Californians Again

I've made a few more observations on what it means to be a Californian. The day before I left, a friend's mom who grew up in the Southern California area told me that the people out here are overly concerned with outward appearance and how they stand in the eyes of others. More specifically, they wish to stand several feet above the eyes of others. The way I see it, this attitude can lead to two different ways of living: those who work really hard and overachieve, then rub their success in every one's face by owning unreasonably expensive cars, houses, boats, and children; and those who merely imitate those people and wish to project the image of success. I'll come back to this in a minute, but first let me note two quick quirks of the people out here.

First, people here will not cross the street unless told to do so, either by the little white walking man at street corners or by me. I include "by me" because I've literally had people ask me if it is OK to follow behind me as I cross the street, even though there is no chirping "Walk" sign. It's like the scene in Harold and Kumar where Harold just waits at the intersection even though there is no one around. I usually walk the mile or so to class and have to cross four intersections, and I have never seen someone look both ways and decide to cross - they simply wait until the man says they can. I told this to Tiffany, and a day later she overheard a pair of girls discussing whether or not to cross the street - they decided to just wait until the street post said they could.

Second, people here are much more technology and video game oriented than their peers in Georgia. I've seen people actually put in one ear bud in the middle of a conversation. There were three friends standing and talking to each other; two were fiddling with their cell phones and the other was using his cell phone and listening to an iPod. On break from class today, I sat at a table adjacent to a group of four, composed of a couple and two others. The couple was giggling, teasing, and totally engrossed in an activity together - a game on their cell phone. They were getting super pumped up, taking turns with it, comparing methods... for a cell phone game.

Now, with these two occurrences, I've come to the conclusion that many Californians, at least those in our age range, DO NOT THINK INDEPENDENTLY. Of course that doesn't apply to everyone, but the rate and level I've noticed are hugely different than in Georgia. I don't know if it is because of our proximity to the culture capital of the United States, but people here seem to follow the second path towards improving their social standing. They simply wear what they are told, listen to what they are told, and act how they are told. Everyone here has a designer something on, and brand names sewn onto any available inch of clothing. They imitate what they see on TV. They immerse themselves in technology because it allows them to avoid person-to-person interaction, in which they might have to prove their social superiority through other means that the label on their jeans, because this way is easier. Hair gel is everywhere. People buy clothes that come pre-ripped. Is there anything stupider? Spending loads of money on what is literally shoddy and broken merchandise? But people will do it because someone on TV or in music does it. Pretty soon they'll install speaker boxes at street corners with 50 Cent's voice saying "Cross that street now, bitches! It's my birthday! Buy my new album, The Return of the Studio Gangsta!"

But I can't hate these people too much, because they are all very friendly. Nobody told them not to be.