W I D E   A W A K E

OPINIONS 101: East Meets West

June 27, 2003

ITEM: We've been here a little under 2 weeks. Here, in LA. And so far, I gotta tell you, it's a whole different way of life. There is something inherently different between life on the east and west coasts, and I'm not referring specifically to the weather. People are a bit more polite. I spoke with the the LA gas company and the DWP and both representatives were eerily polite. This has been the case nearly everywhere--at the pharmacy, the supermarket, restaurants, in public. People seem to be a bit kinder, a bit nicer, toward one another. Maybe the joke is on us. Maybe they can tell we're from Philly and they're only being nice because they think we are tourists. But I'm not entirely sure. It's weird. Nice, but weird.

ITEM: We're beginning to find our way around. It's really a lot easier than we've been told it would be. The roads are smooth and there are lots of 'em, with lots of lanes. Big, wide, chunky lanes. Traffic is comparatively better than Philly. There are simply more roads on which to drive, so the roads aren't nearly as backed up. Also, there seems to be a lot less road construction in general. And with a few exceptions, the drivers have been rather civil.

ITEM: That's about all I have for now. We're not into our new place for a few more days so are still living out of a hotel. We're both kind of sick of it and are not sleeping much because of the anticipation of moving to our new place. Soon, hopefully, life will start returning to normal. 'Til then, I suspect we'll be awake until 3:00 a.m. or later most weeknights. Anyway, sleep is overrated...