Work sent me to New Orleans a few days ago. When work was done, I went down to the French Market with the idea of finishing up some Christmas shopping. The French Market, if you've never been, is sort of a cross between a farmer's market, a flee market, a freak show and an all around, general tourist trap: Costume jewelry; purses, belts, wallets, tote bags, bull whips and anything else you can imagine that can be made out of leather; trinkets; Mardis Gras beads; books; arts and crafts; fruits and vegetables; fortune telling; shellaqued alligator heads; second hand CDs; tarrot card readings . . . you name it. One little stand I stopped at was clearly a headshop: Bongs, bongs with feathers, bongs with beads, bongs with elaborately painted pictures of nekkid women, bongs with guys names, bongs with girls names, "my brother went to New Orleans and all I got was this stupid bong" bongs, big bongs, little bongs, and bongs of every size in between, water pipes, rolling papers, and the obligatory cans of Prince Albert tobacco (keeps things legal -- it is not intended that you smoke pot in any of those bongs, only Prince Albert), cigarette lighters, cannisters of nitrous oxide (for culinary use only in making whipped cream - not to be inhaled) -- you get the idea. If your thing is to stand around all day smoking Prince Albert out of a bong and making homemade whipped cream, this is the place for you.

The guy who ran the stand was some sort of mystery meat - Paki or Indian, I couldn't tell, and the only English he could speak was to quote prices and say "Dankuh you velly mulch". But in there among the bongs was a big display of sets dental picks, like this:

I tried asking the guy what they would be used for, but he couldn't understand me nor I him, so he picked one up and tried to illustrate for me by picking his teeth. Then he put it back on the shelf without so much as wiping it and said "zee? for cleanuh you teef". I know what their legitimate use is, but why would a head shop sell dental picks? I am stumped. Anybody know?