Bicoastal Bitchin

O tells California Bear what he thinks of him.

Being a New Yorker sets your satisfaction bar very high and your expectations pretty low.  That's why they call us jaded New Yorkers after all.   For us nothing is as good, as tasty, as fast, as available, or as easy as it is in New York. In the end I think it just comes down to the convenience...nothing is as good when you have to get in your car to pick it up.

Living now in Southern California, I am often reminded that there is a fine line between jaded and disappointed.  As a New Yorker my expectations have always defaulted to low.  I went to Greece.  I didn't expect much of the ruins and they were amazing.  The museums however, I had high hopes for and I found them underwhelming.  I expected the weather here to be amazing and frankly I'm a little disappointed.  The marine layer can be tiresome.  The people and the traffic, well I expected the worse and frankly both aren't all that bad.  You just need to know how to navigate and to avoid left turns.  That goes for the people and the traffic.  I didn't think about what it really meant to have to drive everywhere with two kids and well that is the worse part but it isn't traffic it is just the fact that we have to get in the car at all.  The reality is that everyone else living everywhere in this country has to do that.  It isn't just LA living that is everywhere except New York City.  

In the end I really like it here because everyday it surprises me how much it doesn't suck.  The fruit and vegetables are amazing.  Just the tomatoes alone can bring a tear to your eye.  The weather well, once that marine layer burns off it is exquisite.  Not too hot.  Not too cold.  Goldilocks and all her bears would do just fine.  We've met great people and while still reserving judgement think the schools are just fine.  Do I bitch about it all the time?  Yes.  But that is what I do.  I am a New Yorker after all.