60. Guilty pleasure

I got a request for a ride at 3:30 AM from a tattoo parlor. I didn’t know tattoo parlors were open that late, but heck, why not? If this was some kind of all night place, I would make note of it for when I finally got my next tattoo.

When I pulled into the strip mall where the tattoo parlor was located, the gate was down at the parlor and the lights were off. It was definitely closed. No late night tattoos for me. 

Then I noticed some lights on a few doors down… at the marijuana dispensary. This shop was open 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days a year, as are many in town. I was guessing that this is where my passenger was coming from. 

I was curious as to why they would put in a different address. Pot shops are legal here and so why should it matter? Then I thought, maybe they thought a driver wouldn’t want to pick somebody up from a marijuana dispensary at 3:30 AM for fear of their safety? Nah. I couldn’t imagine this passenger was concerned about the driver’s feelings. 

Maybe they were ashamed to be buying marijuana at 3:30 AM? It made me wonder if people still felt as if marijuana was a criminal enterprise. It was legal now, and not just for medical purposes. So, I don’t understand the stigma. 

The passenger waved me down from three stores down in the strip mall. They were in a dark spot, waving  their cell phone. If they had been worried about my feelings, they would have realized that someone standing in the dark and waving a cell phone for me to approach them was a lot scarier than me picking somebody up from a well lit store front. 

I drove down and picked them up. They got in, and sure enough, they smelled like a weed farm. They were cordial enough and thanked me for picking them up at this hour. 

They asked if we could stop by a convenience store on the way. I don’t have a problem doing this for passengers if they don’t seem sketchy. They actually seemed all right when they got in. They were wearing a safety vest and looked solid. 

So, I stopped, they got out, and then they came back a few minutes later, grumbling that the breakfast burritos were still not ready. I should have figured they were looking for something to snack on as I’m sure they had the munchies. 

I drove them home, which was 17 miles away from the dispensary. Now, I was pretty sure they felt they were doing something criminal. By going and purchasing marijuana legally SEVENTEEN miles away from where they lived, they had to be wanting to hide what they were doing. I mean, they had gone out at 3 AM  paid for a rideshare to a location 17 miles away from their home, when I’m sure they could have found a 24 hour store much closer to them. 

Well, it was their money to spend, but if they had accepted what they did was completely legal and nothing they needed to hide or be ashamed of, they could have saved themselves a lot of money.

But, hey, I’ll take the guilty fare any time.