Why so many depressed/unhappy people? (Corona, Burbank: home, job openings, neighborhood)

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by DowntownVentura

Admittedly I am not real up to date on the job situation but when I go here Jobs in Los Angeles, CA | Indeed.com and enter just about any job description, plenty come up. Serious question, are these not valid?

I've applied to several positions on there that I know I'm qualified for and never received a reply.

Just for the hell of it, send your resume and see if they contact you.

I've even followed up with a company called William Lea and I never get a live person. Their number always goes to voicemail and I left a message about twice.

I don't know if these jobs are legit or not, but it doesn't hurt to apply just in case. Getting a job or call back today is like playing lotto. Really sad.

Also, let's not talk about those stupid assessment tests you have to take to get a retail job these days. They always take up to 30 minutes or more. I failed it the first few times I took them, because stupid me was "honest" answering the questions. I later found out that being truthful is not what they want. You also have to answer the extreme of either a positive/negative answer. If you go in between you 'fail' the test.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

I began responding to job advertisements for a certain medical electronic manufacturer in the North SFV when I graduated from college some decades ago (too many). A couple decades passed and I finally landed a job there, worked there for 3-4 years, and I got to know the people in HR. I asked them why they had ignored my numerous resumes and applications, and discovered that they are always cruising for resumes, file them, then sort through them when they need to hire somebody.

Some or many of the job advertisements are just trolling for resumes. Just because a job is advertised does not mean there are any openings.

There were posts on Indeed.com saying Office Team and Robert Half were guilty of this. They would place bogus ads to cruise for new clients not necessarily because they had positions.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

I'll admit, I'm one of those LA people who fits much of your description. I guess it's the way we're brought up here. That's not to say we're bad snobby cold people or there aren't times when we are social and friendly (i.e. with alcohol ) but it's the general way people have been brought up here. My fellow LA born and raised can attest to this - this is younger generation in the westside and midcity so doesn't encompass friendlier more suburban places.

Things actually get a little friendlier when you go further east.

What you refer to as "being on your guard" seems more like open hostility to me and yes that is a big part of L.A. - but I've noticed that Echo Park, Atwater Village, some northeastern neighborhoods, even Silver Lake to a lesser extent, are friendlier. Los Feliz has the snob factor like the westside hoods but doesn't seem to be QUITE as hostile. The reason? More human interaction. The "upper west side" is all about isolation, sterility, sitting in traffic, and hostility. Which is how you people have been brought up. That's why I see no attraction to living in places like Brentwood. At least I can understand SM (or BH) if I had kids, so they'd have good schools unlike the LAUSD areas, and I can understand MDR for the elderly as they have plenty of company and plenty of their peers there. But I don't see the attraction to expensive, sterile far westside areas within the city of L.A. If I had the kind of money to live in Brentwood or the Palisades I'd live in Los Feliz, Hancock Park, Silver Lake, or even certain parts of Hollywood like Franklin Village.

Your "younger generation in the westside" is inhabiting a very different westside than the one I inhabited and which is practically gone aside from the vestigial CC/MV pocket (which is slightly friendlier than the rest of the westside). Never mind the South or Midwest, you people are more hostile than San Franciscans or New Yorkers (New Yorkers actually aren't that hostile - Bostonians OTOH are a different story....)

And it's true that L.A. has no jobs, that's the only reason I'm not already back. Many of those ads are not for real job vacancies as already stated.

[AliveandWell]

First of all, let me just say that this isn't just exclusive to LA. There are depressed and unhappy people everywhere. People who are depressed feel that way for a variety of possible reasons. Some are depressed due to a chemical imbalance in their brain. Some may develop these feelings because of a death in their family, loss of a job, marital breakup or alcoholism. I try not to focus on who is or isn't depressed. It doesn't help to get depressed anyway. It just makes someone feel worse.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by majoun

Things actually get a little friendlier when you go further east.

What you refer to as "being on your guard" seems more like open hostility to me and yes that is a big part of L.A. - but I've noticed that Echo Park, Atwater Village, some northeastern neighborhoods, even Silver Lake to a lesser extent, are friendlier. Los Feliz has the snob factor like the westside hoods but doesn't seem to be QUITE as hostile. The reason? More human interaction. The "upper west side" is all about isolation, sterility, sitting in traffic, and hostility. Which is how you people have been brought up. That's why I see no attraction to living in places like Brentwood. At least I can understand SM (or BH) if I had kids, so they'd have good schools unlike the LAUSD areas, and I can understand MDR for the elderly as they have plenty of company and plenty of their peers there. But I don't see the attraction to expensive, sterile far westside areas within the city of L.A. If I had the kind of money to live in Brentwood or the Palisades I'd live in Los Feliz, Hancock Park, Silver Lake, or even certain parts of Hollywood like Franklin Village.

