May was never cool to begin with

Blogees, I am heretofore committing myself to brevity and conciseness in the hope that posting will not induce such a feeling of guilt as a result of detracting from the time I have to write silly pictures on paper over and over again in the hope that they may suddenly, spontaneously, and in an orderly fashion, find a resting place in the memory banks of my brain. Yes, brevity and conciseness.

Today brought a, as far as I know, specifically Taiwanese phenomenon to a new level of phenomenal. A quick introduction is in order.

Pot is illegal. This is true in most places, so not a big deal. But it is really illegal here. And under martial law illegal things are more illegal than they are in say, Seattle. Taiwan is now under constitutional law, but this legacy of strict prohibition seems to live on - more or less.

Despite its prohibition, the old Mary Jane seems to have captured the imagination of old and young alike. The emblematic leaf is found on shopping bags, bumper stickers, store signs, and the like. It is often on clothing.

Here is one photo:



Now, I must not assume everybody is ignorant of what this silhouette is. The product is, in fact, attainable if you look hard enough. But when the occasional old person becomes a walking advertisement, one starts to wonder.

My general conclusion has been that it is seen as a cool American/Western thing, is widely associated with Bob Marley, and does not necessarily indicate a political or social stance. This is not dissimilar to the clothing worn by some middle aged fathers and other young teenage girls, covered in large block letters to the tune of "FUCK". I think the benefit of the doubt is in order here.

However, the marijuana phenomenon, while having laid low for several months, resurfaced today at the school where I teach. I walked in through the sliding glass door to be greeted by an over-sized t-shirt with an over-sized pot leaf printed on the front, accompanied by an "I love marijuana; it's good for me," something or other.

This is an interesting intersection of culture. This particular lady spent a combined nine years in both Canada and the States. I know she knows what pot is. And, yet, she seemed to take advantage of the fact that people here do not know what pot is/pretend to not know what pot is/do not care what pot is/do not really know what is going on... by wearing a giant pot leaf to class. But, it was just that, no one noticed - or they did not care. At all. I mean, I don't know. Would a big beer bottle be appropriate? I think heroine needles are too far, right? Are white lines of cocaine on a black background permissible? I am finding myself having to recalibrate norms.

And at first, for about a minute, I tried to ignore it, in the same way I would almost not notice it if somebody was wearing that shirt in downtown Seattle. But the fact that we were in a kids' English school made this difficult, and the combination of drugs, children, illegality, ignorance, and knowledge would not let me be, and so now this "phenomenon" is back on my mind again, and I really do not get it. So, whammo, blog post. Any ideas?