Dear Random Internet Stranger. . .
Well, I got an interesting comment on this ancient post and I felt a vague need to respond. Here is my full reply:
How kind of you to reply to my post, Mr. or Ms. Anonymous Internet stranger! It's always good to hear from my adoring audience. And you have such nice things to say, such as “you idiot.” Brought a tear to my eye. Seriously.
However, I feel I must respond to your comment. You wrote:
“the hempest does carry books. why don't you go in there and educate yourself, find out how much more important hemp is the dungeons and dragons and your fantasy world. time to face reality and grow up. hemp is a part of helping the environment you idiot. “
Well, it's good to hear that the Hempest carries books. I am all for books. Go books! Admittedly, I have not seen the Hempest's fine book selection in person, but I am impressed by the selection shown on their fine website. The Big Book of Buds should have a place on anyone's coffee table, along with the fine photography of the Cannibible. And let us not forget The Emperor Wears No Clothes, the book that “started it all.” These are all great reads, I am sure. In my experience, there is nothing better than getting stoned and looking at pictures of the panacea to all the world's ills, cannibas sativa, in all its glory.
Sexy, isn't it?And you are absolutely correct (mangled English not withstanding) in your comparison of the importance of hemp to Dungeons & Dragons when you wrote “find out how much more important hemp is [sic] the dungeons and dragons and your fantasy world.” We all know that hemp has nothing to do with fantasy worlds, whatsoever. People appreciate hemp for its multitude of medicinal and industrial uses, definitely not for it's recreational psychoactive qualities. People don't wear clothing emblazoned with the great cannibas leaf because they like to smoke it, but because they appreciate the extraordinary usefulness of such a plant, much like the t-shirts with pictures of corn or cotton plants we see all the kids wearing these days. Nothing at all to do with getting high to experience a feeling of unreality, which some might construe as “fantasy.” Of course not - altered perception, euphoria and mild hallucinations have absolutely nothing to do with “fantasy.”
Damn right, it's “time to face reality and grow up.” And do you know what is a great help for facing reality? Using a precision German engineered vaporizer really brings reality into focus, don't you think?
I couldn't agree more with your statement, “hemp is a part of helping the environment you idiot.” And the best way I can think of to help the environment is opening another store where kids with too much money can buy an $80 dollar pair of hemp pants and believe they are making a difference and helping the world, before they go get stoned.
posted by Villain @ 11:49 AM
2 Comments:
While I find both these posts pretty amusing, I would like to add that The Emperor Wears no Clothes is definitely worth a read. To put it in a fantasy perspective, imagine the most beneficial plant man-kind has ever known was made illegal so the forces of evil could reap billions while they poison us with their petro-chemical based by products. Synthetics replaced our ties to the goddess and cause years of death and destruction on planet earth. Suddenly, a store called the Hempest arrives to combat those forces and bring peace and stability back to planet earth..Sound any better, comic book guy? In all seriousness though, saying whoever buys hemp clothes is a weed fiend is a tad judgmental and ignorant. It's a pretty amazing plant with more viable uses than one would care to list. Why bash it if you don't understand?
I will admit that my post is a bit snarky and perhaps overly sarcastic, but I don't think I am too far off base in my assessment of The Hempest's clientele. A tad judgmental? Well, in fairness I was responding to a post that ended with "you idiot" so I feel fairly justified in the tone of my response.
Just for the record, I am about as pro-environmental as you can get. Not quite on the lunatic fringe, but darn close. I recycle, take public transportation when possible, and do what I can to fight the good fight. I am well aware of hemp's many and varied uses and I fully support its full legalization for any and all uses. However, I am sure you would agree that there is a certain amount of fetishization surrounding hemp, mainly because of its use as a recreational drug. I doubt a business such as the Hempest would be sustainable without such a culture surrounding it.
Looking back at my original post, my indictment of the "mother fucking Hempest" may be a bit extreme. However, in all fairness, Pandemonium was a fixture in Harvard Square for many years, and is one of the few non-corporate bookstores left in Cambridge. Try going to Borders or Barnes and Noble and finding an employee who knows Asimov from their ass - it's quite a challenge. I appreciated having a science fiction specialty bookstore (not a comic book store, by the way) that was centrally located and easy to get to.
Assuming that I "don't understand" and am "ignorant" of the issues surrounding hemp is a mistake. I understand that the world is in deep shit, and businesses that promote sustainable and environmentally sound practices such as the Hempest have an important role to play. I also believe that reason, knowledge, and imagination are critical to solving the Earth's problems - all of which are promoted by an interest in science fiction.
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