Justin Parke

I Found An Old Selfie 🤳 With This Ganja Celebrity 🧔🏽

Young Hivers may not know what a Polaroid is, or only know them from old movies, but it was the original selfie tool. 🤳

Roughly the size of a human head and as heavy as a bowling ball, the Polaroid camera was something I asked for every Christmas for years on end before finally getting one at age 8.

🤝 A Chance Encounter 🤳

Once upon a 2003, time I lived in Leadville, Colorado, the highest altitude city in the USA, at 3,094 meters above sea level. It's a small isolated town without many shopping opportunities, but a frequently visited tourist destination.

Because of this isolation, I used to drive a roughly 120km roundtrip each week to purchase basic goods in the town of Frisco, Colorado. While getting out of my car in a grocery store parking lot, I noticed a small line outside the "High Altitude" headshop.

https://media.giphy.com/media/fWwSalWZpG1DPxJEC4/giphy.gif

An unusual site, I popped over to find out what all the hype was about, and some folks outside let me know "High Altitude" had just begun selling "Chong Bongs," and Tommy Chong had just stopped by to celebrate this new business deal.

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I had some time to kill, so I grabbed a spot in line, although I had no money to buy any Chong accessories.

🤝 Meet & Greet 👋

I finally made my way inside, and eventually had a brief chat with Tommy Chong himself. I honestly don't remember our chat that well, other than he knew a bit about Leadville, the town where I was living at the time.

I should remind you this was pre-legalization in Colorado, and Tommy Chong was arrested not long after our photo was taken for illegally shipping bongs to Pennsylvania.

https://media.giphy.com/media/eIm68P6fuEoirgpNcl/giphy.gif

If you haven't seen a Cheech & Chong film before and you don't know who this man is, let's just say he is the most well-known American marijuana figure.

📷 The Polaroid Selfie 🤳

I didn't realize taking a picture together was going to be part of the interaction, but it was free-of-charge, so I thought that was pretty cool. I also realize I haven't shared many pre-dreadlock,beard and turban pics on Hive, so this is one of the few gems of my young clean-shaven face.

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](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/justinparke/fMr10dsN-5.jpg)

I realize the scan isn't that clear, but it may be the only proof I have of our encounter. I think it would be safe to say that without Tommy Chong's presence in the American culture, marijuana legalization would've happened at a much slower pace.

As I finish this post, I realize I've lived outside the USA so long that perhaps Polaroid cameras have already made a comeback among hipsters. Do any of you Hivers still take Polaroid pictures?

I set @thekittygirl as 10% beneficiary of this post. You always leave awesome and kind comments on all of my family's posts, and it doesn't go unnoticed. Thanks a million. This is the least I can do.

I set @wolfofnostreet as 10% beneficiary on this post also. She is nearly a minnow at around 451 HP, and an awesome content creator, so let's get her there quickly.

I am paying it forward, as the @joshman boosted me until I reached dolphinhood.