30.

Today seems to be an ironically appropriate day to write about what happened yesterday...

Yesterday, my friends father who was down visiting for three days(after not seeing him in two years) decided to take him to the beach; St. George Island to be more specific. My friend knew his father smokes pot, but didn't expect he would in front of him, especially considering they had only three days to visit each other. About twenty miles out of Tallahassee, his stepmother pulled out a joint and when he asked what she was doing, she said that she was going to smoke. When he said that he didn't want them to smoke while he was riding in the car, they basically said "too bad." The end result was that they left him on the side of the road near some park and drove off and then came back for him and they continued to the beach with much argument. He asked if I would come get him and I gladly made the drive down there.

The long drive gave me a lot of time to think and the scenery seemed to fit the mood very well. The sky was blanketed in grey clouds and when I finally got along the coastal highway, the Gulf even looked as if it were angry. The dead tree trunks had the sand eroded away from beneath them and the roots were grabbing at the air and the grey sky over dark brown water with white-capped waves was a somewhat emotional sight. I'm not going to elaborate, but many of my thoughts went back to my own past.

To analyze the situation, I don't know what kind of man does that to his son. I understand that people will do what they do, but when requested by someone you care about to refrain temporarily, it doesn't seem like it should be a very difficult decision at all. How can one give up one of the greater pleasures in life, or put it aside, for a false sense of satisfaction and live with himself? My friend then, understandably, felt to some degree that his father didn't (or couldn't) enjoy spending time with him without being high. Thinking of this not only saddens me, it makes me angry. I'll leave any further thoughts to the reader.