that we wished we could smoke, too. There was a group of slightly obnoxious college-aged kids in front of us, on the lower level in general admission. We believe they were the ones smoking but we weren’t sure. They were most definitely inebriated. One of the girls of the dumb and dumber crew decided to smoke a clove. Genius. This of course brought the wrath of security. He leaned over the bar and asked her if she was stupid and told her to go smoke outside. All she could say was, “I’m sorry!” in her pathetic, party-girl voice. The four of us shook our heads in pity and disbelief.

At set break, our couple friend vacated for a while. They came back with matching moe. hoodies (so jealous) and four beers — two of which were for us. Score! After they got their hoodies I really starting razzing my husband about getting me at least a t-shirt. It became a joke between the four of us. My husband and the guy started chatting it up about the band and old school songs versus new school. Then the girl and I started joking about how tall our men were. My husband is tall, but this guy was tall and wide. Not exactly linebacker wide, but you get the idea. We were having a good time.

The band came back and it was making out to be a great second set. Everyone was really digging the music, the band was really digging the crowd, and all was well.

Until the college pricks came back.

We were maybe into the second song of the second set when it was quite apparent that one of the guys was three sheets to the wind. I’m sure you can imagine the scene. Idiot stumbling drunk, total douche bag, quite obviously wanting to pick a fight with someone. Yeah, that was this guy.

So who does he decide to pick a fight with? The girl of the couple sitting next to us. Of all people. And why? Because they were wearing the same hoodie — the only hoodie — sold at the show. If my husband and I both wanted to buy the hoodie, you bet your ass we would both be wearing it. Not only was it cold in the venue, but why else would you buy apparel from the merch table if you didn’t plan on wearing it?

Anyways, as I continue on with the story, please remember that we are sitting about three feet higher off the ground than the general admission area. And it’s important to recall that our guy concert buddy was a big dude. Definitely not the size of someone you would see as being weak. Definitely not someone you would want to pick on.

So the drunk douche bag started messing with the girl. I couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but I saw him hustling up to the bar and saw her giving him the finger. I could see her getting angry and yelling. And then things started escalating. The guy had to hold his girlfriend back. She was trying to take swings at the turd below. And then the unthinkable happened. The dude below tried to take a swing at the guy! The guy that was built like a linebacker!

Hubs and I snatched up our jackets and backed up as soon as we caught wind of what was going on and what could potentially break out into an all out bar brawl. It was intense. Luckily, HOB security quite clearly has their training and were all over it before there were more fisticuffs.

In the heat of the moment, the drunk college kid grabbed the glasses off of our neighbor’s face. After they college idiots were escorted out of the venue, we helped, along with everyone else in the immediate vicinity, to locate the guy’s glasses. They were eventually found crumpled up in the corner of general admission.

Our neighbor friends tried to regroup, but they were both shaken up enough that they decided to leave. My husband and I felt so bad. They were so nice and we were all having such a good time. Leave it to irresponsible, obnoxious, drunk mother f*ckers to ruin a good thing.

And that, my friends, is why alcohol should be illegal and weed should not.

In closing, a quote I’m borrowing from a friend: