Kinda weird for a Soviet immigrant like me to realize that you fled one failing society only to end up in a society that was also entering an accelerated phase of decline and degradation.
First off will say the baby shaming worked as just signed up for annual subscription. But seriously ive been a reader and fan for years since getting turned onto Exiled even chipping in on your doc.
Ahh Los Angeles..its always been rough and bad but even myself noticed how worse after away some years. I remember when they bulldozed down the tent city on 6th on skid row. And when they gentrified the arts district. It wasn't even then uncommon to be downtown and see people in hospital gowns dumped off because there wasn't anywhere else to take them or go. I lived and worked in LA for over 15 years (left in 2015). My now wife, originally from Poland really liked Los Angeles in some ways.. and not so much in other ways surprisingly. While this long distance dating/courtship visited me a few times before convincing me to try living in Europe. To be honest it didn't take much convincing that's not to say wasn't exactly easy. Anyway we went back to LA in 2019 to see friends and to finale close down my old storage unit in Burbank that id still had been keeping onto for years. She wanted so much to visit little Tokyo again and a certain boutique shop she adored. We drove downtown in our little rental and it was like a post apocalyptic setting smashed together with a scene out of Dawn of the Dead with a sprinkle of Mad Max as sure you know.. The little boutique was no where to be found and another shop she wanted to go to she was too afraid to get out of the car. And yeah this a woman who grew up in Eastern Europe remembers communism remembers the lines to get toilet paper rolls on strings draped around her by mother too afraid to venture out in downtown LA. I couldn't say I blamed her, Little Tokyo was still nice enough and downtown always had its bad spots. But this this was worse than I had ever seen it and I can't imagine the conditions getting any better since 2020 and the pandemic. Will always have a soft spot for LA and my friends there.
First off will say the baby shaming worked as just signed up for annual subscription. But seriously ive been a reader and fan for years since getting turned onto Exiled even chipping in on your doc.
Ahh Los Angeles..its always been rough and bad but even myself noticed how worse after away some years. I remember when they bulldozed down the tent city on 6th on skid row. And when they gentrified the arts district. It wasn't even then uncommon to be downtown and see people in hospital gowns dumped off because there wasn't anywhere else to take them or go. I lived and worked in LA for over 15 years (left in 2015). My now wife, originally from Poland really liked Los Angeles in some ways.. and not so much in other ways surprisingly. While this long distance dating/courtship visited me a few times before convincing me to try living in Europe. To be honest it didn't take much convincing that's not to say wasn't exactly easy. Anyway we went back to LA in 2019 to see friends and to finale close down my old storage unit in Burbank that id still had been keeping onto for years. She wanted so much to visit little Tokyo again and a certain boutique shop she adored. We drove downtown in our little rental and it was like a post apocalyptic setting smashed together with a scene out of Dawn of the Dead with a sprinkle of Mad Max as sure you know.. The little boutique was no where to be found and another shop she wanted to go to she was too afraid to get out of the car. And yeah this a woman who grew up in Eastern Europe remembers communism remembers the lines to get toilet paper rolls on strings draped around her by mother too afraid to venture out in downtown LA. I couldn't say I blamed her, Little Tokyo was still nice enough and downtown always had its bad spots. But this this was worse than I had ever seen it and I can't imagine the conditions getting any better since 2020 and the pandemic. Will always have a soft spot for LA and my friends there.
All the best and congrats!
Such an eloquent description of the conditions we all know of and sometimes see. Thank you for seeing so well, Yasha. Happy New Year.
Thank you, Wendy. You too!