At the intersection of West Hastings Street and Hamilton Street across the road from Victory Square, the New Amsterdam Café had a constant flow of patrons despite the ominous clouds forming overhead. The midday air was replete with the pungent scent of marijuana, overpowering the crisp smell of the impending rain. Surrounded by various cannabis-related shops, the café was the centre of activity.
The windows above the New Amsterdam Café and the establishment next door, called Cannabis Culture, each displayed a letter to spell out the demand to “Free Marc,” referring to Marc Emery, the marijuana activist currently in U.S. custody for selling marijuana seeds to buyers all over North America.
An orange neon sign overhead spelled out the café’s name and was coupled with a large cannabis leaf logo. Patrons sat around small, circular tables over coffee as their smoke rose overhead inside the establishment. They were seemingly unaware of the onlookers and pedestrians attempting to get a glance inside as they walked down West Hastings Street.
On the sidewalk just outside the café, a man leaned his torso over the day’s collection and grasped the chrome shopping cart as he leveraged his left foot against a thinner rod on the lower storage rack. He then gently lifted his trailing right foot off the ground as the cart quickened its pace down the sloped sidewalk. The wheels rattled and jumped on the rough concrete as the cart whirred past Cannabis Culture and the New Amsterdam Café.
The cart’s momentum and speed decreased as the ground progressively leveled out. The sidewalk then sloped upward, stopping the cart then forcing it to roll backwards. The man’s feet finally met the ground once again and he started to push as gravity pulled the cart in the reverse direction. He then continued up the sidewalk toward his destination.