Your "younger generation in the westside" is inhabiting a very different westside than the one I inhabited and which is practically gone aside from the vestigial CC/MV pocket (which is slightly friendlier than the rest of the westside). Never mind the South or Midwest, you people are more hostile than San Franciscans or New Yorkers (New Yorkers actually aren't that hostile - Bostonians OTOH are a different story....)

And it's true that L.A. has no jobs, that's the only reason I'm not already back. Many of those ads are not for real job vacancies as already stated.

I actually agree with most of what you said, but I'd rather have grown up in Palisades/Santa Monica (where I did) than any other part of LA. LA just sucks to grow up in in general. I have friends who grew up in Los Feliz, Hancock Park, Studio City and they had a whole different set of challenges. More exposure to crime and the real world at a young age. And there is plenty of traffic and isolation in those parts too. The artsy neighborhoods like Echo Park might be friendlier but that is younger professionals who have moved out there rather than families, I believe.

[Visit a Library]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

Few people in LA, even in (or especially) the glitzy neighborhoods, are happy. It's a tough place to live and grow up in. For example, driving half a mile to do a simple errand often turns into a stressful, life or death ordeal. You really always have to be on your guard here. That being said, there are numerous benefits to living here too.

The glitzy neighborhood people always seem to be happy. Why should they not be -- globalization has made them wealthy at the expense of the American middle and working class...

[Visit a Library]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Answer again in 20 years.

And do it in Espanol so most people will comprehend your answer.

[Visit a Library]

Originally Posted by Charles

The thing is, I was born and raised in LA too. I lived here for 45 years. Maybe I am being too critical and maybe it is the people I work with (though I've worked with engineers for 24 years). Maybe it is people that work in El Segundo and the fact that they probably have stressful commutes. Or maybe it is the economy. Or, another theory I have, maybe it is the diversity of LA. In Huntsville it was almost all white people with some black people. No Hispanics, no Asian, no middle east. Here in LA in my workplace out of maybe eight people I am the one white guy. The rest (mentally going around my office area) two Armenian Persians, several Asians, one Hispanic, one black lady, some guy with a Russian sounding name. At lunch I play basketball with about 15 guys and most are Hispanic, Asian or Black. So, maybe the diversity keeps people a little more to themselves. In Huntsville it was almost all white guys and almost all of them were retired military officers - sort of trained to work as a team and be engaging and friendly.

Just for the record, Persians have been extinct for at least 2000 years, so it's most likely they're Sephardic Jewish.

[Visit a Library]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

That's probably part of it. People from similar backgrounds - and not just including race, can be more comfortable among each other. Also, middle eastern and asian culture is much more reserved if you see that among immigrants. I was talking about white folks in the westside and mid city and valley who are reserved too, in their own way.

It transcends race, because although I'm White, I find myself alienated from most Whites, and regard them as sheeple for whom I have no useful purpose, and would not count on them for a damn thing if they hadn't anything themselves to gain. It's a dog eat dog city, unfortunately.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

I actually agree with most of what you said, but I'd rather have grown up in Palisades/Santa Monica (where I did) than any other part of LA. LA just sucks to grow up in in general. I have friends who grew up in Los Feliz, Hancock Park, Studio City and they had a whole different set of challenges. More exposure to crime and the real world at a young age. And there is plenty of traffic and isolation in those parts too. The artsy neighborhoods like Echo Park might be friendlier but that is younger professionals who have moved out there rather than families, I believe.

I wouldn't want to go to ANY LAUSD schools today (including those I went to MANY years ago) and if I had kids any LAUSD areas would be out of the question. I have friends in L.A. with kids who are in Culver City, Santa Monica, Burbank (recently voted the best school district in California) and one in Beverly Hills, but only a couple who have kids in LAUSD areas (one's kids are in magnets, and the other's Burbank bound) . However, since I don't have children, it's not an issue.

Traffic is a given anywhere in L.A., but when you do go east attitudes do improve. Los Feliz, while the nicest neighborhood in L.A. (and way out of my price range), does have the snob factor even if not quite at westside levels. Hancock Park is almost westside and has the snob factor although Larchmont is a treasure. Silver Lake, while it does have affluence, isn't as bad. Echo Park's friendlier in part because the soccer moms are scared of living east of Coronado. The northeast areas are also friendlier - I have a friend in Lincoln Heights which you'd probably view as a no-go gang ridden area, but people do tend to be friendlier there based on what I've experienced. (An outsider with serious aggressive attitude and hostility would face far more serious consequences there than in Santa Monica, which is why people are more chill....) As for me, I couldn't afford Los Feliz or Hancock Park anyway, I was saying if I had the money to live in Brentwood and had to live within L.A. city limits I'd live in those areas (or Silver Lake, or Mount Washington) over the sterility of the far westside.