My plan of escape!!! :)

Last Summer I went to Amsterdam with my brother after we realized that we were not going to be flying to England and Scotland since I left my passport back at his flat in Frankfurt. It was all on a whim, and then a road trip of a lifetime began. I also learned a lot about European history on the way!

Once we got there, my bro wanted to park his car, get to a youth hostel, and unpack... I had to disagree and say that the first thing we were doing was looking for the most potent herb we could find, and then we were going to smoke like crazy. I was so focused on finding weed that I actually never even noticed all the sex stuff or hookers. All I had heard about Amsterdam was around the bong-fire, so I was surprised to find out: Amsterdam is a CITY, not a COUNTRY. Amsterdam is in the Netherlands, and marijuana is okay everywhere there. Amsterdam has sex shops, an AWESOME liberal community, and prostitution is legal and abundant there! Amsterdam also has some kickass canals and boats and homes, and well...everything there KICKS ASS!!!

Well, we found pot, got sent to a 4-star hotel for 80 bucks a night by the hostel, parked the car, and then we just dropped our shit and looked for beer, and of course more pot! As we went through the city, I grew this ridiculous smile that never left my face the whole time we were there. The only thing that I was disappointed by was the fact that there were no places that someone could just sit down, veg out, and just chill without some waiter or waitress coming by every half hour to check on you. There were also no video games or anything there that I could find, and I wanted to play diddy kong racing soooo bad while i was there since I didn't really care about getting a prostitute or anything.

Here's my idea... I'm gonna go get a degree in glass blowing and make bongs and sculptures until I have enough money to make the move. Then, once I've got a good financial foundation, I'll head over to Amsterdam and work on starting a coffee shop/mellowed out, relaxed environment that ugly Americans like myself can enjoy. Instead of techno, it'll just be hippie kinda shit, like the Dead, Pink Floyd, Ben Harper, and shit like that... We'll have beanbag chairs to sit in and recycled wooden cable spools for tables, with custom made hookahs sitting right in the middle. It'll also be painted with murals of the sky, clouds, and happy kinda things so it can help to accomidate morons like me who get too drug-happy and think they can trip on shrooms as they tour the city... That shit was not fun at all, and I was seriously desperate to find a place where I could just lay down on something comfortable, somewhat isolated, and chilled out... I made my bro take me back to the hotel, but it took me two hours before I could even speak... I've never had shrooms that powerful, and I ate WAY too many of them... some hawaiin strain I think... anyways... I want to build little rooms in the back where people who were in my situation can be safe, comfortable, and catered to by their friends or even by myself. That service would be one I would be happy to provide for free, but there would be an "entrance fee" kinda deal at the door of about 2 euros... You'd be able to see inside from the outside, however, so you knew what the place was like before you pay...

I would probably want to grow/sell cannabis there at the shop because I have a naturally green thumb and I like horticulture... not to mention I love the smell of budding cannabis! I probably wouldn't smoke that much, however, because I'd want to work there behind the counter everyday.

Another feature would be video games on all the most recent platforms, either on widescreen TV's or projectors shooting to about 5 or 6 different locations... I could do all the wiring myself and keep the game machines and games locked up behind the counter. Each time they wanna play or switch games... they just tell me and I load it up! That way I don't get ripped off.

This way there's a good chance of making a good amount of profit for a minimal cost, as long as customers are paying multiple small charges based on what they decided they want to do while they're there. There won't be a rush or anything, and people can just come in... sit a spell... and chill out... you know, get off their feet and take a load off! Would any of you guys come a chill there? I'd let hipforums people come in and do things for free, of course! What do you Amsterdam natives think? You think I'd have any success with a place like that?

 

I'll come by, but I don't smoke though.. But I'll come for the video games

 

im there dude.............

good pot and good video game's............
a great combo...............
dig it..........

 

good luck and believe me, you're gonna need it.

nice fantasy though, there is nothing wrong with dreaming. i don't even know where to start with listing reasons why you have zero chance of getting your idea off the ground (sorry, but it's true).

 

hi lostblackdog,
long live you, and long live your hope. it will be okay to revise your dream but don't give it up.
love
s g collins

 

its a great idea....but i think its pretty tough for non dutch nationals to get a coffeeshop licence. and its pretty tough to get one for them too these days i hear. but best of luck to ya!

 

It's always fascinated me why there are no games machines
in coffee shops. The closest i've seen are those ''Photo Play''
machines which don't measure up to a good arcade game.
I suppose this is because so many people have an X-Box or
Playstation these days at home which are quite good infact.
Nevertheless it's a shame that even these are nowhere to be
seen. One of those classic, sit down, horizontal arcade machines
would be brilliant in a coffee shop, I think.
I'm not 100% sure on this, but I don't think your allowed to
charge people in a public establishment to use an X-Box. A pub
close to where I live in the UK has a Playstation set-up and it's
free and always busy, no surprise there.
Oh well, we can all dream, I suppose.

 

I wouldn't mind paying a hooker to shit in your mouth Jason.......you are such a downer!

 

You're right.. he's a total downer most of the time.. but he's right as well.. it's a nice dream but he's gonna need a LOT of persistance, skill ànd luck to make it all happen. Just the fact that he is talking about growing his own weed for the coffeeshop tells me that he isn't really up to date about the laws

 

thank you velvet.

