Budtender

Scott’s the very informative manager of BCaf, a cannabis dispensary in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. With his big arms and intense eyes, you could tell Scott has built things. For more than twenty years, he worked building TV and movie sets.  When you notice his “I’ve Got Drugs” pins, and you see him carefully drop his reading glasses into place, you start to see a fuller picture of a well-rounded man, a lifelong student who’s built a career on trust: in himself, in his colleagues, and in hard work. Not only is BCaf a unique dispensary, but Scott’s also a one of a kind guy.

Discussion Questions:

• What laws do you think should change?
• Do you think you will have the same interests when you are in your fifties?
• How would you describe Scott’s philosophy of work?
• Why do you think dispensaries are so common?
• Research: People are expected to work into their sixties, but some physical jobs can be very difficult at that age. What are some promotions a person may get to have less physical responsibilities later in life?

Please send suggestions for future guests to projectlaborpodcast@gmail.com. 

Our instagram is @projectlabor. Leave a comment or question and we’ll be happy to answer.

Music by Brotheration Records

Project Labor is a 501c3 nonprofit organization incorporated in the state of New Jersey. All donations to Project Labor are tax deductible in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code. 

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 1:24

Scott's the very informative manager of BCF dispensary in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. With his big arms and intense eyes, you could tell Scott has built things. For more than twenty years, he worked building TV and movie sets. When you see him and you notice his I've got drugs pins, and you see him carefully drop his reading glasses into place, you start to see a fuller picture of a well-rounded man, a lifelong student who's built a career on trust in himself, in his colleagues, and in hard work. BCAF is a unique dispensary, and Scott is a one-of-a-kind guy. What jobs have you had?

SPEAKER_00 1:59

I worked in a mechanic in a garage. My grandfather owned a service station from that right after World War II. So I was six years old being picked up from elementary school at 3.15, and I'd work from 3.15 until 6.30 every day, you know, every school day. And Saturdays I'd work from 7:30 in the morning until six o'clock at night. Wow. So starting at six years old. I started out like scraping the oil with cat litter off the floor and putting new stuff down and loading the cigarette. This is how you know loading the cigarette machine and and whatever they had me do and started pumping gas. I was like seven years old. I was pumping gas. And and they didn't have squeegeees for us then. They had little squirt bottles and blue rags, and I'd be like leaning up and uh I made a lot of tips as a little kid. So it was that was my first job, and I worked there for years until my parents were like, you know, don't you want to play sports? Because you're gonna have to work the rest of your life. And I so I stopped for a little while, but I had paper routes, I put papers together on weekends for the corner store Saturday and Sunday morning at four o'clock in the morning, even during like sporting seasons because pocket money.

SPEAKER_03 3:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

And so, and then out of school, I started doing construction work. I worked in a restaurant at night. I ran uh I ran kitchens, I started kitchen management like within two weeks of me working at a for my first place, they made put me in charge of the kitchen. What and I stayed in the restaurant business for about 11 and a half, 12 years, and eventually owned my own restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. And I used to travel around a lot, so it was a job I could get anywhere. That's kind of I would like to climb mountains back when I was younger. So I went to the West Coast and I show up in the town, and a week later I'd have a job because everybody's always looking for kitchen staff.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Like on the West Coast, you say?

SPEAKER_00 3:56

I did. I moved out to Seattle and was uh I'd spend time climbing, but the minute I needed a job, the cook cooking gave me a job instantly. Also, construction, you know, always looking for hands.

SPEAKER_03 4:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

So that's I did that for years. And then um I got into property management after that. And I spent, yeah, I've got a little wanderlust. So I was working for a Broadway producer out in Morris County, and they had thousands of acres of different properties and um restaurants they owned, and so I was just doing everything for them. And then I stopped doing that and started doing uh set construction and building for television and movies for 24 years. And that was the job I left right before this one. And that was in New York? That was in our shop was in Jersey City, and we worked wherever Madison Square Garden, any TV studio, BET, everywhere. Anything anywhere the client wanted us to be, we build the set, bring it. We would do show call, you know, you'd be there for showtime, make sure everything went right. But we would once once the set was built, load-in day, we'd come in and have a crew of guys and we'd set the whole thing up, and then when we'd have guys there during the shoot for show call, and so I did that for you know 24 years. And that's the and then I ended up here uh after a year off.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Okay. What have you learned about people from working here? From here?

