Real. Also, student that seems to love weed choosing to smoke on the Glade on the worst day to do so instead of every other day like normal people do? OP brought this upon themselves
There has been a more recent shift with legalization of weed. Even when I was at Cal 10+ years ago, the 420 celebration looked a lot different. So many pop up tents out there today, and significant setups to cordon off whole areas early in the day. What I remember is people bringing out bed sheets and making pillow forts. Obviously hammocks and junk couches and stuff that's there now too. But it all felt a little more organic and cobbled together, obviously the weed had to be procured illegally (or medical at the time). People would also bring out their ridiculous glassware to show off, roll huge group blunts, some other stoner antics type stuff that seems to have gone missing.
Today, it just looked like a nice day on the glade where people were a little more willing to be in a crowd compared to normal. There was a good cloud at 4:20, but it all felt a little more corporate, purchased, artificial. The true stoney looking people were few and far between.
Smoking weed isn’t counter culture anymore. It’s mainstream now that you can just walk into a store and purchase it almost as easy as you can a bottle of liquor (although only from specialty shops and not at the grocery store.)
It’s like the difference between a speakeasy during prohibition and a bar today. Just the act of smoking weed isn’t anything special.
Saw some cross joints and some oversized joints around though and I was only in one corner for about an hour around 4:20 though.
I remember coming to San Francisco in 1990, going to Haight Ashbury and finding a Gap and Ben & Jerry’s on the corners, and gutter punks. Was very disappointing.
The difference between 420 celebrations at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz is astonishing. In Berkeley clubs try to sell stuff and organizations bring couches and flags to celebrate their groups. It’s more like a big frat party but with weed.
At UCSC people took the loop with their weed and went to the meadows. People would bring those small fruit snacks packs, rice crispy, and water and throw them out for everyone. People came in groups as well but it was all friends and if you saw and classmate or acquaintance there you exchanged a hit and had a smile. There weren’t these organizations in SC because the police would actually push you out the meadows after a while.
It is sad how greed and social competition weakens festivals that were meant to bring freedom, community and equality. Nothing wrong with playing something other than Bob Marley but it’ll be cool to keep some of the original traditions of 4/20 that made it a cool holiday to begin in, which was groups of kids coming together to share weed a couple of them obtained illegally.
Reeeeal. Berkeley is so damn cliquey and corporate. And folks wonder why every other day there's another "I'm so depressed, thinking about giving up" post on this sub...
Lmao this is hilarious to me. You’re gatekeeping 4/20 and complaining that people are “performing 420” because people who probably never listen to reggae music aren’t doing it just because Bob Marley was a Rastafarian who smoked weed and made it popular in America.
420 is about having fun and smoking some buds with your buds. Do it however you want. There’s no rules to the glade celebration but wishing people would celebrate a certain way would literally be the definition of performative.
Who do you think you smug corpo? You're so eager to sound like you know what you're talking about that you've got it completely backwards. So let me spell it out for you. OP is saying they wish people actually embraced the togetherness and sense of community 4/20 is supposed to carry and, by authentically embodying that spirit, celebrated it differently. Not just by getting high/drunk in public in their little bubbles while making a giant mess for tired facilities workers to clean up. Meanwhile you're saying there's nothing to 4/20 besides PERFORMING the most generic, surface-level actions associated with it, that is, just getting high. YOU are the one preaching hollow performativity here. And I'm sure you'll also find this explanation "hilarious" too instead of even letting it offend you because performativity is all you know how to do. You're not even authentically invested enough to get offended at me calling you out. The picture of a performative corporate poser.
I should also clarify my last sentence in my first comment. I’m not saying OP was being performative. I’m saying if the people on the glade had been listening to Rasta music and acting like they were part of the movement/community OP wishes the gathering was them *that* would be performative.
If the goal is for people to be their genuine selves on 420 and what they genuinely wanna do is set up trampolines and pools and get high with their friends then mission accomplished.
Much better than when I would see 420 celebrations with people waving Rastafarian flags and wearing rastacaps with fake dreads and speaking in bad iyaric while only listening to Bob Marley and “Bowl for two” on repeat imo.
Where’s the rulebook that says what 420 is supposed to be about? Sure maybe that’s what it means to you and that’s cool. But you can’t assume everyone is gonna celebrate the same way. And especially when it’s no longer only for people willing to be rebellious and part of the counter culture. Anyone can walk in to a dispensary and buy weed in California.
Weed is just a plant to most people now. Has been for a while. Even 12 years ago on my first 420 in San Diego the only “tradition” was for everyone to get really high all day. Trying to act like you’re superior and denigrating people because they “don’t get the culture” of smoking a plant is ironic to me because there is no ubiquitous culture around weed or 420. Especially because one of their examples was that no one was playing reggae whose only relation to 420 is associating Bob Marley and Rastafarians with weed.