 

nice idea but keep dreaming
growing your own weeds ,woehaaaa hahaha
amsterdam is so cool but there still some laws,dude

 

hey.. I mean.. you càn grow weed, I believe that up to three plants per person is legal (because it's a small amount for home use).. but your green thumbs are gonna be in prison soon if you start a whole plantation of weed for your coffeeshop

I think that's my problem.. I'm a realistic idealist.. so you have a lot of dreams but you constantly see all the problems. Yeay. But then again, you don't get yourself into stupid shit with the law too often

Having a succesful coffeeshop in Amsterdam would be anyones dream I guess.. ofcourse it would be awesome to run a place like that.. but just thinking of all the hassle with your dealers, the rent, the ID-checks, the drunken tourists, the administration, the permits etc etc .. argh.. hehe

 

i dont get the feeling that coffeeshops really want you to be hanging around in there for extended periods. maybe thats why they dont have computers, or very comfy chairs. they want as much turnover as possible. good business sense, but it kinda sucks.

 

Hard upright wooden seats seems to be the trend to keep
the traffic flowing. All completely understandable stuff as
opposed to comfy sofas, etc.

 

I agree fully......but we are the music makers and the dreamers of dreams! The silliest one's are the least likely to come to fruition (as in this case) but that also makes them the least needed to be squashed and the easiest to be squashed!

Jason just reminds me of the kid that loved to tell younger kids that there was no santa claus!!!! LOL

 

Hey, you can be as dreamy and silly as you want.. but at least have the facts straight. If you're talking about growing your own weed for your coffeeshop than you're not dreaming, you're just being.. well.. how shall we put this politely... ehm.. uninformed

 

LOL!

Well I wouldn't ruin the santa story for kids, but if I came across an adult who sincerly believed in santa, then that would be a different story.

In this case, the orignal poster seems like he actually put a significant amount of thought into this idea. What's more, he's 21 years old and has actually travelled quite extensively.

This is not some 16 year old dreaming up a dope fuelled fantasy. I know Im going to get flamed for taking this too seriously and taking a 'glass half empty' approach. However, sometimes people need a wake up call!

Ignorance is to blame for so many problems in the world. By saying this, I'm not trying to suggest that the poster is a bad person or that he is to blame for ignorant people worldwide, but I am suggesting that perhaps we shouldn't be so accommodating of ignorant, uninformed views, opinions or ideas.

It's great that he has a dream, but he also needs to know that is it a dream and he is better off putting his energy into something that might actually have a chance of coming to fruition.

 

Bah Humbug!

 

Lol... okay, so scratch that idea... here's a new one: I'll start my own country on a Private Island and we'll be certain to include pot in our constitution. I'll get some private investors who specialize in protection to back me up financially and physically, and then I can capitalize on the tourism industry as well as the insurance industry. We'll keep things pretty progressive, somewhat like a social democracy, and there will be vast programs encouraging environmental protection, awareness, conservation, as well as other classically liberal ideas. Conservative-minded folk will be able to have a place where REAL conservatives can come together under enlightened, liberal ideas as they engage each other in day to day island life. Essentially, we'll create a hippy-vegas kinda like Amsterdam, but more lax on drug control, more frugal than your grandfather, and more liberal than wild hippy lost in the woods. Sure people will have some shit to say about the means of establishment and protection, but let's face it... one mob or another has always backed every successful attempt to break away from a nation in hopes of establishing a liberated society. We allow the mob to put their money in our hands, we legalize everything for tourists with some restrictions on intoxication while working and so forth, and then we kick it while the money rolls in. We pay the mob a percentage and maintain good relationships, we watch our asses to make sure the U.S. stays the hell out (the mob will be handy there... we already know they can influence the feds), and we create what has the potential to be a great tourist site as well as a place people can have a lot of fun... like that island in Pinochio where all the boys run off to! Anyone wanna crush that dream???

 

By the way "Jasonspaceman"... I'm not an ignorant person, and I wasn't really being all that serious. I did not say this was a done deal and that I was leaving to do this all tomorrow... Yes, you are getting flamed, fuckass, but it's for making assumptions, not for being an asshole... Well, okay.... you're getting flamed for that too, but I'll let you decide how high to turn the heat in regards to that.

Dude, I am 21. I went to Amsterdam. I saw a really progressive city, and I was amazed at what I saw. I have lived in the Southern United States all of my life... the Southeastern United States to be exact. I have NEVER seen so many people from so many walks of life coming together in harmony in even the most secluded, metropolitan, progressive communities ANYWHERE on the East Coast! Ashville, Atlanta, Columbia, New York City, Miami, Pittsburgh.... none of those cities even come close to comparing to the level of social interaction that I experienced in Amsterdam. I was a different man before I went there, and I came out forever changed simply by seeing the world working together in a state of progress and social unity. To come home to the states and have any less of a dream would be to sell myself short of my true goals and desires. I am a man of integrity, and I will never allow you nor anyone else to rationalize the irrational nature of what it means to dream.

What the hell is this ignorant fool rambling about now, you might be thinking? Well, here's your answer... To dream is to run wild with an idea and to allow it to exist without rhyme nor reason... to leave the idea in it's natural state of indefinition.... that is to say that it is essentially unreasoned, not-thought-out, and pure. The Heart is where I believe all true dreams come from, and to me, those who use the mind to dream are like those who would try to use the anus to speak.... It might be hard to tell the difference for some people out there, but for other's it makes all the difference in the world....

I don't know you or anything about you, but if all you do is shoot down people's dreams all day, then I'm sorry that you have nothing better to do with your time. Perhaps you should dare to dream a little, and you might find yourself thoroughly entertained by even the most mundane situations you may encounter. Afterall, "Ignorance is Bliss!"