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Um I wouldn't say I learned a lot. I've always been real good perceptive of people, and m most people are good, they're kind. Um lot of um, I would say awkwardness, not sure what to ask questions, a little bit of uh anxiety and in in them, which kind of why they hired me with my knowledge of products. Um I'll talk you through it and make you feel comfortable with being here. So that's kind of how I got the job.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

Awesome. How did you find this job? My personal trainer.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Um, the owner of this business also owns the tree, Caffrey Tree Service in the background. So Bob Caffrey, he is a client of my personal trainer who's also a good friend of mine. And he started talking about opening a dispensary in his garden center. And she just said, You need to talk to my friend, you need to talk to this guy. He knows if you have any questions on marijuana or anything, he's got the answers for you. And it went on for almost a year, and I was like, Yeah, my whole year off. I thought this is never gonna happen. And he called me last uh Memorial Day weekend on Friday afternoon, and uh, we ended up talking for a half hour as to my first contact with him, and he's like, I like what I hear, and I'm gonna put you in charge with my general manager. You you have to pass her. And that was the second question she asked me. She was like, Oh, you're hired. So that's how I ended up here. And very thankful to my personal trainer. It's a great job.

SPEAKER_02 6:57

Yeah. Yeah. What's a typical day like uh here? How does it start? How does it finish?

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Well, if you're on the morning shift, it's uh 7:30 in the morning. You come in, open up, set the computers up, uh, open everything up, get ready, eight o'clock. We open the door, and there's people waiting, and sometimes they're at out the you know, it's 7.50 and they're already sitting at the parking lot waiting to get in the door. Everybody's different, they're looking for different things, and uh some people know right away. They're like, I've already looked at your menu, I want this. But there's customers you'll end up hanging out talking with for 20 minutes, you know, trying to this the first time. They're they're 50 years old and they're afraid of like they've been told this is a bad thing, you know. Like it's not. I mean, we have customers up into like you know, 70, 80 years old, and getting to know them and start talking about their life experiences. And there's some, you know, you see a guy, and you know, we all make assumptions when you first see somebody, and then after three or four times, them coming in, they're like, Yeah, I just want to deal with you, and they start letting on their life, and then you're hearing these stories, you're like, Wait, this guy seems like a buttoned-up business guy, and he's talking about in the late 60s and 70s, he was bootlegging hash from India, and it was like, What? So it's getting to know personal stories, and um again, we've had very few problems with a couple of customers, but everybody else, it's all they're all very nice, and people are always willing to talk if you you give them the chance to.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

That's nice.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Yeah, it's very nice.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

I'm very social. New Jersey legalized cannabis sales in 2020. So, how do you make new comp new customers comfortable in a space that maybe five, ten years ago would have been you know, unheard of or even illegal?

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Um, I think it's just if you walk into our dispensary, you see how relaxed it is. We don't have you in an airlock that we have to do your ideas. It's like going to jail, then we open the then we buzz the other door open to let you in. That's a good point. We let you come in, we have chess sets, we have uh you know a putting green over there. Um, spend all the time you want, ask all the questions you want. We're never gonna rush you out. If you have any questions, it doesn't matter there's five people behind you, you're the most important customer. And I think that's important. And a lot of the customers in the original when we first opened the door, you're seeing like 50, 60 year old women who are in trouble sleeping, and they're you could see it on them, the tentativeness. But once we start talking, they're like, Oh, this was wonderful, and I learned a lot, and I'll come back.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

Yeah, what experience, training, or skills would you say you're looking for in a uh a new employee?

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Um could being comfortable with that back and forth and talking and creating that conversation and making that person so you know, be open to be social, um basic counting skills, um, and a willingness to do the little extra things to it's not just about things to keep the store running, keep it clean. There's chores that are required daily, and to find people that are okay with that, and that seems to be a problem. It's harder, and it's harder than it used to be. When I was younger, you were you got hired by the guy at the corner store. He tells you your job, but the garbage goes out. That's on you too, and this goes out. That's not how we find it nowadays. It's like I was only hired to sell hot all I want to do. And um, it's it's like that's not how a business runs. We need other things. Yeah, it's a whole always in retail when you were back in the day, especially like in a high school kid, yeah. You're sweeping the floor, you're mopping the floor, you know, those things. And it's like nothing will be asked of you that every single person in this from the management on down wouldn't do. Also, we're just busy with other things, yeah. But if we're not if we're free, we'll do it. So it's been getting that message across, and uh like I said, I I'm getting getting a little older, so I think it's just generational.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

