Angelenos witness their fair share of the absurd, extra, and sometimes surreal on a daily basis. Some of which we see so often that we have come to accept it all as part of the everyday Los Angeles experience. While there is definitely a list of things we could mention ourselves, we wanted to see the city with fresh eyes. So, we asked our audience to name all the things that are considered normal in L.A.… but nowhere else. Here are the most entertaining responses:
1. Having a therapist and a psychic.
2. Palm trees on fire.
3. Using “the” in front of the name of freeways and highways.
4. Dressing for a blizzard whenever the temperature dips under 70.
5. Not seeing a friend for years because even though they’re only 5 miles away, they’re “over the hill” in the Valley.
6. Mexican food for breakfast, Chinese food for lunch, Indian food for dinner.
7. Surfing at sunrise and snowboarding at sunset.
8. Complaining about literally everything in your city and choosing to still live there.
9. Short shorts with Ugg boots.
10. Someone is GU (geographically undesirable) as a potential significant other if they live more than 30 miles away. (30 miles could mean 45 minutes or 2 hours, depending upon where they live).
11. Bringing your dog EVERYWHERE.
12. Incredible Mexican food.
13. Slow traffic on every freeway and a high-speed chase in the middle of rush hour.
14. Wearing leather jackets in the height of summer because…brunch.
15. Measuring distance in time, not miles.
16. Slicing your license plate sticker so it won’t get jacked.
17. Seeing 20-30 people (or dogs) posing for selfies in front of a pink wall.
18. Stalking pedestrians to their car to find a parking spot.
19. Tents next to million-dollar homes.
20. Celebrity sightings and not being fazed by them.
21. A California stop.
22. Restaurants closing at 9 p.m.
23. Spending $20 on a fresh juice or smoothie. + $18 smoothies from a grocery store.
24. Absolutely everything and everyone falling apart every time it rains.
25. Veggie wrap, sans the wrap. Club sandwich, without the bread. Crustless pizzas. Cheeseburgers with onions, protein style.
26. Athlesuire being a covert dress code for the city
27. Parrots. Tons flying from tree to tree, hollering at each other.
28. Going to the coffee shop in your pajamas.
29. Super blooms.
30. Traffic.
31. Spending most of your days decoding traffic signs.
32. Going to In-N-Out to watch planes.
33. Having half the city shut down for filming.
34. A 7/11 with valet parking.
35. Valet at the gym.
36. Flaking.
37. Waiting for the light to turn red so I can make my left turn.
38. Ordering cannabis like it’s Chinese food.
39. Helicopters. Everywhere.
40. Getting a ticket for jaywalking.
41. Understanding that West is North and East is South.
43. Going to Disney every other month.
44. Going to the rodeo swap meet or the Fashion District just for socks and a bacon-wrapped hot dog.
42. Wearing flip-flops on a rainy January and saying “I am freezing!”
45. Watching the Goodyear Blimp being taken for a leisure ride on Wednesday.
46. Paying $10 for “organic” strawberries.
47. Kids in leashes and dogs in strollers.
48. The sound of the ghetto bird.
49. Replacing regularly scheduled programming for hours with a live car chase…
50. Last call at 1 a.m.
51. The phrase, “I’ll drive you to your car.”
52. So many BMWs. So many Teslas. So few turn signals.
