How is life in Los Angeles? (middle-class, crime, home)

[Charles]

Originally Posted by DaBeez

Man, I pay $80.00 per month and I had to bargin for that. Next summer, the stepson will be 13 and will be taking on the jobs of Gardner and Pool Boy thus saving me $160.00 per month.

You know, one of the things I am beginning to hate about life in LA is that our kids nowadays have sense of entitlement (i.e., that they are owed something) and they lack a strong work ethic. When we were kids/teens we learned a lot by working what used to be transitional jobs (mowing lawns on our street, cleaning neighborhood pools, working fast food, having a paper route, etc.) and learning what it was like to be "hard working Americans" and developing the work ethic that Americans used to be known for. Nowadays, those "transitional" jobs have been taken over by immigrants and thier families as "career" jobs. The only place American kids (in LA) work in fast food is In-And-Out Burger. All other places have overwhelmingly minority (immigrant) workforce.

Bingo.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/workl...cb.generation/

[Charles]

This is interesting. Every time I come back to LA I have this fantasy about meeting up with some of the anonymous posters. I think the anonymity of City-Data is one thing that makes it so popular, especially perhaps amongst those who might otherwise be uncomfortable in face to face situations (I am not that way but I could see others as being that way.) Last spring we tried to get a Colorado Springs meet up, to gather together a bunch of the COS posters for a picnic or something....It went over like a lead zeppelin, we canceled. Thus my theory about meeting face to face being uncomfortable.

Of course, with some of my smart *ss posts, I'd have to worry about someone giving me the business....

I actually have met a few. One lady from LA who moved to Huntsville, I met her and her family for dinner when I was on business there.

Another guy in COS I bought suits from. Another guy in COS who's kids go to the same school my kids go to.

What the hell, maybe next spring when I am back out here....

[junkman18]

Originally Posted by LAPalms

To me (and I've been in every Major city in the U.S.) it is simply the greatest.

But what you are asking cannot be answered in a few posts. It is deeply detailed, complex, varied, culturally mixed, HUGE. It has a metro area of 15 million people. You cannot go out and seek the essence of Los Angeles. It slowly reveals itself to you. You can look it up in Wikipedia and many other sources but it will take a couple of years of being here before it all starts to fall into place and make sense.
Your patience will be greatly rewarded.

It is a wonder beyond description.

After a couple of years of being here you'll know it's time to get out.
Nice picture, but lets see pictures of the way it really is. Maybe like the youtube video I posted. And most of the time you cant see those hills through the smog. Come on lets get real.

[UB50]

Originally Posted by junkman18

After a couple of years of being here you'll know it's time to get out.
Nice picture, but lets see pictures of the way it really is. Maybe like the youtube video I posted. And most of the time you cant see those hills through the smog. Come on lets get real.

But don't you live in Arkansas? Why concern yourself with LA? You already left!

Personally, I love it here. I think I'd go stir-crazy in Arkansas.

[stevopolis]

"Charles
Not disagreeing but....
I wonder how high a $60/month gardening service would go to if Americans (who demand $50/hour just to show up to your front door) were performing the work?
How much would a head of lettuce cost?
How much for a car wash?
How much for a restaurant meal?"

Answer: Nothing; get off you lazy butt and do it yourself. This is why we have an illegal problem in the U.S.. Mow your own lawn, clean your own car; that's the difference between L.A. and most of the country. I was 13 years old, and I mowed lawns for a living when I was younger. We don't need illegals here in the U.S. to keep this country great. Look around, the illegal problem is only making Los Angeles and the U.S. worse.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by stevopolis

"Charles
Not disagreeing but....
I wonder how high a $60/month gardening service would go to if Americans (who demand $50/hour just to show up to your front door) were performing the work?
How much would a head of lettuce cost?
How much for a car wash?
How much for a restaurant meal?"

Answer: Nothing; get off you lazy butt and do it yourself. This is why we have an illegal problem in the U.S.. Mow your own lawn, clean your own car; that's the difference between L.A. and most of the country. I was 13 years old, and I mowed lawns for a living when I was younger. We don't need illegals here in the U.S. to keep this country great. Look around, the illegal problem is only making Los Angeles and the U.S. worse.

I know, I know. (You sound like my mom.) Actually I did mow my own lawn and change my own oil. Heck, I even did my own landscaping, rented a ditch witch, buried PVC and popups, installed the Toro controller, pressure regulators, sodded my lawn, installed my lighting, planted bushes, planted trees, etc.

Nowadays I still mow my own lawn and snow blow my own driveway. The wife has a cleaning lady twice a month. The lady is an American.

My neighbors were the guys who would pay someone to mow their lawns and wash their car so they'd have time to walk on a treadmill indoors on a sunny day at a $70/month health club.

I wasn't sitting around doing this:

[majoun]

Originally Posted by junkman18

After a couple of years of being here you'll know it's time to get out.
Nice picture, but lets see pictures of the way it really is. Maybe like the youtube video I posted. And most of the time you cant see those hills through the smog. Come on lets get real.

I'm sure someone could post a nasty video of Arkansas' rural poverty not to mention Little Rock has a higher violent crime rate than L.A. does.

As for that video, like it's any surprise that East L.A.and the industrial areas just east and south of downtown look like that? Nothing new. Also some of the graffiti in that video was graffiti art not gang graffiti. Plus, "I Love L.A." is not a pro-L.A. song - it's a song making fun of L.A. (anyone familiar with Randy Newman's repertoire knows he specialized in biting satire)

[junkman18]

Originally Posted by stevopolis

"Charles
Not disagreeing but....
I wonder how high a $60/month gardening service would go to if Americans (who demand $50/hour just to show up to your front door) were performing the work?
How much would a head of lettuce cost?
How much for a car wash?
How much for a restaurant meal?"

Answer: Nothing; get off you lazy butt and do it yourself. This is why we have an illegal problem in the U.S.. Mow your own lawn, clean your own car; that's the difference between L.A. and most of the country. I was 13 years old, and I mowed lawns for a living when I was younger. We don't need illegals here in the U.S. to keep this country great. Look around, the illegal problem is only making Los Angeles and the U.S. worse.

That's a good idea

[TheRealAngelion]

Originally Posted by junkman18

After a couple of years of being here you'll know it's time to get out. Nice picture, but lets see pictures of the way it really is. Maybe like the youtube video I posted. And most of the time you cant see those hills through the smog. Come on lets get real.

What do you mean "being here"? Don't you live in Arkansas? How is LA, really? An inquiring mind wants to know what the red necks of the deep south know about LA that those of us who live here don't.

[junkman18]

Originally Posted by TheRealAngelion

What do you mean "being here"? Don't you live in Arkansas? How is LA really? An inquiring mind wants to know what the red necks of the deep south know about LA that those of us who live here don't.

I was born and raised in that cesspool that's how.