Are bud tenders allowed to be high or under the influence while working? Technically, no.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

But but it's not like we're gonna strict test you on the way in the door. Yeah, it's um what you do on your own time and on your break is your business. But if you come in here and you're cross-eyed and and stink like it, we're gonna have an issue. Will you be fired right away the first time? No, but you'll be told uh that's not acceptable, and so that's kind of it. It's uh it's lenient, but there are we gotta micromanage it a little bit, like you know, these are the points you can't pass this point, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:47

And you gotta know about the products you're selling.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Well, every and and there's samples. So when we get things uh from we order, they'll give us extra samples, and we make sure the buttenders get it so that they can try it. It doesn't mean you have to try it while you're on, you know. Um again, you when you go out for your half hour at lunch, you know, no one's telling you what to do. Right. Uh you're an adult, so but if you come back, it's like the same thing when when it was the bar, you know. It's like you can have two beers with your burger at lunch, but if you come back and can't work, then we got a problem, right?

SPEAKER_02 12:21

Yeah. What seems like the most popular type of item?

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Uh gummies is seems to be at the top. Um, we probably are number one seller, and a lot of it is sleep gummies. So a lot of people coming in, especially in that late 30s to all the way up to the oldest customer, lose the ability to get a good night's sleep, and that's what they're looking for the most. So a lot of um uh sleep gummies, we are moving a lot more pre-rolls. They like the aspect of not having to do anything themselves, just there, ready. But our flour and pre-rolls it was gummies, pre-rolls, and now flour itself, you know, acing bulk, that's a good seller too, but it's still behind those, and then vape pens. So isn't it probably in that order right there?

SPEAKER_02 13:10

What's one of the big benefits to buying cannabis at a legal dispensary versus on the street somewhere?

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Um, people complain about price points sometimes, but um every batch of of marijuana is tested and in state sanctioned laboratories. So you know that there won't be these things and in your in your in your product, there will not be mold. Um so there's set standards that you don't get in the outside market.

SPEAKER_02 13:41

And you know it's real.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

I mean, you don't even know what you're buying out there, I guess. Well, there's uh I mean the in 2018 the hemp bill that was created in Congress opened a huge gray area, so that's why when you go into gas stations and corner stores, they have like vending machines with pot in it and ace of weed. So it's THCA. There's such a minimal amount of delta nine THC, which was what was always illegal, that it falls underneath you know, um the law, so you're able to sell it. And but THCA, the minute you heat that, it all turns to Delta 9. So that's what gets you high. And Delta 9 is you can there's delta eight, there's delta nine, there's delta ten. Delta 9 was what was always if you got caught with something and it was illegal, they test it. If it didn't have delta nine in it, you would go scot-free. Oh, but if delta nine latches on real strong, and these other ones is it's this there's like all these different things out there now that are like laboratory made and and like THCP, and it's like you never knew you would need uh chemist paying attention in chemistry class for getting high.

SPEAKER_03 14:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

So it is definitely uh like I said, you can cross the street and go into the supermarket, and there's just all kinds of things on the show. Yeah, and they say they're gonna take care of it, but we see how fast Washington works.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

So it's it's not going anywhere for a long time. What are your opinions on like Delta A from a gas station versus THC from uh dispenser?

SPEAKER_00 15:15

It doesn't really do a lot for me. Um, I've tried it with other people. Um it does attach to the same cannabinoid receptors, but it's a very weak bond. So you feel something, and 15 minutes later, I'm like, yeah, not really there. Whereas regular cannabis that was always illegal. Yeah, some of it you're three hours later, you're like, oh yeah, I'm still here. I'm still here. Yeah. So my my thing is it's even though you can just easily get it, it's not worth the money you should spend, even if you have to spend $10 more dollars in a dispensary, you're gonna get a better product with a longer, a longer uh high.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

Dispensaries are popping up pretty fast. Where do you see the industry going in the future?

