I went to an herbal replacement store (legal smokes and crap, hippie stuff... loved the fuck out of the statues, fountains, incense, etc.) but I saw no paraphenalia. So I ask the guy at the counter if he knows where I could find a nice glass water pipe to smoke the weird plant stuff I told him I was gonna buy. He just smiled knowingly and told me to stick around for about 20 minutes until they closed. So I did.

I go up to him as they close and he says give me a minute, and goes to close the doors and turn things off, etc. And leads me over to the rear door (employees only!). He opens it and tells a confused me to follow him down. So I do.

Three steps down the case, I smell a familiar smell. Actually, two. Opium (almost intoxicating just to smell it) and some really dank bud. A huge grin gets on my face as we descend.

I come into a room with literally hundreds of glass pieces around, another room in the distance with a guy blowing a new piece, and a couch with three guys that look literally gone out of their minds.

All three greet with a warm smile and one holds up an acrylic for me to sample.

Needless to say, coolest guys I have met in my entire life. We all got (or at least were) blazed out of our heads and for 20 bucks I walked away with a very large glass pipe that was definitely worth more, custom job. They closed down in six months for some reason, and I never got in touch with any of teh guys again.

It's rare you find that great of people.

--mic