Take it Easy

"Well, I’m running down the road
Tryin’ to loosen my load
I’ve got seven women on
My mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she’s a friend of mine
Take it easy, take it easy
Don’t let the sound of your own wheels
Drive you crazy."
- The Eagles

I went on-line about a week before Merv's birthday in April to see if I could find tickets for a concert or show that I thought he might enjoy. The Eagles were scheduled to play a concert tonight at the Rogers Centre with the Dixie Chicks as an opening act. I last saw The Eagles in concert about thirty years ago at Exhibition Stadium. I thought this concert would make a great gift for Merv.

While Merv would have enjoyed attending, he was already slated to attend a conference in Montreal this week so I took Nan to see The Eagles in his place. The Dixie Chicks were amazing. They performed with great style. The Eagles were better by a mile than they were when I saw them thirty years ago. The concert was spectacular.

The downside of the evening was that by the time The Eagles got on stage, we found ourselves watching the show through a haze of smoke. I guess people were having trouble grasping the concept that "no smoking" includes marijuana and other drugs that burn. Though I watched several patrons appeal to the usher for assistance in shutting down the smoking, he seemed disinclined to get involved. It was unfortunate for many of us. I ended up with a whopping migraine and struggled mightily with respiratory distress. I've been fighting bronchitis for more than a week. Trying to breathe through a cloud of dope was the last thing my poor lungs needed. While I could identify the marijuana smoke from smelling it in every bathroom in my high school and at every concert in my youth, there were other smells I couldn't quite identify. Something being smoked smelled a lot like skunk. Other smells were acrid and chemical smelling. I guess I'm out of step. I don't know what drugs create those smells.

Considering so many of tonight's concert goers were fairly geriatric, I'm presuming it was the younger part of the crowd that was indulging in the newer drugs. There is no question though, that some of the same people who were smoking dope when I saw The Eagles play thirty years ago in Exhibition Stadium, were smoking dope tonight at the Rogers Centre.