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Um I mean, I see uh I see it like liquor stores and and hopefully a little less regulated, they still treat this like it's um a hardcore drug, you know. They still a schedule one drug in DC. And it's it's the anybody who's been around it. No, it's not. I mean, you can freely get all the liquor you want. You you can pull up and dump it on the sidewalk outside the door and leave it there, and then it'll come out and get it themselves. Whereas here it's kind of like under a lock and key and armored, and and so I see that changing. I see more stores, but it's gonna be a bunch of stores at a great run for the first couple years. There wasn't as many, so they were dominating the market. Those stores didn't think that that would change, but it's changed drastically. You have to be on top of pricing, you have to get the best deal, and it's not like you just pay one price, you work, it's like buying a a car. Yeah, just because they're asking for this, you go in and talk and you go back and forth with them for three hours, you get six thousand dollars off that price. But I walk in and just say, Oh, yeah, that's the price I'm paying. That's how you pay when you order. It's um, it's not a set thing, it's like they tell you here, this is the number, and then you can negotiate.

SPEAKER_03 17:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

So if you negotiate if you're the social ability of it, talking, getting to know all your all your representatives and becoming friendly with them and constantly keeping in communication so you can work the best deal, which now you can pass on to your client and to the clients, and now people know that you're the store with the better deals, so more clientele. That's kind of it. That's kind of the business.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

Just so you got to put that effort in ahead of time to get good deals, get good customer attention.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Um, that's what we get a lot of. They love our store, and they they're like, You guys got the best prices around, and it's like you can see the the other following them, their websites, you can see that what you just did two days ago, they're trying to match. Oh, okay. And if and I say this, if if it's always that they're trying to match us, then we're doing something right. Then we're we just celebrated our first year, so we're doing something right.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

Yeah. Is that where are the pro you're talking about getting the products here? Where are the products coming from? Where are they made or grown?

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Everything that is sold in dispensaries in New Jersey is grown in New Jersey and made in New Jersey. You cannot transport any of that across state lines because of the Washington. So being that it's a federal one drug, there would be, you know, you can't transport. Um, so companies that come into Jersey, every state's different, but companies that come into New Jersey, they either have to open their own facilities, their own growths, or somebody will already be established and you'll sign a contract with them to you know, you're gonna grow your genetics in their grow facility and you're gonna be partnered up with people. So it's like a white label service and like pre-rolls and stuff like that. It'll be you see 50 different names. Well, all of them don't have their own thing, they're just they're established in Michigan, they're established in in California. They want to be in Jersey, they don't want to invest that kind of dough, they'll partner up with somebody, and you know, the trick is trying to find somebody that has your ethics and wants to gross products that you would be proud to put in a bag and a jar. So that's what's going on. And so, I mean, they're all around us up in North Jersey. There's lots of them in South Jersey because there's lots more. The pine barrens that are that real estate, yeah, a lot cheaper, a lot cheaper taxes down there. And you know, there was no business. I mean, there's wide open spaces down there, or just woods. So they're starting to grow and pop up down there outside of Atlantic City, all in the woods, you know, Lumberton. And you'll see, like, hey, there's that company. I know I see then a Lumberton, and then you all of a sudden see another cultivator, and they're like, hey, they're in a lumberton too. So it's like friendly in that area for that kind of business. So that's it. Is it all grown outside, or is it sometimes inside? There is there is uh some outdoor grows and outdoor growing for like making extracts and doing a full season grow outside. The amount of uh certain plants do better for extracting and doing full seasons outdoors creates more product to shake out of the plants. So so there's also uh hydroponics. Yeah. Now the big thing is uh, and the way I like the best is it's a lip called living soil. So basically, people talk about feeding their plants. That plant's genetics are how old? It knows what it wants. You just have to have it that there for it to take. So there's organisms, there's uh, you know, it's it's a complex transfer of uh not not just turning the dirt over every time, like they'll grow plants and then just cut them off and leave the roots to rot to feed it. There's all these organisms that are breaking down things, like, and then then the plants are like, oh, you know, transfer this sugar to here to feed these, you know, organisms in the dirt from the plant. Then in turn, they break down minerals, which make it easier for the plant to take, and that's what the plant wants, and it's uh it's a happy thing. So it's um I find the products there are more what I used to get years ago on the black market from California, um taste-wise, high-wise, all that across the board. And that's you're seeing a lot of the small growers, smaller companies coming up, they're starting to go with the living soil, and it's quite nice.

