Tag Archives: los angeles

A Suite at the Dodger Game

May
11

Posted by: Maggie

A few weeks ago, Josh won a pair of tickets to a suite at the Dodger Game. We were pretty excited because it included free parking and free snacks and drinks, so it was a totally free date!

We arrived and found the suite area at the stadium.

It was like walking into a hotel. Instead of the khakis and Dodger blue polos that the regular staff wear, the staff in the suite area were all in suits. There was a cart of fancy desserts in the hallway and when we walked in it looked like we were indeed in the sitting area of a hotel suite.

There was even a giant flat screen for…well…I guess in case you didn’t actually want to watch the game. A few of our fellow suite guests were actually sitting and watching the Laker game.

Our seats for watching the Dodger game were two rows of office chairs with a small counter in front of them for your drinks and food.

The last row had a wider counter and bar stools. We were a little late so that’s where we ended up. That’s Josh in the brown shirt:

I guess the suite seats are supposed to have a good view of the game, however, because we ended up in the back row and because I’m a teeny tiny 4′11″, this was my view of the game:

Not very good. I think Josh had a better view since he’s a little more than a foot taller than me, and there was a little tv to the side of us so I could see what was going on.

I have to say that I was very disappointed. Neither of us are sports fans at all. We don’t actually follow the Dodgers at all, but I love going to games. I really really do. I love to be there wearing my Dodger shirt supporting my home team. And I love the crowds, all of these different Angelinos who come out to see their team. I love Los Angeles and to me Dodger stadium is one of the best spots in the city. It reminds me of summer and my childhood and my city.

But being in that suite was pretty miserable. It didn’t feel like being at a game at all. All I wanted to do was eat a big bag of peanuts and throw the shells on the ground, but instead this is how my peanuts were served:

I wanted to see people around me eating Dodger Dogs out of those paper containers, but instead the Dodger Dogs came in these lovely warming dishes.

I really wanted to eat some Carnation ice cream out of a paper cup with a little wooden spoon, instead there was some fancy dessert on a platter that was already gone when we arrived.

I need to go back soon and get tickets for a real seat, to enjoy a Dodger game the right way!

Overall a disappointing day, but at least we won!

Comments: 5
Categories: Josh, Maggie
Tags: Angelinos, dates, Dodger baseball, los angeles, Mannywood, summer

I Ride the Bus in Los Angeles

Apr
17

Posted by: Josh

It’s a general assumption that when you live in Los Angeles, you need a car. And this is mostly true. People will tell you that the city was built for driving, and this is true, too. The veins and arteries of LA are the streets and freeways. The freeways are built for cars. So if you want to get around, you better have a car, right?

Because if you’re not driving a car, you’re traveling in the seedy underbelly of public transportation.

In LA, public transportation is a second-class citizen. Most of the native Angelenos you know have never used public transportation, and probably wouldn’t know where to begin if you asked them. Seriously, we don’t know. We have cars. We live here.

If you really want to confuse a native Angeleno, just say that you never learned how to drive. And you’re 46. And you’re rich.

And white.

Because in Los Angeles, public transportation is for poor people. This is of course the perception, but unlike a lot of LA perceptions, it is also the reality. According to the 2006 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, in Los Angeles, 75.5% of public transportation users earned less than $25,000 a year.

What I found really interesting, though, is that 67.3% of Los Angeles public transportation users still have cars! So even if can’t afford to drive a car, you still have one.

Or two. Or maybe more. This is what cinder blocks are for, right?

As poor people, I’m now utilizing public transportation. But let me stop using the euphemism. To really get the taste in your mouth, the taste that Angelenos get when they hear it, you need to say, “the bus.” I ride the bus.

Here’s how I explain it to everyone I know in LA: “Actually, it’s not that bad.” To which they slowly nod their heads and say, “Oh.” I imagine it is the same response you would get if you said, “I was born without a bottom, so my waste is shuttled from my body through a plastic tube implanted in my lower intestine and collects in this sack I wear around my ankle. Actually, it’s not that bad.” New Yorkers don’t require this apology, which makes it too bad that everyone I know is from LA (and it’s not that often I will suggest there is something advantageous about being a New Englander).

But really, it’s not that bad. In fact, I like it. The buses are regular and reliable. They’re as clean as any public place. I get to listen to my iPod and read. The only problem is that they drive on streets and freeways, with cars. Thus, they are kind of slow.

But listen to this: when I started working at UCLA, I did the math on my commuting costs. By riding the bus, I am saving about $1500 a year.

Good enough for me! Even if riding the bus was as bad as Angelenos imagine it to be, I would still ride the bus for $1500 a year.

And now that everyone is poor, maybe I’ll start to see some of you on the bus (though I doubt it, cause I know you are all still too cool for school, bless your hearts).