Seeing Red or Doing Green

Quick - first two things that come to your mind when I say Amsterdam?

I had a few hours to explore the city and the first two that came to my mind were Red Light District and Dope. Of course, of course, the city has much more than that, there's the Anne Frank museum, bicycle tours, etc. - but I did say the first two things.

Red Light District and Dope. Hmmm. Well, given that I still plan to truthfully tell the future kids that "Mama said no", doing the green was not on the list. Giving in to the stereotype for a sec., if while living in Jamaica for so many years I didn't do ganja, why start now? Well, that left seeing the Red. Should I? It is a well-known landmark...ok, I am convinced.

The night before my trip to the Red, a business colleague mentioned that he had explored the district with his wife and daughter. I asked him what life lessons he imparted to his daughter during the trip, and he said that the only life lesson was that if she ever ended up there, something had gone seriously wrong with her life.

At first walking through the district, I felt a bit self-conscious. I would not be trolling through this type of place anywhere else in the world. Does it seem weird for me, a woman, to be walking alone around here? A few glances to the left and right, assured me that I definitely was not standing out - this was tourist central, although you did have the expected shady men grinning in corners. I walked quickly past them.

As part of my exploration, I walked through several narrow alleys and on either side saw girls wearing little to nothing in rooms with glass doors that you could clearly see through - some curtains were drawn closed. Some rooms housed more than one girl, all in suggestive positions. Some girls were eating their lunch, some were chatting to potential customers. In one room a woman customer was walking out. As I walked, I got a catcall or two - don't these guys realize that we on the outside are harder to get?

I also saw a lady on the street going around to each of the rooms, handing out individual white roses, and telling the girls that they were special and loved. All of these sights, combined with a pungent smell of pot! I was there for about 10 mins in total and then decided to leave for more carefree environs.

The extreme nonchalance regarding the Red is something that still stands out in my mind.