How to tell you are not a Humboldt Native

How to tell you are not a Humboldt native? Other than the obvious when your family has not been here for multiple generations, it is the ability to instantly know what certain words mean.

Anywhere else, you say trimmer and people's first thought usually would be an implement used for trimming off the unwanted or untidy parts of something. Anywhere else you say bud, people may think a cold beer or flower yet unopened. Here, we know what that means. Same goes for weed, pot, grower, hill. All these words have other meanings, but here in Humboldt these words have obvious associations.

Anywhere else, an unemployed plumber or electrician means someone looking for work. Here it means wads of cash in your pocket, untaxed; an obnoxious attitude and lame pickup lines.

When I moved here 10 years ago, I didn't get why the mall had a store full of shirts with 420 on them. It took me four years before I got clued in by someone. In the first couple years when I traveled to other parts of California and I told them where I was from, they would smirk and say, “Oh, you are from Humboldt.” And I would wonder what that meant; now I give a disclaimer. I had no idea of Humboldt's reputation before I moved here. That brings a look of disbelief until I explain to people that the friends who told me about this place talked about the weather, the art and culture, the small town feel, the fog, but they did not mention pot because that is not a factor in their lives or mine.

Believe it or not, there are people whose lives don't revolve around marijuana. We even envision an economy other than weed, and some of us, a very rare breed, are allergic to it. That usually either elicits laughter from people here or a retort, “Well, then you moved to the wrong county, dude.”

I realize for some people it is unthinkable that someone wouldn't wax poetic or get ecstatic about our local crop. Trust me, there is a whole universe out there, pot-free. Even in Humboldt where many people work, live, enjoy and boldly go where some Humboldtians have never gone before. And since we live in a free country, please respect my right and that of others to have our own beliefs.

I have been thinking of forming a pot-free Human Rights Group demanding our entitled pot-free zone, having some discrimination laws passed by the City Council and Board of Supervisors because I was not hired because I didn't have the right pot-i-tude.

Tolerance and respect work both ways.

I may not be cool in the Humboldt sense and I am OK with it. Humboldt has many things it could be known for; the next time I travel outside Humboldt, I hope people ask me about all those other things we take for granted.

I would rather get high on life, not escape it.