Prohibition is over!!

Last night I went to Court Avenue Brewing Company for their celebration of the repeal of prohibition. The band was good and the beer was delicious. A good time was had by all.

Court Ave. is now smoke free, which makes for a much more pleasant night out. Last night I noticed how much more you can smell when you're in a smoke free bar. For example, when someone smokes pot on the dance floor, you can smell it all the way at the other end of the bar. It was really weird. How high do you have to be to think it's a good idea to light up in a smoke free bar? It wasn't just a passing whiff either, it was a lingering smell that came in waves.

There was also an unpleasant smell. At one point something that smelled like stagnant water, ass, and garbage wafted over to our seats. We almost got up and moved. Luckily the smell dissipated and we were able to get back to enjoying our beers.

I ran into a girl I used to work at Girl Scout camp with. I don't think I had seen her for 8 years. It was weird to turn around and see someone from my past. I didn't even know she lived in Des Moines. She stopped by soon after the mystery smell. We had a nice conversation about the smells. It went a little something like this:

Me: Did you smell that?

Girl Scout: The skunk smell?

Me: Yeah, the one that smelled like garbage?

GS: That was marijuana. My friend told me. I think it smells like a skunk.

At this point in my conversation my drinking companion and I exchange confused looks.

Me: No, I was talking about that horrible funk that was here a minute ago.

GS: I don't know about that, but my friend told the guys who were right behind us on the dance floor "did you know this is a smoke free environment so you can't burn leaves or smoke marijuana???" I was so proud of her. She's had a lot of Templeton Rye, so she had the courage to say that. I didn't even know what it was. I'm going to go dance again.

Me: Um, OK.

This conversation left me a little confused. GS went to college. How do you get through college without ever smelling pot? I didn't even know that was a possibility. I was particularly entertained that she felt the need to explain to me that the smell was marijuana; which leads me to believe that she thinks I had never smelled it before (and, for the record, I graduated from college, so I am able to recognize the smell). I was also confused because I don't think pot smells like a skunk. I think it smells like hippies.