It’s interesting living in Los Angeles and being able to recognize the different “feel” of each area. Within one city I can feel rushed (Hollywood), like I belong on a reality TV show (Beverly Hills), and as though I will be lied to before even having a conversation with someone (Everywhere). But I feel the most calm and comfortable in the beach cities. Not as comfortable as some of my peers, however. I live in Santa Monica and work in Hermosa Beach so I encounter a lot of beach-y, laid back, surfer “brahs” a lot. And since the weather has heated up recently, I have noticed people going about their daily lives sans shoes. Don’t get me wrong; I love the feel of sand between my toes as much as the next person, but what I don’t love between my toes is asphalt, shards of glass or blood.
I saw one of my neighbors riding his longboard barefoot through my outdoor apartment complex to take out his trash. On one hand, I was envious; I've been trying to find a quicker way to get my trash from my apartment to the dumpster and here he was gliding away with such ease. But on the other hand, isn’t this boy aware of how you stop a longboard? You drag your foot along the pavement. I’ve seen shoes that have had to be replaced because the soles had worn thin from longboarding. Yes, I was friends with longboarders in college (also known as every freshman boy), please contain your jealousy. I know I’m no doctor, just a humble writer; but I’m pretty sure it is pricier and less comfortable to replace a big toe than an Airwalk. And before any of my longboarder readers point this out, I know there is the alternative of jumping off the longboard and picking it up before it rolls away. To that I say: what kind of pointy, sharp, or even (opposite end of the spectrum) gooey things could be on these unmanaged streets that you would jump into? Wear shoes while longboarding.
The barefoot weirdness continued a few days later when I was driving in Hermosa Beach and saw some high school aged boys working out with a trainer at a small beach-side gym. These boys were throwing medicine balls to each other, lifting dumbbells, one was even outside doing lunges on the sidewalk. ALL were barefoot! Who was supervising such dangerous behavior? One Christmas, I dropped a metal stocking holder on my foot, my toe was black and blue for years (okay, weeks) and had to take antibiotics. That happened in the comfort of my own home, what would happen if one of these boys dropped a 145 pound dumbbell on their foot? I can’t even imagine rushing someone to the hospital on a longboard.
I love the laid back vibe of these beach cities, I feel much more at home where Coloradans will break for pedestrians and adhere to a blinker to let someone over. I’m just worried that this beach-y, no shoe wearing mentality is raising stupid kids. I was in Malibu a while back and struck up a conversation with the employee at one of the three Ralph Lauren stores at this small outdoor mall. He told me how one of his former Ralph Lauren co-workers had just moved to Colorado, enviously saying, “she finally got out.” Finally got out? Is Malibu really a place that kids work their whole lives to escape? I can just imagine the rest of the story, “yeah, she couldn’t take the fresh air anymore. She finally packed up her Porsche and headed East for the small towns.”
These beach kids can’t take the stress of sunshine, clear skies or mild weather, how dare I complicate their lives with shoes.
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