Coffee Talk

So you all knew we were going to do it. Every time we called home, it was the first question out of everyone’s mouth. I’m not big on it, but AC is somewhat of an enthusiast. But we felt we would be amiss if we spent this much time in The Netherlands without going native at least once. Just to be safe, I won’t use it by name but I think you all know what I’m talking about.

We both nervously shuffled into a coffee shop – such an innocuous name, huh? We are so trained to keep this type of stuff on the d/l that we didn’t want to say the words out loud. Luckily the bartender recognized our panicked faces and showed us the ropes. We were first presented with a menu with all kinds of magical sounding names – Buddha’s Bubble Gum and Purple Haze were the most memorable. It was so weird to actually have choices! He then brought out a few samples so we could see the quality for ourselves. I kept checking over my shoulder, because I just knew the cops were going to burst through the doors at any moment. Our final selection was something very clinical sounding – G13. "The name sounds like a science experiment," I told the green barista. He went on to explain something about breeding and genes and DNA strains, but I just wanted to get the hell out of there.

That evening was a bit hazy for me. I remember uttering the words, "I feel like a spaceship just landed on my chest" and getting a clear reminder of why I don’t like the stuff. That pretty much cured that curiosity for me, but I suspect AC had a more pleasant experience.