Grandkids and Contact Highs
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Earlier this month, my wife and I took our four oldest grandchildren on a 5-day trip to northern Kentucky to visit the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum along with some other kid-friendly attractions. We had an absolute blast and are already planning next year’s trip, possibly to southern Kentucky to see Mammoth Cave.
On the night we arrived, we stopped for a bite to eat at a local restaurant before heading to our hotel to check-in. Everything was going well as we managed to place our order via the kiosk – a pandemic holdover that I suppose saves the company money – and waited patiently for our meal to be delivered to our table.
Unfortunately, we never got to eat our meal there, but chose to “get it to go” instead. Why the change in plans? Because four young people came into the restaurant absolutely reeking of pot. So much so, as a matter of fact, that I was concerned about getting a “contact high.” And so, we scooped up our grandkids – ages 9, 8, 8, and 5 – and had them wait in the car with Deanna while I endured the toxic smell until our order was ready.
The same thing happened when we returned to Florida later that week. I went to the post office to pick up our mail and was met with plumes of marijuana smoke in the parking lot. Ironically, the people smoking pot in their parked cars with the windows down had just come from – or were waiting to enter – the public health clinic next door. Apparently, they had no money for healthcare, but plenty for cannabis.
Folks, that is just plain wrong. I shouldn’t have to bail out of a restaurant just because someone else was so selfish that they couldn’t wait to inhale (and exhale) until they were in the privacy of their own home. Nor should I have to hold my breath while walking from my car to the relative safety of the post office.
For the record, recreational marijuana use is still illegal in both Kentucky and Florida… and from what I could tell, neither the young people at Steak n’ Shake nor the “patients” in the parking lot had a medical reason for smoking weed. I guess they felt their individual (and illegal) freedoms trumped me and mine.
Just one more example of law-abiding citizens getting the shaft while lawbreakers go unpunished. Something has got to give… and hopefully it will this November.
