View From the Bushes

I was at lunch yesterday and we somehow got on the subject of LSD (oh, I remember -- it was the Robert Crumb interview on Fresh Air), and I was reminded of my own LSD story, which I don't believe I've ever shared on these pages, so I thought it might be nice to toss it out there.

I was working as a telemarketer at the time at a real fly-by-night organization, a boiler-room operation as they are often known; the sad story of how we lured people to call in for their free vacation to an 801 number which most people mistook for an 800 number will have to wait for another time. Working alongside me was this smoking-hot girl. Unfortunately, her boyfriend also worked there as the evening supervisor (yes, I like to imagine that it was the proximity of her boyfriend which prevented me from starting a relationship...) In any case, to cut to the heart of the story, they decided, along with some other friends, to take a road-trip down to California to see a Grateful Dead concert.

On the way back the boyfriend, unbeknownest to the rest of the group, had taken some LSD and had a bad trip and started to freak out. So they pulled off to the side of the freeway and put him outside of the van so he wouldn't hurt anybody, and hoped that he would calm down. Instead, he ran up over the dividing median and right in front of a tour bus going about 70. It was the next morning before they found his body. I always wonder if I missed an opportunity to take advantage of her grief and make my move...

Carpe Diem Quam Minimum Credula Postero
Ross