At 21, in the heady late 90s, I was looking for a new web programming job. I interviewed at two places, Monster and this weird little start-up company in a dilapidated house in Allston (neighborhood in Boston that attracts students and wanna-be rockers). Monster was a commute, cubicles, and a growing name. It seemed like a good prospect.
When I walked into the interview at the other company, I saw the team of 6 or so people at makeshift desks lining the living room, and next to every workstation was an ashtray and a bong. I'm totally serious. It smelled like a Grateful Dead show in the middle of an industrial smokestack.
And you know what? I took the second job. Because it seemed really fucking cool, and I was 21, and Monster was already looking a bit Office Space-y.
But yeah, smoking (not just the mj) seemed cool, and weird, and offbeat, and it made the group seem even more rebellious than it would have otherwise. And it turned out ok. Some people got rich, some of us made a little money with options.
I have a great story about how we trashed a bus management rented to take us to Six Flags. I think it took the president approximately 5 minutes to light a spleef, and we were all completely drunk by the time we made it to the park... at 10am.
No, it had the illustrious name of "Stumpworld," which I think originally had something to do with amputee porn. By the late nineties, they'd moved on to ecommerce like everybody else. No porn.
I voted up because I found it interesting and wanted to read it again. Starting to smoke might be a dumb idea, but doing so methodically is unusual and interesting.
1. The article was well written and presented a point of view that is not commonly presented.
2. When I was younger (teenage years I think), I had this crazy idea to start smoking in order to see if I had the resolve to quit. Never did though, cause I understood the adverse affects if I couldn't quit.