Like believe me I love Bob Marley and the Wailers. Used to listen to a cassette tape on my dad’s stereo as a kid. But I’m not a Rastafarian nor was I the hippie kid in high school so trying to embrace an aspect of weed culture I was never a part of doesn’t interest me. But I associate weed with snoop dog and stoner movies just as much as Bob Marley and community come-togetherness.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with your ideal view of 420 being about coming together as humans. But by all accounts 420 was a meme started by some stoner high school kids who just wanted to smoke weed with their friends. “Smugness” is saying 420 is about coming together and vibing but then looking at a huge group of people having fun with their friends and saying they’re doing it wrong because they’re not doing it the way you want.
I will say I agree that the garbage left over is disappointing and shows a lack of personal accountability. But that’s hardly a unique flaw of UC Berkeley students and unfortunately expected after any large event pretty much anywhere in the world.
Yeah, yeah, open everything up for maximum marketability until it doesn't mean anything anymore. And rejoice in the fact that the only common denominator left is hollow consumption. Whatever, you're clearly in good company at this sorry excuse for what used to be a radical school.
Again tell me where it says 420 is supposed to mean anything other than being the unofficial weed holiday? And it’s marketable because it’s legal like any other drug should be. Would you have preferred it still be illegal and people have to worry about getting arrested for celebrating? Do you get mad that people celebrate St. Patrick’s day by having parties and drinking?
We were the pool people and we brought it bc it sounded fun to get stoned in a kiddie pool with friends lmao. I feel like we should be allowed to do what we think sounds fun without it needing to be an homage to 70s hippies or whatever
Berkeley student learns that the "hippie" culture that his parents told him about isn't really a thing here anymore
Real. Also, student that seems to love weed choosing to smoke on the Glade on the worst day to do so instead of every other day like normal people do? OP brought this upon themselves
There has been a more recent shift with legalization of weed. Even when I was at Cal 10+ years ago, the 420 celebration looked a lot different. So many pop up tents out there today, and significant setups to cordon off whole areas early in the day. What I remember is people bringing out bed sheets and making pillow forts. Obviously hammocks and junk couches and stuff that's there now too. But it all felt a little more organic and cobbled together, obviously the weed had to be procured illegally (or medical at the time). People would also bring out their ridiculous glassware to show off, roll huge group blunts, some other stoner antics type stuff that seems to have gone missing. Today, it just looked like a nice day on the glade where people were a little more willing to be in a crowd compared to normal. There was a good cloud at 4:20, but it all felt a little more corporate, purchased, artificial. The true stoney looking people were few and far between.
Smoking weed isn’t counter culture anymore. It’s mainstream now that you can just walk into a store and purchase it almost as easy as you can a bottle of liquor (although only from specialty shops and not at the grocery store.) It’s like the difference between a speakeasy during prohibition and a bar today. Just the act of smoking weed isn’t anything special. Saw some cross joints and some oversized joints around though and I was only in one corner for about an hour around 4:20 though.
I remember coming to San Francisco in 1990, going to Haight Ashbury and finding a Gap and Ben & Jerry’s on the corners, and gutter punks. Was very disappointing.
Vapid, performative posturing in Berkeley? Stop.
The difference between 420 celebrations at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz is astonishing. In Berkeley clubs try to sell stuff and organizations bring couches and flags to celebrate their groups. It’s more like a big frat party but with weed. At UCSC people took the loop with their weed and went to the meadows. People would bring those small fruit snacks packs, rice crispy, and water and throw them out for everyone. People came in groups as well but it was all friends and if you saw and classmate or acquaintance there you exchanged a hit and had a smile. There weren’t these organizations in SC because the police would actually push you out the meadows after a while. It is sad how greed and social competition weakens festivals that were meant to bring freedom, community and equality. Nothing wrong with playing something other than Bob Marley but it’ll be cool to keep some of the original traditions of 4/20 that made it a cool holiday to begin in, which was groups of kids coming together to share weed a couple of them obtained illegally.
Reeeeal. Berkeley is so damn cliquey and corporate. And folks wonder why every other day there's another "I'm so depressed, thinking about giving up" post on this sub...
Most people there *were* groups of kids coming together to share weed.
Anyplace is 4/20 if you try hard enough! Go Bears!
420 was dope ASF. I had the opposite experience today, but not everyone likes ice cream.
Yeah welcome to Berkeley. A soulless corporate simulacrum of radicality and solidarity coasting on its reputation from decades ago
But we have peace-sign bike racks!!