SPEAKER_02 21:39

You kind of remind me of like uh Sommelier, the wine expert.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

That's um, we've joked, my friends have joked for years about um, you know, that's you know, if this ever becomes legal, that's what you should do. And uh in high school, the I went to I grew up in Summit, and they were like, What do you plan on doing with your life? And so me and a friend just jokingly wrote a paper saying that we are gonna open up a school to teach people about marijuana and teach them how to from growing to rolling to using all that stuff, and we made a name up for it. And my teacher was laughing and laughing and laughing, and that can be a reality for somebody now. Yeah, it's really people that have small businesses that go to parties and teach people how to you hire them to come and show you how to properly roll. Yeah, roll a joint, and so it's like that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

Yeah, that's interesting. It's probably been on people's minds. Maybe they've been scared or timid about it or uninformed, but now they can explore those things.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

And and you just hired some like 60-year-old woman to come in and and instead of tuppleware, she's showing you how to use a little rolling machine and a grinder, and and and so you know, you have 10 of your lady friends over and she's teaching you how to work this is my this is how you do it. It's like she the a woman like that was in here for our uh canniversary. She had a little table set up and that's what she does. That's part of her business. She goes to gets hired out for parties and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

How did you learn about um all the science background in addition to the other things?

SPEAKER_00 23:12

I just uh my whole life I just listen to everything and I read everything. Anything that goes by me, I'm reading it. I'm scanning it and it just I don't have a photographic memory, but it's pretty close. It's I remember everything I hear and um Then see. And uh it just I always knew it was for me. I wasn't, you know, yeah, I liked a few drinks, but I always knew this this is the thing for me. And um I moved out to Seattle, and the West Coast was much more lenient back in the 80s, and everybody was growing, and you'd go to parties, and there would be people from 16 to 80 at a potluck party, and there all these people are pulling out stuff they grew, and you're like 75-year-old guy is just just practically floored me with what he presented. And so, yeah, it was a way more open scene. It was much more about the outdoors and yeah, doing things, riding bicycles and yeah, climbing mountains and and really good pot. Yeah. Actually, one of my friends I grew up with from second grade on, right out of college left and went to California. He's been growing weed out there ever since, all through the black market. Now it's legal, and uh, so it's like Humboldt County and up in the up in the Redwoods. And so, I mean, their whole economy was based on that marijuana. I mean, when when it really started to legalize out, and you saw those whole communities fall apart. There's no there used to be like fancy restaurants in the middle of the woods where where's all this money coming from to have a German restaurant in the middle of the woods, and it was like everybody had money. My friend was a school teacher there, and he's like, kids are coming and tell them like I I sleep on top of hundreds of thousands of dollars, they don't know where to put all the money, and they drive in brand new cars all the time. Well, that market is gone. I mean, there's no more premium. You you grow pot and you can you're lucky to sell it for six hundred, seven hundred dollars a pound now when back then you were selling it for two thousand.

SPEAKER_02 25:08

You mentioned the ethics, you're looking for certain ethics that match yours for when you're looking at different growers and and suppliers. What what do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_00 25:16

What I mean people that um are not just looking to make a a fast dollar, it's not just about the money, it's about delivering a quality product. And you see that with these new businesses open, these cultivators, some of these big companies, it's uh I would not purchase their products. It's just not you can tell by when you open the bag that there was no love in this. This is about money. In in the law, there's a remediation. So if you have like a mold starting in your grower, I mean you can clean that weed and sell it. Well, these lot of these small growers, they're like, we will never remediate. If we make a mistake, it's on us. And if we keep making the mistake, we won't be here anymore. Well, these big companies they don't care about that, and um, it shows in their product. Now these younger and smaller grows have put them on notice. How can you get that into a law? If you you know, if I'm I'm growing some kind of crop and it's completely damaged, you don't get to sell that. Yeah, but in this one you do. And not every state is like that. Some states I don't I think I think some states don't allow it.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

What were some what did you do but right before this doc? Tell me I built sets for television and movies for 24 years. What skills transferred over, do you think? And uh which ones did you have to learn new?

