Well, by popular demand I feel compelled to share my thoughts on the great state of California. I must say I love the idea of Californians visiting the South, and sharing their experiences. And people from the Southeast doing vice versa. So here we go, without further ado.
I will spare you with the reasons for my visit to the Bay Area, but I did recently spend a week in our host’s beloved Bay Area. I had been to California once before when I was growing up. My family took a trip out west. We visited Los Angeles, and then drove up the coast to spend a few days in San Francisco. This was in the mid 1980’s. We loved it. I remember being on a stage recording of Star Trek at Universal Studios. My sole purpose was to be “the kid trapped and drop 1,000 gallons of water on.” Yeah, that was me. It’s a fun video to watch now. I also remember the Redwood Forest, and really liking the architecture in San Francisco. It was good trip.
That was nearly forty years ago. The world has changed. And scene…
As I got off the plane, I enjoyed the simplicity, convenience, and simple style of San Jose’s airport. I silently, and ironically, whispered to the religious extremists in the South to please hold off on throwing California into the Pacific until next week. 😉 My second thought was..
Everybody’s Not White?
Yes, at many times during my week in the Bay area I noticeably felt like the minority. For me, I enjoy that experience. I was surrounded by Hispanic, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, and Korean folks from everywhere. I was eating Indian and Vietnamese food that I had never even conceived of. I think to myself, many of the people I grew up with have never met a person that is not white, black, or hispanic. There is a huge opportunity for us to actually get to know each other, and reap the benefits of that encounter. This is because most folks in the South have their perception of the world outside of the U.S. framed through a media narrative. Meeting real people in person can destroy a media narrative in a heart beat.
No, Your House Isn’t Really Worth $1 million
San Jose and Silicon valley to me was like a big, small town that just spralled forever. San Jose is filled with block after block, row after row, street after street of what I would call regular middle class homes, maybe even considered lower-middle class homes the least of which was valued at over $1 million. Coming from Tennessee, I could buy the same house for probably $200,000. I thought to myself no way would I ever buy a house here. It seemed like a grand illusion of a fading empire.
Californians are Opinionated Taco Lovers
On the whole, Californians I would say are a little more chill than say someone living in Atlanta during rush hour. With that said, one of the few dismissive comments I received on multiple occassions was my complete ignorance of tacos. Of course only the finest tacos on planet Earth are only made “correctly” in California. Yeah, um no.
I will say the scenery was spectacular. The Mexican restaurant we ate at was overlooking the beach at Monterey. The food was ok, but the scenery was epic. I also enjoyed how simple it was to be in San Jose between two mountains, and in about an hour being down to one of the most amazing beach scenes I’ve ever seen.
Bay Area Weather is Perfect
My least favorite aspect of living in the South are the 90 degree summers. My ancestors came from England and Scotland, and I tend to like 50 degree weather. The entire time I was in San Jose the temperature never fell below 50, and never rose above 65. Perfect.
I Got Thrown Out of Apple
On the last day I was in town I had some time to kill, and well you know me… We had driven past Apple’s headquarters during my trip through Silicon Valley, but I didn’t get to stop and really take it in. For my money it is the most amazing headquarters ever conceived by man. It’s a sight. So, I decided to go back.
This was a Sunday morning, and the place was mostly deserted. As you approach the entrance there is large checkpoint with like 8-10 lanes. In my naivete, I guess I assumed I could just roll into the parking lot and take a look. Seriously Rev? As I saw the checkpoints, I stopped my car and started to turn around. Immediately from behind me sped two SUVs which looked like some kind of private security contractors you’d see operating in the Middle East. Two very large and aggressive guys jumped out of the SUVs, and ran right to my window. “You can’t turn around!” was there introduction. No, these were not the sweet Southeners who I was used to calling me “sweetie” and “honey”. I was ordered to proceed straight ahead, and “take a right at the checkpoint”. This is the lane for those asked to leave apparently. I felt like I got flushed. I did.
I Didn’t Go to San Francisco
So, for the most part I will tell you that my experience with Silicon Valley was a positive one. Yes, the people looked wildly over-worked. The young computer programmers looked full of inspiration. The middle aged workers looked exhausted, and wanting a way out. But, many of the people I met were extremely friendly, and I enjoyed being around them.
But did you go to San Francisco? No, I didn’t get a chance to venture into San Francisco on this trip. I would have the loved the experience though. I’m not a judgmental person. If I don’t agree with you, I’ll either try to understand you, or simply just jump on the crazy train with you and have a good time. I suspect from what I’ve seen and heard, I would have found San Francisco to be wildly entertaining.
To sum up, no California is not the devil. I hope it has a long, prosperous life ahead of it. My time in California served to reinforce one idea: People are people. Our nation’s extreme polarization on multiple fronts attempts to distort that simple truth. The older I get, my eyes quickly roll back into my head when I hear extremists views. I remember people are people. We need to understand each other.