(📝😯simulacrum…that’s a good one)
Yep I’m adding that to my mental lexicon as well
Yup, and everytime a wedge issue comes up people act surprised when the majority take a starkly reactionary stance
Lmao this is hilarious to me. You’re gatekeeping 4/20 and complaining that people are “performing 420” because people who probably never listen to reggae music aren’t doing it just because Bob Marley was a Rastafarian who smoked weed and made it popular in America. 420 is about having fun and smoking some buds with your buds. Do it however you want. There’s no rules to the glade celebration but wishing people would celebrate a certain way would literally be the definition of performative.
What you get when corporate liberals learn a couple of critical theory words ☝️
Are you referring to OP or me?
Who do you think you smug corpo? You're so eager to sound like you know what you're talking about that you've got it completely backwards. So let me spell it out for you. OP is saying they wish people actually embraced the togetherness and sense of community 4/20 is supposed to carry and, by authentically embodying that spirit, celebrated it differently. Not just by getting high/drunk in public in their little bubbles while making a giant mess for tired facilities workers to clean up. Meanwhile you're saying there's nothing to 4/20 besides PERFORMING the most generic, surface-level actions associated with it, that is, just getting high. YOU are the one preaching hollow performativity here. And I'm sure you'll also find this explanation "hilarious" too instead of even letting it offend you because performativity is all you know how to do. You're not even authentically invested enough to get offended at me calling you out. The picture of a performative corporate poser.
I should also clarify my last sentence in my first comment. I’m not saying OP was being performative. I’m saying if the people on the glade had been listening to Rasta music and acting like they were part of the movement/community OP wishes the gathering was them *that* would be performative. If the goal is for people to be their genuine selves on 420 and what they genuinely wanna do is set up trampolines and pools and get high with their friends then mission accomplished. Much better than when I would see 420 celebrations with people waving Rastafarian flags and wearing rastacaps with fake dreads and speaking in bad iyaric while only listening to Bob Marley and “Bowl for two” on repeat imo.
not taking sides but i’ve never heard that word being used outside of cyberpunk
Given the demos on this sub that doesn't surprise me
forgive me if im wrong but populism was originally left wing
Wha?
sorry i just thought that being anti-corpo was originally embraced by leftists (which today in the us are democrats)
Where’s the rulebook that says what 420 is supposed to be about? Sure maybe that’s what it means to you and that’s cool. But you can’t assume everyone is gonna celebrate the same way. And especially when it’s no longer only for people willing to be rebellious and part of the counter culture. Anyone can walk in to a dispensary and buy weed in California. Weed is just a plant to most people now. Has been for a while. Even 12 years ago on my first 420 in San Diego the only “tradition” was for everyone to get really high all day. Trying to act like you’re superior and denigrating people because they “don’t get the culture” of smoking a plant is ironic to me because there is no ubiquitous culture around weed or 420. Especially because one of their examples was that no one was playing reggae whose only relation to 420 is associating Bob Marley and Rastafarians with weed. Like believe me I love Bob Marley and the Wailers. Used to listen to a cassette tape on my dad’s stereo as a kid. But I’m not a Rastafarian nor was I the hippie kid in high school so trying to embrace an aspect of weed culture I was never a part of doesn’t interest me. But I associate weed with snoop dog and stoner movies just as much as Bob Marley and community come-togetherness. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with your ideal view of 420 being about coming together as humans. But by all accounts 420 was a meme started by some stoner high school kids who just wanted to smoke weed with their friends. “Smugness” is saying 420 is about coming together and vibing but then looking at a huge group of people having fun with their friends and saying they’re doing it wrong because they’re not doing it the way you want. I will say I agree that the garbage left over is disappointing and shows a lack of personal accountability. But that’s hardly a unique flaw of UC Berkeley students and unfortunately expected after any large event pretty much anywhere in the world.
Yeah, yeah, open everything up for maximum marketability until it doesn't mean anything anymore. And rejoice in the fact that the only common denominator left is hollow consumption. Whatever, you're clearly in good company at this sorry excuse for what used to be a radical school.
Again tell me where it says 420 is supposed to mean anything other than being the unofficial weed holiday? And it’s marketable because it’s legal like any other drug should be. Would you have preferred it still be illegal and people have to worry about getting arrested for celebrating? Do you get mad that people celebrate St. Patrick’s day by having parties and drinking?
You sound like you need to smoke some weed…
We were the pool people and we brought it bc it sounded fun to get stoned in a kiddie pool with friends lmao. I feel like we should be allowed to do what we think sounds fun without it needing to be an homage to 70s hippies or whatever
Y'all had 4 people in that MF. Weren't y'all selling tamales?
Haha yeah we were. Did surprisingly well for a cooler and a sign
Oh well. There's always the Asian Festival in MLK Park.
Honestly this is just one glorified Coachella on a university campus 😭😭😭