Los Angeles

I really do want to write about something positive, so will I surprise you if I talk about Los Angeles as something positive?

LA, or really the greater Los Angeles area, has really been a pleasant astonishment to get to know. I'm not talking about Hollywood. Hollywood is a very tiny part of LA and does not represent LA.

Believe it or not, LA is a blue collar town. It is a manufacturing mecca, a shipping giant and truly...the melting pot of America. LA is a massive metropolis, and there are allot of highways, I'll grant you. Still, I would rather drive in LA any day of the week over Chicago, or Houston, or Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami, Boston, Atlanta or Seattle.

You see pictures of traffic jams in LA, but I have found that their traffic information systems are super, so when one highway has jammed, I'll take another. Sure, I have been caught in a four hour traffic mess, but it is rare. Unlike Chicago or Washington DC, where you are almost always in a traffic jam, day or night.

The type of deliveries I usually make in LA are ones in which I have four to eight different stops, so I have gotten to know LA fairly well. I always meet very nice people, of every conceivable race. The people in LA are just fabulous. What about gangs? I have been to Compton, spent the night in my truck in Compton, several times, I have not run into anything where I felt was in danger. Sure there are problems in LA, but I have been much more nervous in the other cities I mentioned.

AND, you never see any homeless, at least I haven't. Everybody seems to be working, and the blend of cultures is something to see.

I know that LA votes for the Democrats, but that is solely due to immigration. The Latino people, I believe, are conservative people. I have given you my thoughts on immigration, so until that problem is solved, the Democrats will continue to convince the Latinos that only they, the DEMS, care.

I think the media highlights the extremes of LA. The engine of LA is work, and the people work together in an atmosphere that in unparallelled in the world.

I have not even mentioned how beautiful it is in the LA area. Yes, there are scars of big city about, but, most of the area is really fantastic.

Now that the Obomulus bill is about to become a reality, I can not help but notice that LA is not one of the big cities that is so very desperate for money. Sure, California is broke, but that is not due to LA. Los Angeles is the reason California did not go broke ten years ago, or even twenty. LA sustains the entire state. My point is that LA, unlike many major cities facing problems, WORKS. Los Angeles is a hard working town.

Chicago or Philadelphia could learn from LA. Quit whining for money, quit building bureaucracies, and get to work. Those touting the Obomulus bill think that the massive overspending will get these cities working, rebuilding and new building, but I remain highly skeptical.

On what basis do we believe these cities, as a whole, will work? I see no evidence that they have much of a working spirit about them. They seem to have more of a "gimme gimme" spirit to them. I don't see that in LA.

People of all nationalities, from all over the world, come to LA, and find an environment to work hard and therefore be successful. I wish other cities could see it.

Before I go, I would encourage you to travel to LA if you have never been there. You may find that it is nothing like you imagined. It's big alright, but warm and friendly folks live there.