I'm bummed out. In the past year a number of friends have packed up their apartments, thrown a goodbye party, and left Los Angeles for good. They've moved to go to school, to be closer to family, or to just try something totally different (Yes Monaghans who moved to freaking CHINA, I'm talking to you).
In the past week I've found out 2 of my closest girlfriends are leaving. One forever, and one for just a little while.
What's worse is that I know it's only the beginning. Certainly as we get older and more sensible, I'll lose even more friends to the call of A More Affordable Cost of Living. Who wouldn't want a 4 bedroom house with a yard instead of a 2 bedroom apartment with a standing-room-only balcony?
In some ways, I'm right there with them. For as long as I've lived here, I've had this on-going alternate reality fantasy where I live in Liverpool, NY, or Utica, NY (where Devin grew up). I work in the accounts receivable department of a company that manufactures hospital beds or lawn furniture or just some product I don't have to understand or know about in order to do my job. My hours are strictly 9 - 5. Sometimes out at 4 on Fridays! And then we all go out to TGI Fridays for happy hour, where I sip something like a sex on the beach and talk with my coworkers (Bev, Debbie and Carol). We exchange status updates on our kids and I make them laugh with stories of my DIY bathroom remodeling project from heck. At 5:30, I politely decline a second cocktail as I have to pick up the kids from the sitter and get dinner started.
On weekends Devin and I host bbqs. Much like we do now, except that in my alternate reality we have a house with a big backyard and a deck. We invite over our neighbors and Devin's coworkers from the fire department. They all bring their kids, who play with our kids on the slip-n-slide, while us parents drink frozen daiquiris and get mildly drunk.
At night, after the kids are in bed, we watch DVR'd sitcoms with TV-14 ratings, until we start to dose off on the couch. Then we shuffle upstairs (stairs! a second floor! imagine the glory!) and into our master bedroom with a walk in closet and partially remodeled master bath.
Ahh.
So I don't blame my friends who see a different life for themselves and want to give it a shot. Maybe some of them have the secret suburban dream like me. Maybe some of them are just sick of the scenery.
I'm just sad because I'm running out of friends. And it's so hard to make new ones. There are a lot of douchebags out there.
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8 comments:
There are douchebags everywhere...I live in Colorado, 'city' of 90k, & it's the most unfriendly town I've ever lived in, and I was in Vegas for 10 years, Phoenix for 3, small towns the rest. I wish you luck, and you one thing to learn from 'grandma' (me)...look for/find a job where you love, don't necessarily move for the job without researching first. Life is too short to hate where you are...I wish for you many friends & picket fences! (or city rooftop views - LOL)
I guess this means we should hang out. Though I'll only be here for another year or so.
Thanks for writing this. Not to knock your secret dream of suburban life, but it sounds like a total nightmare to me and helped remind me of why I live in this city.
i think that you can make a few compromises and still get that great life here in la. sure, it'll cost us a lot more, sure, we may not have an actual back yard until we're 40-something, we're going to have to beg, plead and steal to get our kids into a decent (NON-PRIVATE) school, etc.. however, we've got the culver bike path as our grassy backyard, LAUSD assigns us more points towards magnets and charter schools for living in an "up and coming" neighborhood and we don't have to spend a single cent on snow removal gear. that's definitely my favorite part.
Tug- Sounds like the start of a rhyme... douchebags douchbags everywhere and not a drop to drink.... that doesn't work.
Phil- OH god. Where are you going?
Anonymous- I'm sure it would be a nightmare after a while. But right now it sounds delightful.
Mir- Well you can give me all the details about what to do when we have little kids to educate too. And by the way, save one of those kids so he/she can be the same age as mine.
I find this post offensive. I hope you have a nice life.
Anonymous- I don't know who you are so I'm not sure how to respond. If you're someone I know, then sorry. And if you're not, then bite me.
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
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