SPEAKER_00 26:34

I mean, uh, I was never a computer guy. It was blueprints, it was um, you know, I just kind of messed around. So when I when I was interviewed, I told him I don't have a lot of computer skills. I'm I want to learn more. If you're willing to teach me what transfers over, I'm the hardest worker you'll ever see. I won't stop working. I work from the time I come in this door till the time I leave. Nothing's beyond me from cleaning to anything. It's what what needs to be done to make this business better. I've always said that I think from transferred over from my both of my grandfathers were hard, hard workers. And it was expected when the minute you could do something, there's gonna be a job for you. That as you grow, you can carry that bag, that's gonna be your bag to carry from now on, and you can be part of the process because this is how life works. There's it's it's life is work, there's a bunch of things to do every day, and the minute you can help out and be part of the unit, you be. And I think that all transfers into the any business like that. And same with we'd have crews of guys, like you get six guys to build this thing, it's gotta be done in a month. You if you want to come in at eight o'clock, we're open at seven. You want to come in at eight, we don't care. You know what needs to be done, yeah, and get it done and work. Everybody pull your weight, yeah, and there's something for everybody. You're not you're new to the thing, so I'm gonna give you some of the easier things, and then you're gonna progress up the line. They think that's the same here, and it's all about they work hard, that's all. What were some of your successes at that job? Job well done, seeing things on TV, like the uh we did the Tony Awards every year. We did the video uh MTV video music awards, those big giant, crazy sets. Those are a crazy set. I I remember those. I was on every single one of them. Wow, yeah, up until a few years ago. Wow, yeah, those are so and remarkable from the main stage to the white carpet out front, we did all of it. So you might have a job of just building this size flat over and over again, so we can put them together and build a wall and put logos on you. You always see the photos and everybody posting before, and run a white carpet on a decks we built. That might be your basic thing, building decks, building walls. And then next thing you know, we need a podium for them to stand at. It's made out of plexiglass and it's gonna take quite a while. So this might be your job as you progress. Or I did some construction with housing and um property maintenance. Now I'm building giant Nike symbols that weigh 800 pounds and are huge. And I'm building two for this at 14 foot tall, two at 12 foot tall, two at 10 foot tall, and they're gonna be put next to a cascading staircase coming down, and and it's got lights in it, and it's got so there's electric. So, yeah, it was quite they always say don't fall in love with what you build because the minute it leaves, you'll be back four days later, and you gotta destroy it because it's going into garbage, most likely. Wow. And unless it's a television show, they'll still store it in a trailer and then pull it back out. But um, MTV every New Year's in Times Square, they have that giant island out there, and they're up on the top of the platforms. That was us. So we, you know, boss would be like, You okay going to Times Square in New Year's? Absolutely. Yeah, wow. So and every three or four years they'd be like, We want the same frame, but we want you to build new things that hang on it to give it a different band look, we call it, you know. Yeah, you'd have things that were, you know, you could just cleat it off of it and hang something new on it and make it look different and uh you know, give it a new paint job. You know, we don't want to spend the whole dime again.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

But so was it the band Rage Against the Machine that performed at the MTV Music Awards and kind of tried to destroy the set?

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Yeah, yeah, it was. He well, the dude climbed up top and he got arrested. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The drummer, Tim Cummerford. Yeah, that's us. That was us. Yeah, we build beautiful scenery and uh that we did. Yeah, the guy who owned the company was a scenic genius. I learned, I knew nothing about it. I made a joke about to a friend who was doing it saying he worked for Penn and Teller and he met the owner of this Acadia doing that job. And when Penn and Teller moved to Las Vegas, they their their warehouse used to be their shop. Penn and Teller had their own shop for building things in Hoboken. Well, they moved to Las Vegas, they wanted my friend to move with them. He's like, I'm not moving to Vegas. Yeah. So we ended up hooking up with the guy from Acadia, and I jokingly said to him, Yeah, I'm not doing this property management anymore. You tell your boss I'll be in the bar and start working. Just kidding. And a day and a half later, my phone rang. I didn't get it, and I listened to the message, and he was like, So the next day I called at like 10 in the morning, like, why didn't you call me yesterday? You would have been here, be here at 7:30 the next morning, and like 24 years.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

And uh yeah, I knew nothing about scenery building at all. And uh I learned everything.

SPEAKER_02 31:20

That's awesome. It's a learner.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

Yeah, it's great to I'm always looking to learn something, you know. Really, really fun, but it's it's it's a rough job, you know. Show up at Lincoln Center at four in the morning, you're gonna be here till six at night. Well, at two the next morning, you're still here. And then they say, Oh, you can go home, see you at four. I live 45 minutes away. Yeah, you can't even get home. Sit down in this chair and go take a nap because you're gonna be here for another 14 hours. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

My next question was what was challenging about that job?

