Seth Stevenson, one of my favorite writers at Slate.com, has written a week long journal (he wrote a similar journal about traveling in India last year) about visiting Amsterdam, which was one of my favorite places when I visited Europe after college. And, no, not because of the coffee shops, but because of the charming canals, bicycles, cobblestone roads, and the tall slender buildings all in a row. Here's an example of his engaging comedic style:
How does pot's semi-legal status play out in the Netherlands? In terms of overall drug-use rates, some claim it's been a great success (though, as always, there are arguments on both sides). But in terms of everyday life in Amsterdam, I can see how the Dutch might get fed up. Each weekend, hundreds of British teenage boys storm the city, get totally blazed, and stumble around in a zombie stupor. It's like a plague of retarded locusts.The American kids are less staggering in number but equally irritating in behavior. I watched one frat guy play "I Will Survive" on his acoustic guitar, sitting cross-legged on the grass at Museumplein, as a buddy nodded his head in time and then launched into a feeble somersault. They both had souvenir poster-tubes from the Van Gogh Museum's gift shop. I watched them with a burning revulsion. Later, I saw a different kid sitting alone on a sidewalk at night, his eyes as red as maraschino cherries. He was totally incapable of speech. Or thought. Or standing up. And again, I hated him fiercely. Pull it together, you toasted-out spaz!
Of course, the Dutch deal with doofuses like this every day, yet manage to maintain a tolerant (if unimpressed) attitude. It's the price you pay for enacting a vaguely rational drug policy.
Me, I'm no blazed-out teen. But I did thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to hit La Tertulia, spark up a jaybird, put on my headphones, and then listen to Nina Simone as I walked the canals on a sunny afternoon. I assure you: My eyes were not red, my gait was not wobbly, and the Dutchies were none the wiser.
Am I a doofus? Oh, yes. But a doofus in moderation.
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