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Buy space but first coffee. Line starts here.

30 sept 2024

            Honestly, in America first make a line. I thought that because of the use of a flexible and more casual English style if we compare it to England, perhaps American people were more permissive with disorder but it has been fun to see that I was wrong.


I didn't know that Americans liked to stand in line so much. They stand in lines when it is not necessary to do so and they wait out of caution before asking or approaching a person. At the airport, I took my time putting my things before through the security control. I explained to the person behind me that I was using the space and taking my time, so I invited her to come by. She was really surprised.


I believe that learned behavior can give way to inactivity, to deactivate yourself as a person when you have to fight for a cause. We speak again of individuality and collective. Generally, cultural norms are about taking part in something or not.


On the other hand, I have linked the idea of ​​the American Dream with consumerism. You may have the wrong idea that “you can achieve anything, you can have everything.” It generates an unnecessary expenditure of resources that often falls into waste. We have watch more than one movie recorded in a garage, or more than one movie in an attic (The Goonies) and more than one child alone at home (Home alone, Matilda). These places are full of junk that has generated “marketplaces” culture. The second hand shop at the door of the house (there's only a one percent chance you'll see that in Spain).


Furthermore, there are many places of storage rooms for rent on the roads of this country. It appeared in Malaga about ten years ago, but due to the need for space. There are families of two parents and two daughters in three-bedroom apartments (It is the most common) and you don't have a garage in many cases.


Second-hand clothes stores have been gaining ground in Spain (ironically with clothes coming from America). This shops are especially thinking for millennials clients who are involved in the battle of style, savings and concern for new generations. There is still suspicion or mistrust about these garments for older people. Still in my country, many women over sixty years old know how to sew by hand, fix pants, dresses, pockets... A lot of clothes and fabric are used a lot. At least in my Andalusia, an area that comes from the culture of the countryside. My grandmother was born and raised her early years next to a river. Later, my grandfather gave them a piece of land and they built a house little by little in the village. My grandfather's house has very wide walls and this allows the house to be very cool in summer. When my father was born, he slept near a horse that my grandfather had in his own house!


The new generations have lost the culture of reuse with the arrival of fast fashion, but I personally consider that visibility in movies and Instagram about how cool vintage or second-hand it is a success for recyling cycle. It is a movement or a step towards the collective mood. The AECC is the most recognized store in Spain, you can donate your clothes and they sell them to raise money for cancer research. They have real bargains!


However, a cup of coffee isn't exactly cheap in Los Angeles. Of course, you have the right to order it just the way you like it. Literally. Coffee in Spain and specifically in my city (Málaga) is ordered generically according to the amount of milk you add to the glass. In America, milk is a small supplement in quantity (which is added cold) and there are too many flavors and types.


While in Spain coffee is drunk sitting in a glass cup. It is a momento, excuse and reason for pause while in America it is a must during your journey. It's quite different. Perhaps it is the distance to the places that sets the pace or perhaps the distance between people. Cafes in Spain are neighborhood places with the same waiters and usually customers. Even in central areas a waiter may remember your visit if you visit frequently. The every day take away culture will change slowly it...


Without being a criticism but an observation, on the UCLA campus, baristas smile at you but do not respond with their gaze to the complicity of seeing you again in the same place.  Everything has a passing[1] touch and few roots. As if an inner part knew that there are many of us and that it doesn't matter who you are (but don't say it out loud because someone might get offended).


Maybe just Los Angeles is too big a city to get intimate. On the other hand, being anonymous is priceless. It allows you to observe the show from the cinema theater seat while dreaming in silence. Thanks L.A, thanks 2024.

 



[1] (2016) Passengers, a film by Morten Tyldum.


Acceda rápidamente a otras entradas sobre UCLA o haga clic aquí para ir a la página principal.



Getting to know Los Angeles
Differents maps
Closeness and distance
Like a rolling stone

Inside America with me

Some extracts from my articles at UCLA

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