L.A.

Patrick O’Heffernan.- Returning to NOB for a vacation after two years away, more or less, is a bit of a shock.  NOB for me this week has been California – Los Angeles, a drive partway up the coast, and the SF Bay area.  But LA had the greatest impact – as it always does.

 The first impact was sticker shock.  $3.00 cookies!  $14.00 sandwiches ($8.00 at Subway, but still). An ordinary sit-down lunch for two at an ordinary sidewalk café in the Westside was $35.00 – plus tip and parking!  You know how many lunches that will buy in Ajijic, even on the Expat economy, and even more at your neighborhood taqueria.

Covid shock came next.  It seems to be more serious here too, with high case numbers, antivaxers, and breakthrough infections.  I hosted a dinner for musicians and bands that I have known for years, and one of my dearest friends, a popular pop singer, could not attend because her boyfriend had a breakthrough infection of Delta after two shots.  They had stayed home for months when she performed at just one concert and he attended  – masked, and vaccinated – he got infected. (he is OK now, but in an abundance of caution, they did not attend the dinner, although everyone there was vaccinated and had a negative test.)

Now, LA is not California, nor the US for that matter, but it is my hometown, so the skyrocketing rents, grocery prices, energy prices, cellphone costs, and restaurant and entertainment prices, and homeless tent cities were a shock, although I have been keeping up with them online. Makes me appreciate Ajijic and Lakeside even more.

On the positive side LA reminded me of customer service – a shocking concept somewhat in vague in Mexico.  I had to go to the phone store and the assistant manager came to me immediately to help me and took care of my transactions quickly. No waiting, no calls to HQ, no redtape.  When she did not have the part I needed she called another store and said it would be ready for me when I go there.  It was – no waiting. Same courtesy in the bank – opening up new tellers when a line got to be more than three people.  Credit cards are fine everywhere.  Bank transactions took place at the teller – no approval from Mexico City needed, the only i.d. I needed from everything was my CA drivers license – and no copies necessary and nothing got stamped and signed. That was a shock.

And, also on the positive side,  I found myself back in LaLa Land – the land of movies and entertainment.  Huge billboards all over touting shows for Emmy and Oscar awards. Skyscraper-size ads on Hollywood Blvd and other locations for rock bands and TV stars. But most memorable of all, as I reeled at $3 cookies, were the faux soccer bleacher displays set up in malls importuning Academy members to vote for Ted Lasso in the Emmy Awards, for which it has 20 nominations.  And just to make sure you didn’t forget, the attractive young woman or man staffing the promotion gave you a pink box of shortbread cookies- free.

Free shortbread from a TV show and $3.00 cookies from the store.  That’s LA.    It is fun to be here on vacation, but Ajijic  – and 25-cent galletas – are home now. See you all next week.