Dave:
Last Pulp Fiction reference, I promise, but it’s true that the more you travel around the country, the more you begin to notice the little differences that exist among regions. Example: remember the Partnership for a Drug-Free America commercials? Back East, it seems like every time you see one it’s about kids smoking pot. There was the “Nothing Happens with Marijuana” theme with the slackers, the kid who goes to pull out his stash only to find a “We need to talk” note from Mom (though we’re never told whether Mom smoked, sold, or trashed the stash), you get the idea. Well, out here, the only PfaDFA ad I saw was really dark and depressing, showing a tiny green seed sprouting in this desolate landscape, with a voice-over by a young man describing how using Meth almost killed him, and how it’s only with the love and support of his family that he’s finally turning the corner. No slackers, no kids playing video games jonesing for some of the stash that Mom stole. Just this depressing, ominous message about the evils of Meth. Which got me to wondering just how many Aryan youth they have out here, hanging out in a trailer, snorting Crystal off a PBR mirror, giving each other jailhouse tattoos while listening to speed metal, and grinding their teeth down to the approximate size of shoe-peg corn kernels. Not to bum anyone out or anything. Hey, I went hiking, and forgot all about it (until just now). And, as I promised earlier, no more Pulp Fiction references, unless I happen to have a really tasty, $5 milk shake. Deal.
