Living in Southern California is not typical Americana. In fact, it is a bubble unto itself. My children don't really know much else. The older ones have memories of Maryland, and certainly enjoy visits back east, but for all intents and purposes, they are SoCal boys. We have been here for 9 years now.
I will never forget the first few months here. The shock of all of the excess. Being a "housewife" in our neighborhood was the norm, not the exception. Only "housewife" here meant, "I don't work, I lunch, and shop, and have someone to clean my house, and another person to take care of my kids". Mom's wear designer clothing and high heels to volunteer at school. The carpool drop off line is a parade of luxury cars. I'll never forget seeing two kindergartners dropped off in a Rolls. I wondered if she had Pop Tarts squashed between the cushions in the back seat like I did.
I remember walking my kids to school, wearing running shoes, shorts and an old college T-shirt, and looking around to see more bling, and blonde, and cleavage, then I ever imagined I would see at the local elementary school. Crazy first impression, right? The good news is..... never judge a book by it's cover. Some of those bling covered, cleavage bearing, blonds, ended up being some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Fortunately for me, I have never been intimidated by beautiful women. I took the time to talk to people, and to get to know them, and I realized that though shiny was definitely important here, there was some substance going on too. I just had to dig a little deeper to see what was real.
I will never forget the first few months here. The shock of all of the excess. Being a "housewife" in our neighborhood was the norm, not the exception. Only "housewife" here meant, "I don't work, I lunch, and shop, and have someone to clean my house, and another person to take care of my kids". Mom's wear designer clothing and high heels to volunteer at school. The carpool drop off line is a parade of luxury cars. I'll never forget seeing two kindergartners dropped off in a Rolls. I wondered if she had Pop Tarts squashed between the cushions in the back seat like I did.
I remember walking my kids to school, wearing running shoes, shorts and an old college T-shirt, and looking around to see more bling, and blonde, and cleavage, then I ever imagined I would see at the local elementary school. Crazy first impression, right? The good news is..... never judge a book by it's cover. Some of those bling covered, cleavage bearing, blonds, ended up being some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Fortunately for me, I have never been intimidated by beautiful women. I took the time to talk to people, and to get to know them, and I realized that though shiny was definitely important here, there was some substance going on too. I just had to dig a little deeper to see what was real.
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