We went on a recent trip to Los Angeles for my contract work with a client. The premise of the trip was an analytics summit in person at headquarters where the teams could meet, present, and allow for a serendipity that wasn’t happening in Teams calls to occur. These goals were all accomplished in the space of 3 days. During one of the many conversations had between meetings, I told one of my coworkers that we inhabit a weird space of time where work often occurs with people you’ve never met, and possibly never will.
As lovely as connecting with colleagues was, there were other things about this trip that gripped my mind. There was a marked difference between the LA I had envisioned and the one I saw.
Growing up in America, LA is the place where ambitious people flock. They move to LA to make it big in the entertainment business. It has been a powerhouse of that industry for decades. LA has also attracted headquarters for many large consulting and entertainment companies. Even if Atlanta is the place where everything is filmed now, LA is still firmly stuck in the American psyche. I had preconceptions about the place like most people, which were not confirmed when I arrived. For example, LA is known for its sunny weather. We had hardly any of that there. This could be have been an anomaly for all I know. LA is also known for being full of fake people, whom I detected fewer of than expected. Another grant, I interacted more with people from out of town (coworkers) than those who have been there for some time. Finally, it’s known as a Mecca for homelessness,. This was confirmed, but was hard to differentiate from any other large American city. Though where it differs from other cities is the reach of this place. The sprawl was immense. You can imagine that high prices go with that, even controlling for California taxes. An Uber driver confirmed that even the beater house would go for at least a million. You start to understand how California house buyers can lay down 120% of asking in cash when they move to other states, driving up the markets there. My expectations were roundly corrected by the data of my senses.
What I didn’t know is that there would be bookish people there. We attended a bookstore called the Last Bookstore in downtown LA. Little did I know, this place was only a few blocks from Skid Row, which should require no introduction. It was like living next door to people you never meet. The store itself was not inundated with homeless, though the “bag checker” was certainly a little napoleon. The bookstore sold mostly used books at decent rates. I ended up visiting twice, and came back with as many books. I found a hardcover 1st Edition of Joan Didion’s “After Henry”, one of her later compilations of essays on a variety of topics pertaining to American life.
I bought the book for $40, which was quite the steal for someone whose work earned her acceptance into the classic American canon. I’ll probably never sell the book. I do not treat books so much as commodities as they are worlds in and of themselves, and how do you trade in planets? Deliberately, if at all.
The second great find was a 1958 copy of “Astounding Science Fiction”. This copy had some wonderful, vintage sci-fi art on the cover that reminded me of the “Tales from Space” magazine in “Back to the Future”, the one the Peabody kid shows his dad when Marty Mcfly crashes his Delorian into their barn.
These also I treat as treasured relics from America’s past, items of great worth to be enjoyed and preserved because they are our history. Relics from years gone by that only your parents and grandparents saw, which maybe was a little simpler than the world is today. These stories show us the forward looking vision of a far more optimistic time where each decade had a signature of its own.
LA is a place that I am glad I visited but it is not a place that I want to immediately return to. When I left San Diego the summer prior, I knew right away I wanted to come back some day. Of course, even when one doesn’t want to leave a place, there is still an immediate desire to return to that place…eventually…. if the trip was good. The past, much like our preconceptions of a thing, doesn’t continue to hold as much weight in the face of the new experiences you gain over time. I did not have this desire to return to LA, but now I can say that I’ve been. I’ve seen a lot of the town and gotten to know its character in a small way. I came away with a few rare book finds too. And that made the trip worth it beyond the professional nature of my travel.