Sunday, July 3, 2011

If you think I'm full of hot air...

Boy, am I out of the loop.

Two nights ago I wanted to watch a movie, but my DVD player had mysteriously stopped working. I'd been doing some remodeling, and while I remembered to cover the TV and the stereo, I'd neglected to cover the DVD player, so I thought perhaps it just needed a little dusting. Before shelling out $50 or more for a new player, I figured I'd invest in a $5 can of compressed air first and see if that worked. There's a Target right up the street, so I hopped in the car and headed up there. I ran back to the electronics section, picked up the air, and made my way up to the checkouts.

When I got to the register, the cashier asked, "may I see your ID, ma'am?" Without skipping a beat I burst out into loud belly laughter.

"You can't be serious," I said. I started to launch into my "stupid laws but no healthcare" diatribe, but there was a line behind me, so I stifled myself and handed over my license (which he proceeded to SCAN...??).

Now, when I lived in Chicago, you had to show your ID for spray paint. I assumed it was because graffiti in Chicago is a huge problem (despite the fact that much of it is quite beautiful), and since I've been back in Buffalo I've been buying spray paint without incident.

But...canned air? Really? The next morning I was laughing about it at work, and a younger coworker said, "Oh, Endust? Yeah, kids get high with that."

So I did some more digging. I'll be damned. People really do huff. I thought that shit went out a long time ago. Apparently not. But when I googled it, I was hoping to find some recent articles on the subject. Most recent one I found was from April of this year about a guy who was arrested 48 times for huffing spray paint (which actually really squicks me out, to be honest). Nothing about huffing computer duster since 2009, though.

So tell me again...who are they protecting?

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