I am back on facebook for the sake of the parenting community in Hong Kong, and I think once I am back home in Sweden I will drop off facebook again.  I have written about what changed in the years I was away from it, but one thing that I have noticed that hasn’t changed: People from LA are constantly reminding everyone how great LA is.

There are so many people that give LA a bad time for being inauthentic, and say that the people in LA are selfish and horrible people.  I think this kind of stereotyping is probably part of the problem – surely in a city of almost 4 million people, there are some good apples, right?  Of course there are.  There are some really good people there.

I have been to LA a bunch of times, and I have met some cool people there.  I have also met a lot of the people that the stereotypes talk about.  But I have also met those people in every state in the midwest, and in NY, and in Hong Kong, and in Stockholm, and everywhere else I have ever been.  So why does this reputation kind of hang over LA like a cloud of smog?

There are probably a few factors.  One is the smugness of being an Los Angelan.  There’s a bit of looking down the nose at people from other places (especially from the midwest), with an air of, “oh, we do this here, and it is so smart and enlightened.” give me a break.  And then there’s the lack of humility, and that’s probably the thing that gets people the most.  Nobody likes a person who lacks humility, and people really get irritated by places who lack humility.  Places where the people band together and say how great they are, and share photos and poems, and movies, and articles about why LA is amazing and better than everywhere else.

So, when people write a post on facebook at least once a week stating something like, “LA is so full of wonderful people, blah blah blah” and it gets tons of likes and comments about why LA is great, then you have to wonder what kind of collective insecurity a place has.  Its almost like LA’s inhabitants want you to believe them – “trust us, it really is cool.  seriously.  it’s the best.  seriously.  like seriously.  like no, really.  trust us.”  If it’s cool and the people are cool, let it be cool then, and quit beating the “we are cool” drum.  As it is, that drum is only making it look less cool and less full of the genuine, awesome people they want you to believe are there.

So, be humble, LA.  If some people hate you, that’s how it is sometimes.  If some people love  you, that’s also how it is sometimes.  Just be you.  Get out your free range honey and put it in your organic chipmunk poop coffee, take a sip, relax and enjoy that view of the amazing sunset that you must also take a snap of for facebook (to prove how great LA is).  You’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggoned, people like you 😉