We dig hanging and chatting with Cassie — that cool chick you always see behind the counter at Pipe Dreams on Haight between Masonic and Central. Here are some nuggets foraged from our recent pow-wow, as well as the full video of our hang at Gallery 1506 Haight. We love you, Cassie!
CC: I grew up in Georgia, Northeast George. It was horrible. My life was pretty shitty there. Weird culture. Not my people. Didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere.
HSV: Had you always wanted to come to San Francisco?
CC: I always wanted to live on the West Coast.
HSV: What were your first impressions?
CC: I was 25 when I first came out here in 2010. It was awesome. It was summertime, freezing and foggy (laughing) there was no sun. I remember having to buy a hoodie. I loved it.
HSV: And now here it is 11 years later and you and Josh are rockin’ the neighborhood.
CC: It’s amazing. I don’t really know how it happened. The stars aligned I guess. The stars aligned, that’s what happened, you know? The vision is to bring art to the neighborhood. So many amazing things have been happening lately and I feel like there was a big shift in the world of humanity and evolving. I think that some people are waking up. Open peoples’ minds, let people see that there’s a different way to live, that they can be happy no matter what the bullshit situation they’re in. See what you can do to help cuz that’s what it’s all about. And it’s so rewarding to help people. When tourists come into our shop from other parts of the country … and they see all these things they’ve never seen before and you tell them about stuff, artists …
HSV: They’re like kids in Disneyland.
CC: Yeah! I show them how glass is made, talk about medicine, and it’s beautiful, just beautiful. We’ve had so many people buy their first supplemental mushrooms from us and it really really helps them.
HSV: What would you love to say to the Haight community?
CC: Help each other, be there for each other. Get your head right, get your mind right. Smoking pot’s not bad, doing plant medicine, having psychedelic experiences can be really beneficial. The whole thing we gotta do right now is just help the community as a whole. I know in my heart there’s enough good people out there that we can turn shit around.
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