LosAngelisms: A Look at Life in the City of Angels

by Srinivas Rao
on August 20th, 2010
7 Comments

I love this city and I think Eagles said it best in Hotel California when they sang “you can check out but you can never leave.” I heard once that the song was about an insane asylum. At times Los Angeles can be kind of like one too. The rest of the world looks at us kind of like we’ve lost our minds, and we kind of have. But, for some reason we’re completely happy, fulfilled, and we’re part of that lot who people talk about when they say “You know that people never come back from LA right?” As the editor of a travel blog, I have plans to check out, but I will probably live in LA for the rest of my life.

Weather: This summer has been a rare exception for us, but for the most part the weather here is perfect. To us, if we have to wear any sort of a jacket, then it’s cold as shi3$# outside. We have absolutely no tolerance for cold. When it rains, we don’t leave our homes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve decided to spend a Friday evening at home because it was raining outside. I think this quote from an episode of my guilty pleasure, the TV show The O.C. sums it up perfectly: “Dude, I can’t go out there in this rain. It’s like the opening sequence from Day After Tomorrow. I’m a child of Southern California. I’ll melt.”

Drivers and Traffic: While we’re famous for our movie-making, beautiful women, and all the other things this city is known for, traffic is one of those things we are usually annoyed by, but in denial about. We complain about it, and for the most part it sucks. It’s not uncommon to find people on the road at 2am. I’m not talking about one car. I’m talking about a steady stream of traffic that is what it would be at mid-day in most cities.

The drivers are a whole other story. In this last few months I’ve developed a driving pet peeve, people who speed up when they see that you are trying to change lanes. Sometimes you literally feel like you’re going to get run off the freeway just so some guy in his 4X4 can get to In and Out Burger 5 minutes earlier. Usually, once he passes you, you make your lane change and traffic comes to a standstill again.

Day Jobs: This is one of my particular favorites considering the life I lead. As an avid surfer, I make it to the beach at least 3-5 days a week. When a good swell hits it’s not uncommon to find 200 people in the water ON A MONDAY. When I see that I always think “Don’t these people have jobs?” (even though I’m one of them)

Ask people in this city what they do and you’ll get a large handful of people working in the entertainment industry(actors, directors, producers, etc), the rare corporate employee, and then those people who give you really vague answers that don’t make any sense. Sometimes I wonder if half the town is selling drugs since there are so many people who don’t have real jobs. After all, we’re not famous for our low cost of living.

Dating: One of my friends pointed this out to me a few weeks back. In Los Angeles, it is possible to go on a date with somebody who lives close by to you and literally never see them for the rest of your life. I don’t know about you, but that seems really strange to me. According to my friend, Angelinos are so caught up in their own world that they’re too selfish to worry about others. While I don’t have quite this cynical of a view, I will openly admit that I haven’t seen any of the girls I’ve been on dates with in the last year or two more than once. That reminds me, I have a few phone numbers I need to delete from my iphone.

Leisure, Health and Fitness: Yes, we’re obsessed with how good we look. That’s probably because we are city full of really really ridiculously good looking people. It also doesn’t hurt that we spend all our time outdoors. But, a scene that that will be eternally etched in my memory to sum it all up is the one of a pregnant woman jogging on the beach with a baby in a stroller. I’m not joking. That’s how seriously we take this .

Despite our quirks, bizarre tendencies, and a few things that are a pain to deal with, I still love this city. It fits me like a glove and if warm weather all year long, beautiful beaches and basically what can seem like life’s playground, all mean putting up with a few minor inconveniences, then I’m staying right here in the city of angels.

Srinivas Rao

Srinivas is an avid surfer and personal development blogger at The Skool of Life. He's also the host and co-founder of BlogcastFM, a podcast for bloggers.

7 Comments

1 year ago
Rhonda
Yes, indeed Srini. My cynicism was tinged with love for the city of Angels. As you demonstrated in your statement about drivers speeding up just to get in front of you, then come to a complete stop just before you, Los Angeles is a ME-FIRST city. As unattractive as that may seem, to achieve great things a degree of selfishness is required at times, isn’t it? It is a city full of contradictions too as I found out in my decade of living there. While you have the surfers/actors/producers/whatevers, it is a city of AMBITION. Moving back to Orange County, I’ve seen a comfort level in many of the people here to maintain their current lifestyle(s), regardless of income level. It’s just too clean, pretty, and comfortable here. Los Angeles is more restless, and also much more entrepreneurial than any other city I’ve been to or lived in. Los Angeles is a city of endless possibilities, and that’s just one of the reasons I miss it so. I remember a line in some movie about Los Angeles being the mistress you just can’t leave, not the city you marry. Somehow though, you just can’t manage to totally leave her. Even with the traffic, the sometimes sketchy neighborhoods a block away (or even next door!), the (gag-me sometimes) ENTERTAINMENT industry, this city has a magic I just can’t put my finger on. It is edgy, sophisticated, cultured, exciting, open-minded, optimistic, heart-breaking, weird, and just plain interesting to live in. Los Angeles changed my life for the better, forced me to grow up and finish my education, and gave me the confidence to always try new things. I love LA and always will, I’ll just have to figure out how to work from anywhere in the world, then I’ll always have at least one foot firmly placed in LA.

1 year ago
Srinivas Rao
Rhonda,

We definitely are a me-first city, and I will openly admit that it’s possible I’ve become a bit more selfish about things in my time here. But one thing is true, it is without a doubt, a city of AMBITION. People come here with one goal in mind and that is to “make it” whether it be in entertainment or as an entrepreneur. So, in that sense it’s definitely changed my life for the better.

As far as the laid back OC vibe, I see it every weekend when I’m in the water in San Clemente. I even notice it on the freeways when nobody seems to be in such a hurry to get everywhere. But, for some reason I still have this ongoing twisted love affair with this city that probably will never end.

1 year ago
Etta
Fantastic post. I adore Los Angeles; it’s got more dynamism, more energy, more of that intangible wonderful *something* than any other place i’ve ever been. People will sometimes wrinkle their noses at me when i declare my love for the place, but it’s the messy imperfections that make it the wonderful city, the canvas of dreams that it is. And there’s nothing wrong and an awful lot right with ambition…especially the kind that still lets you hit the surf most weekdays

1 year ago
Srinivas Rao
Etta,

Despite all the weird quirks of LA that bug me, I think I’ll have a life long love affair with this city. I lived in San Francisco for years and it’s strange, but there’s almost never a day when I miss the cold and cloudy days (even in summer). As far as a job, I love mine so I fee very blessed. Our city truly is a canvass of dreams, some realized and others in the making. Thanks for your comments

11 months ago
Francisco Rosales
Hey Srini, I love it man. You said right, you’re checking out of here for a while but this is already your home…

I’ll add one more thing about Los Angeles, the culture clash, it’s not unusual to sit at a table for dinner with 4 different nationalities. Nobody is from here!

Good luck in your temporary home, and be back soon!

11 months ago
Srinivas Rao
No doubt Francisco. IT’s about as diverse as it gets. Going out to dinner in LA is like a United Colors of Benetton commercial

11 months ago
luis
I love the neighborhoods: c-town, k-town, east la, dt la, Hollywood, Venice, malibu.only place where you can hit the beach and go snowboarding all within a 45 minute drive. Saludos, Luis

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