SPEAKER_00 31:49

Um, it wasn't challenging when I was young, yeah, but as I started to get older and older, you just, you know, it's almost like I don't I I can't stand up this long, you know. Um I've been up on my feet and you know, walking around on concrete floors and stuff is is brutal in a in a you know theater or just a lot of sitting waiting too. You know, you're waiting for the lighting guys to do something so you can't do something. So you know, you've got three hours to wait, and you're like, man, if I could just get up there and do this, I could probably leave. And then they leave you waiting for five or six hours, and and then they're like, okay. And then you see them leaving, and you're like, I've got another two hours worth to go.

SPEAKER_02 32:27

Yeah, yeah. When you tell people about your current job, like maybe one of your friends or you're introducing yourself to somebody.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

Some people it's the whole stigma that was created for years about this is a this is a gateway drug, and yeah, and um I mean a gateway drug could be anything for anybody. It's open the door. I see a gateway drug more of alcohol. People say no to a lot of things, but after 12 drinks, they're like, okay. And I don't see that in marijuana. It's like you might drink and then say, I don't smoke pot, but then the next thing you know, you're like, hey, you were smoking pot with us. I was exactly. And um, so it's that kind of thing, especially with uh I say older crowd and I'm getting there myself, but you get some people that are just like, you know, that's not good. It's you know, it's gonna wreck this country. And I'm like, you know that the people have been doing it even when it was illegal. And once once a state goes legal and then more people try it because it's legal now, they it all of them don't become habitual users or everyday users. It goes back down to about a certain percentage of the population that does things like this. And and just because cigarettes are legal, everybody didn't smoke cigarettes. Right. A lot more people smoke, but as education came up, people decided that's not a good thing. I mean, uh so I think it's j that kind of stigma from people who have depends on how you were brought up. And I was brought up around, you know, my my father was a police officer. There was no drugs in my house. My parents didn't really drink, but my aunt was a Woodstock hippie, so we go to her house for dinner, and the minute dinner was done, her friends would be lighting joints around us, and we're like, oh, that's pot, no big deal. Yeah. Did you was your dad there too? My dad would get up and leave the room. He didn't care. He's just like, you know, I don't want to get in any kind of situation that wouldn't, you know, cause trouble with my job. Sure. And then now in Jersey, if you're a police officer, you can buy, you can smoke it. Oh, you are? You're absolutely allowed off duty. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:28

I think that's the right thing to do. It's like what the they're not held to a higher, you know, they're the same as us. Yeah. So why wouldn't they be able to?

SPEAKER_02 34:37

Yeah. No, it's true.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

I mean, you've looked past uh all these businesses and even construction that oh, this guy's got in trouble because he got caught, you know, smoking pot.

SPEAKER_03 34:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:46

Well, this guy, these guys come in hung over every morning and then go out for lunch and have drinks. And you guys have looked past that all these years. So it's like I I don't understand it, but uh hopefully it's you know, you know when you can have something and you can't.

SPEAKER_02 34:59

Right. Yeah, yeah. It seems like you you are a big proponent of trusting people.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

I am definitely a big proponent of trusting people. If there's a problem, we'll discuss it with you and hopefully you'll self-correct. But yeah, I mean, I we had people that we I worked with in in the construction business that would just, I don't want to work with that guy because after lunch he's dangerous. Oh yeah, it could be dangerous. Yeah, I mean, they would just oh absolutely. And they were good carpenters, yeah. But I just don't want them on my team, right? Yeah, it's uh and I I'll say this the people I worked with that smoked, I never had that problem. I never once said, Oh, this guy's like you know, fumbling around. Yeah, I don't care what you do on your break. You come back and you're able to do shit your your stuff safely, and then go for it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:47

What's the most compelling anecdotal evidence you've heard from a customer about a product's effect?

