Have you ever had someone make one thing about you into the whole thing? If you smoke pot, does this mean you can't talk about art or music or politics? I really get irritated with people who think this way! It's nothing to me if you smoke pot or don't... we can still hang out together just fine so long as there is equal respect. But when someone assumes that because I smoke pot I must like to be called dude and only want to talk about buds, bongs and hempfest, I really get annoyed. But I can't get annoyed can I because then I just reinforce the person's negative attitude about "stoners" and after all, the person was only trying to make conversation right? Then the person starts laughing at me. I might say something like "huh?" because I don't hear something that is said and it will strike the person as being stoner-like so the person laughs and, again, I have no excuse to be angry even though I'm being treated like crap. Then when I don't want to hang out any more it will be believed that it is because I am such a stoner that I can't relate with someone who thinks that life is about more than smoking pot. So if you think that you are too healthy or spiritual or smart or whatever to smoke pot, that's fine I hope it works for you... but please don't treat someone like I have been describing just because the person does something that isn't YOUR cup of tea! Give that stoner in your life a chance because I have met a lot of beautiful, talented and virtuous people who happen to also smoke pot! But if your expectation is that every stoner is nothing but, then that will be what you perceive no matter what the reality and it will be your loss!
This is really a nonissue to me. Yes, you have people that match the stoner charicature and thus they are approached in the typical way (dude, man, everything groovy? etc.). My experience is that they generally are not bothered by that. I myself however am also sometimes slightly annoyed when I realize I am approached in a cliché hippie/stoner way and people try to project things on me. Just let them know you see yourself as a fellow human and not just/mainly a doobie smoker. If you experience this kind of projection often though, it might be you are manifestating yourself more like a typical stoner than you are aware of. I don't see how that is done by making clear you are not a cliche stoner? Perhaps you state your annoyance in the wrong way? I would not worry about this in those situations if I were you. It might get kind of a self fulfilling prophecy this way. Sometimes when you are too busy focussing on not being such a typical stoner you might actually enforce their focus on it If you say you are not such a stoner then you are not and should not pay any attention to the label or generalizations about it.
haha, typical stoner rant. no, i'm kidding. it is annoying when people do that. but then if every stoner they meet does happen to act a certain way, it's hard to blame them for assuming that stoners they meet in the future will act like that.
I really hate it when people treat me like shit because I am a stoner. I can't seem to get rid of that perception no matter how hard I try
So how do there people know you smoke? Do you tell them, do you reek? Are you stereotypically a stoner without realizing it?
i've honestly always thought that stoners talk about art, politics, etc MORE than the general population. based on their stereotypes, they would do those things. i've always been under the impression that (most) stoners are beautiful people. they're more open, more relaxed, more confident, in many ways. haha, interesting!
I deal with it sometimes but I'm also a jazz musician and just a generally eccentric person and so nobody makes a big deal about it. If you do well, people just don't really care in my experience. I smoke a good bit and my roommate smokes even more but I don't find that people focus on me being a stoner other than stupid people that are of no consequence.
I lead a very normal life, have a good fulltime job, a family and a great girlfriend! I smoke pot on a regular basis. I don't care if others do or do not. If someone else judges me based on it or preaches at me I tell them to go fuck themselves. It is my choice and something I like to do so I do. In the last band I played with the other guitar player was one of those people that quit drinking and drugs, because he had a hard time with these things. Fine good for him. I told him straight up when we started the band that it was something the drummer and I both did and if that was a problem then we should not play together. He said he was fine with us doing it. Well it turned out he was not fine with it and he always had little remarks that showed he wasn't. He would not say much around me, because he knew I had a strong personility and would not put up with it. He would however pick on my drummer buddy any chance he could get about it. The straw that broke the camals back was one night after I had already left the jam he told my buddy that people that smoke pot were not contributing members of society. Of coarse this got back to me which in turn was enough for me and the drummer to say see you later. They lost the two best musicans in the band that were the driving force of it and crashed and burned without us.
I have to agree with babyjay...I'd say a good 95% of the nicest people I know are hardcore stoners. Don't waste your time worrying about people that act like dicks over the fact that you like weed though...if it's not harming anyone then their reasoning for acting that way towards you is completely invalid, and if i were you, id just say fuck em. I personally don't talk about drug use around people that I know are against it to avoid situations like that though. An acquaintance of mine recently flipped out on me after she found out that I've done acid and Molly, going on about how I'm going to overdose and die and the like. I didn't pay her any mind because i know do my research, know my limits and take all precautions not to cause unneccesary harm to myself and others. Close minded people will stay that way until they decide to become more accepting on their own. You can't change people, so it's best to just separate yourself from the negativity and go on your merry way
I guess what started me on that rant was seeing over and over how people stop using their eyes and ears. They trust thier expectations and preconceptions to do all the hearing and seeing. I used to think that if someone is a good person that superficial things wouldn't matter. But I know now that if someone thinks of you a certain way because you smoke pot or because you're below a particular income level or whatever it is, that person will never give you a chance to show them anything else. The person will only see or hear what conforms to thier world view.
groovecookie you sound much mature than the people around you. doesn't seem to be a particularly difficult to do though. just takes is a little forethought. what you're talking about is prejudice. someone knows ONE little piece of information about you and you're labeled. whether its smoking weed, a lower income, brown skin, or whatever. its separated me from my family and a few friends over the years but i say forget 'em. if they can't see past my (now very rare) pot smoking, then I don't need them around me.
