There was a meet and greet with Snoop Dogg at the Have a Heart dispensary in Skyway on Monday. Tha Doggfather, as you surely know, is one of the godfathers of "stoner culture"—famously urging his fans to "smoke weed every day" and making a cameo in Half Baked, one of modern stonerdom's founding documents.

Honestly, I've never been a big fan of said stoner culture. At the risk of sounding snooty, I'm more comfortable at a Goodship Higher Education Series lecture, nibbling prosciutto and sipping rose, than waiting for a photo op with Snoop in a parking lot. I'm very pro-normalization, and anti-oversize-knit-hats. I don’t even dab, bro.

Despite my reservations, I went. It's Snoop Dogg. How could I not go? Besides, my roommates wanted to go, and even though I didn’t get inside to see Snoop, they did, so good for them. I caught a few glimpses of him in the parking lot.

I was happy just to hang out in the parking lot. The crowd was awesome—so many beautiful, weird stoners waiting patiently, for hours and hours, some since 8:30 am. The line was huge, winding around the backside of the building, behind the wisely placed Ezell’s truck, and down onto the shoulder of the nearest side street.

There were EDM kids with furry cat hats and face glitter, there were people with skateboards, there were people whose color coordination defied logic. Even Sasquatch—the mythical creature from the woods—made an appearance; the person in the Sasquatch mask hosts a cannabis-centric podcast and was gunning for an interview.

Ryan Kunkel, Have a Heart’s owner, told me he convinced Snoop to bless his humble Skyway operation with a visit after Snoop took a liking to Have a Heart’s original medical marijuana dispensary in the U-District. Snoop is notorious for lighting up wherever he damn well pleases, and in the wild west days before legalization, when the medical marijuana dispensaries were all there were, Snoop reportedly blazed to his heart's content whenever he stopped by. Snoop discovered some kindred spirits among the dispensary's staff, and a magical, financially beneficial relationship was formed.

Thanks to Snoop, Kunkel was raking it in hand over fist. He was also getting a lot of people through his doors who wouldn't have bothered stopping in if not for Snoop. "I came for the rap," said Nikita Lisiy, whose rap name is Cool Russian, after giving Snoop his CD and snapping a selfie. "But I had to go get the eighth. I'm coming back to this place no matter what." As a marketing ploy, Snoop is unrivaled.

Adorably, by way of thanks, Have a Heart made Snoop a pimp cane topped with a weed-filled crystal ball. Armed with his scepter and festooned with a gleaming gold pot leaf chain, Snoop looked every bit the prince of pot as he made his way out the back door to his waiting ride. Like a magnanimous prince, he stopped to show the crowd some love, letting himself be mobbed from all sides by adoring fans with camera phones.

As a consolation to the many fans disappointed by Snoop’s somewhat early departure, Kunkel announced free chicken for all. With Snoop gone, the tired, hungry crowd took a few selfies with Bigfoot, descended on the Ezell’s truck, and dispersed slowly into the twilight.