NYC corporate event entertainer confessions

It’s 4/20 today, which as any pop culture enthusiast knows is the international day of marijuana awareness. I own a trivia company in New York City, yet I have no idea of the significance of the date, nor of its association with weed. But I do know that it’s unavoidable, especially in social media – as of this writing, nearly 70,000 people are currently tweeting the hashtag #Happy420.

I guess it’s a good time to admit that I’ve never smoked pot. Not once. Not a drag, not a puff, nothing. It’s true – I went to high school and college in America, was in a fraternity, and have lived in NYC for half my life, yet have never tried so much as a pot brownie – I’ve never even had a cigarette.

I don’t really know why this is the case. I think when I was a teenager, I had (and still do) a heightened fear of doing something I know is “wrong.” It’s illegal in most places in the U.S., after all, and the “don’t do drugs” messages you get since childhood must’ve really sunk in. By the time I got to college, I noticed that those around me who were really heavy into smoking weed also didn’t excel in accomplishing much; a lot of the guys in the frat seemed perfectly content sleeping late, taking minimally-challenging classes, and not doing any extra-curriculars. I, on the other hand, had this worry that I had to take advantage of the time I had at university, and was always motivated to “do stuff,” no matter what it was – clubs, bands, extra classes, working out, writing for the comedy paper, you name it. I even spent a semester in the hip-hop dance troupe, if you can believe it.

Fast-forward to my mid-late 20s, I would see people my age and older smoking weed and think, “aren’t you a little old to be doing that?” I sometimes wondered what I was missing, especially because like most 20-somethings in the Big Apple, I was completely stressed out at all times due to insecurity about jobs, finances, apartments and relationships. But whatever curiosity I had wasn’t enough to motivate me to break my reefer celibacy.

Now I’m in my late 30s, married with two small kids and running my own New York corporate entertainment business – there’s no way I can smoke that stuff now. Do I feel like I’ve missed out? In some ways, I guess yeah, I do. But that’s okay – I’ve become laid back enough that I don’t think I need any “pharmaceutical assistance,” and I like to think I benefit from not losing any excess brain cells in my youth.

Ironically, I am supportive of legalizing marijuana. I don’t see why alcohol can be legal, when it is known to increase aggression and impairs the senses/judgment, while pot – which chills you out – is not. I also love the way it smells. Will I die having never tried weed? Probably – then again, maybe I’ll develop glaucoma and start puffing the stuff in my 80s. Until then, when it comes to vices you’ll likely find me drinking a bottle of beer with friends, or eating at a really great restaurant with my wife.

But hey, man – like, whatever.