A recent article in The New York Times "Cocaine: Hidden in Plain Sight" discusses the current trend for people to be open about their cocain usage.
The article quotes many bar and club owners about how they see it in the clubs a lot, and although they kick people out when they see it 9or so they claimed on record) it remains prevelent.
Apparently, the current "Meth crisis" has made it a media focus, with the cocaine problem going unnoticed. In the past, I have heard others say that Coke was no longer the problem drug of the moment.
I am not so naive that I don't know that Coke is every where, from NYC to small towns in Montana. Yet, what distirbed me about the article was the quote in which someone called coke "the new weed." I am not a fan of weed, which I know makes me odd, but I have learned to accept the fact that I am the minority in my stance against weed. I have begin to take for granted that I am the only one in the room who doesn't smoke, atleast occasionally. While I'd prefer to not be around it, I cAn handle it. However, I really don't need to have people doing lines of coke in my presence. One source in the article described that the attitude towards coke makes it m ore socially acceptable than cigarettes. Yeah, we all know the dangers of cigarettes, but when's the last time you heard of someone missing work to smoke a cigarette? Or a person robbing a convience store to pay for cigarettes the way many a coke/crack heads have (and continue to do)? Where have people gotten teh impression that coke is the safer version of meth? Is it because LiLo and KaMo have admitted to doing it that it is socially acceptable to use cocaine? I'm not much for coke, I'll stick to my diet pepsi.

Today was my third day of training at my new job as a cashier and sales associate at Serendipity restaurant and general store in Manhattan. one of my coworkers is kind of a jerk. This guy is 25, and only three years older than me. Today, he said something that really irritated me, after I commented on his rudeness towards my fellow female coworkers and I, he said "I don't have to be nice to you guys, I don't get with people I work with, so I have no reason to be polite to you." He went on to insist that when he likes a girl he treats her nicer than she ever dreamed of being treated. "I only act like this at work," he said.
Now the guy in question is not a complete prick. He can be nice, however, he is frequently rude, and arrogant. It is not that i care what he thinks of me, I could care less about whether he likes me or not. However, I feel he should treat us with respect anyway, whether he wants to "get with us" or not. Why is it that people save what should be common human decency--as human behavior reserved only for people who's pants they want to get in?
While I know many guys (and girls) put on similar acts, i find it nauseating that someone can be so open about this. What difference does it make that this guy is "much nicer outside of worker"? How nice are you if you are only nice to a girl you wanna get ass from?
Not very.
On top of this, this guy has the lamest game ever! He shamelessly checks out and flirts with any girl that walks by. After being called out about this blatant check out, he answered "Girls get self conscious when I don't check them out," Tsch, whatever dude. Equally nauseating, were his lines. Twice he told a girl that he didn't answer them because "he got lost in their eyes." "Girls go crazy when they hear that, you would if you didn't work with me..."
Sadly, the girls he said this too, did seem sickeningly, and surprisingly...flattered. While they seemed to find the line cheesy, the giggle implied that they bought. I imagine that the line would infuriate me and would probably be ignored or meet with a dirty look and snide comment about how many other girls he's said that too. While I often blame girls for falling for such stupid lines, thus encouraging guys to be sleazy, I can't help but wonder how many times, if ever I have fallen for a guy's stupid game.