Hair Bar

As a teenager I received a weekly allowance of $5, but every month my mother gave me $10 for a haircut, thinking that was how much one cost. Economy Barbershop (now Kerrisdale Hair Bar) charged only $5 a cut, so of course I went there.

At the time, a gram of Red Lebanese hash cost $5. That's what I would spend the difference on -- chipping away at that gram until the next haircut. These were small chips, just enough for a single toke from a pipe made with a toilet paper tube, a piece of tin foil and a pin to poke holes in it.

There was nothing I liked better than to end the day sitting by my bedroom widow, reading Vonnegut, Hesse or Gide under the influence of Nick Gerwing's Red Leb hash. If you want to know how I got through high school, that's how. RIP Nick!