Sometimes I wake up in the dark, get ready in the dark, and drive to work with the first rays of the sun glaring into my rear view mirror. On those days the freeway is mercifully empty save me, the city kids who get bussed to schools in the 'burbs, and the gardeners. As I watch the kids whose heads bounce against the bus windows as they try to catch just one more hour of sleep and the gardeners with Toyota pick up trucks filled with lawn mowers, weed wackers, rakes, hoses, and shovels one question keeps going through my head. "Why do we get to drive at 70 or so mph going west and everyone else is going 20 heading east?"
We are migrating in reverse.
I guess part of the American dream is to buy a big house in the suburbs and have a well paying job in the city. We, on the other hand, live in the city but spend business hours in the suburbs. The big difference between me and the school kids and the gardeners, though, is that I do it by choice. I think about these kids who just want to go to school but because of over crowding and some past socialist dream of inter-racial, inter-ethnic, inter-class education spend their days miles from home. And the gardeners, who are doing what they can to support families, send kids to school, and maybe save up for a child's wedding, or quinceanera, or a trip to see family at Christmas. They make the drive because that's where the schools are; that's where the jobs are.
Why do I voluntarily get up in the dark and drive 23 miles every morning when I could either move closer to school or get a job closer to home? The easy answer I usually give is "well, my husband works downtown so we choose somewhere in the middle." Here's the real answer, I work in the 'burbs cause the pay is good. I live in the city 'cause those men in the pick up trucks and the kids in the buses with moms waiting for them when they get home in the evening - that's my L.A. That's the L.A. I want to be a part of.
I want to know the best hole in the wall diner in Echo Park or where to get the cheapest fabric in the Garment District. I want to buy bootleg videos in Boyle Heights and ice cream from the Super A in Cypress Park. I like going to mass at Dolores Mission and La Placita and eating raspados at Evergreen. Rick's and Astro have the best burgers, Yang Chows has the best dim sum, and Phelipe's and Eastside have the best sandwiches.
The suburbs certainly have their charm -manicured lawns and 2.5 perfect children - but I'll take the city any day and twice on Sundays (as long as I get to stop at Daily Doughnuts). So, I'll keep getting up in the dark, getting ready in the dark, and I'll drive to school as the sun rises - just me, the bussed kids and the gardeners, all migrating in reverse.
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2 comments:
I'm so glad that you've shown me the LA you know and love. My first year here was filled with cliche--from the Boardwalk to the Promenade to the Strip. And I never found anything I loved. But you've shown me places--and people--that make this city special. Thank you.
As for migrating in reverse, I often wonder if the parents or uncles or cousins of my students have traveled down the 101 early in the morning to clean the lawns of your students' houses.
Take me to Rick's or Astro's!!! I think I still need some convincing, but I can be bought :)
I do the reverse commute up in the Bay Area and I too love SF for the taqueria on 16th & mission or the lawn bowling conventions in GG Park or beers at the Park Chalet.
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