CALIFORNIA
III
two young ladies inside if they would give us a ride. So I had my first
hitchhike in forty years.
They were entranced by the Fairmont Hotel bar and the glass
elevator and the grand view of all San Francisco at night. And joked
about how they were being corrupted. They were so certain of their own
convictions, that this was not a world that they wanted but one which
they were merely visiting for the moment as tourists, that they could be
gay about it.
Finally, at the Fairmont they became very serious and evangelical
about drugs, especially LSD, and literally begged me to come with them,
then and there, for a "trip." Harry had some LSD in his pocket. They
spoke
in
the usual cliches about a new awareness, a mystical experience,
a vision of God. They urged me not to be afraid and, being completely
antiscientific, dismissed my talk of physical damage as Establishment
propaganda. They did admit that they would not urge drugs on anyone
who was mentally ill, but they did not seem to weigh this very heavily.
They were shyly and sadly disappointed when I said no with
finality. And I was sad that I could not even attempt to dissuade them–
they liked me just because I didn't preach at them.
These are charming, nalve, ignorant and carefree children. I have
considerable admiration for their rejection of the terrible world around
them. But they are going to be hurt - possibly physically by drugs (each
of them has had about twenty LSD trips already) and by the facts of
life which will allow them this freedom for only a little while of their
youth and then will make them pay heavily. These two had been
in
Haight-Ashbury only this summer and had some vague notion of leaving
sometime soon. Perhaps they will escape. At one point, I suggested that
the world was full of pain and tragedy and Harry said very firmly, "The
world is a bowl of cherries."
We rode the cable car back to the St. Francis Hotel, and I said
good-bye to them in the lobby. They said they would like to have a post–
card from me, but since they had no address this would be impossible.
I asked them to visit me in New Brunswick, and they promised to come.