SPEAKER_00 35:53

I mean, it's just the the people who talk come in and uh they see them the next time, they're like, what you suggested was exactly correct, and it helped me sleep. And it's again, it's a lot of sleeping, it's a lot of like uh stress relief, the indica type of thing, uh strain. So uh anxiety, a lot of stress, you've seen it, and they can't sleep. And so what the anecdote is the like I can't believe I slept, and I do you have more of that? And it's like, oh, we're out of that, and they're like, oh no. And I'm like, well, we're getting more, try this now. So that's kind of what I see. I've only had like one person in a year come back and be like, I brought brought the product back and was angry. And I wasn't here and they're demanding, like, you know, like this is not right. And I'm like, you know, I buy six packs of beer and then I decide I don't like it. I don't bring it back to the store and scream at the person who sold it to you. Everything is everybody is um different, so it affects everyone differently. What works for me doesn't work for other people. I have uh co-workers here, they can eat all the edibles they want, they will never feel the fact. Wow. Yep. And they there is a if your liver doesn't make a certain enzyme, then you don't process, you can't break it down correctly. So there is a science basis in that just the gummies, but not the flesh. So into the stomach. But if you take a tincture and put it under your toe and do it that way, it you could feel things, yeah. But it's the process of eating gummy, and that's the probably the biggest thing you hear people say, well, it didn't work on me at all. Well, I can't tell you if you have that enzyme and you know, or lack of that enzyme, so that could be a problem, or maybe you have a naturally high tolerance and you only ate five milligrams, you need to eat 20. And that's me. I need to eat 20 or 30 to feel anything.

SPEAKER_02 37:39

Yeah. What uh what tips would you give someone coming here or trying out cannabis for the first time?

SPEAKER_00 37:47

Start small. Don't don't don't freak yourself out because then you'll be afraid of it, and there's nothing to be afraid of. I mean, even if you feel uncomfortable for a half an hour, it'll pass and be like, try half the dose next time. I always tell people like when they're nervous, I'm like, you know, 10 milligrams is it's a hundred milligrams in a in a pack. We do have ones that are 20 in a pack, so you can get them down to five milligrams. And I can tell you're apprehensive. So bite one in half, try two and a half milligrams, and if that works for you, great. This pat's gonna last you a lot longer. But just because it didn't work for you at two and a half milligrams, don't be like, ah, this stuff doesn't work. Try an increase to five, try ten, and you know, work incremental steps so you're not like sitting in your in your living room thinking what's going on. Right. Yeah, what did I do? What did I do? And then you'll never touch it again. Because I do feel is uh definitely a lot of uh good benefits to it. Yeah, um, it's not just all about being high all the time. Right. Um me personally, it's a lot about pain relief. Okay. Um yeah, I don't know what I would do without it. I truly don't. It's either that or opiates, and I don't like them at all. Right. So my doctor will freely prescribe them, and I'm always like, they're like, You're a big guy. We'll give you these giant ones. I'm like, yo, back down. I'm telling you no, and you're telling me, you keep telling me yes. And I'm like, easy on that. And I I've always been honest, even when it was uh illegal that I'd go into a doctor and um say, you know, I'm gonna tell you right away, when you take my blood, you're gonna see marijuana and TAC in it. It's never gonna change. And they're like, Oh, well, you shouldn't be doing that. And I'm just like, I wasn't asking for your permission. I'm letting you know. And I've had doctors, even two, three years after seeing them, they're like, you know, we just did a blood test, and you know, you got and I'm like, why are we still talking about this? Yeah, meanwhile, the next thing they're gonna suggest opiates. Well, they would well, they would be testing because it's not like I'm adverse to taking something a little bit, but I don't want to be they're like, Well, no, you gotta eat these every day all the time, or we're not gonna give you any. And I'm like, then I'll end up back in the emergency room. So this is how I meant you. And they're just like, Yeah, yeah, well, you shouldn't be smoking pot.

SPEAKER_02 40:03

A lot of things have been decriminalized over time, like gay marriage, alcohol, divorce, gambling, interracial marriage. All these things were once illegal, but have been decriminalized. What do you think might be the next thing that's legalized or decriminalized? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 40:20

The way things are going in this country, I'm gonna think it looks like they're gonna try to criminalize things that were decriminalized. Like there's amendments that are gonna be added to, like in I think it's Massachusetts and Maine to de to recoluminal, recriminalize recreational marijuana. They've gotten the signatures enough to put it on the ballot. Will it happen? I don't think so, but you there's a there's a push the other way. Um, you know, as elections go, the winner gets to make the rules. And you hear a lot of talk about, you know, trying to push it all the way to the Supreme Court for gay marriage. You know, it's like I don't understand it. Why recently why you're yeah, that's right now. They're trying to get it into the Supreme Court because they think that it will go the way that abortion that Roe versus Wade went. Yeah. And they think that they have this, you know, m monopoly and going in the Supreme Court that now's our time. Yeah. So let's go let's try to reclamalize all this stuff. And they think that that's what m will make America great again. And I I don't personally believe any of that.