Letters to the Editor
Xrandadu Hutman
Published Letters: 2714 Editor's Choice: 52
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San Diegan here, and I think you're wrong
[Read the article: I left New York for San Diego and now I don't know where I am]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You think San Diego is a pristine, no-confrontation place. I am here to tell you: You're wrong. You just have to look a little harder.
You live near the beach, right? Where, Point Loma? Pacific Beach (blech)? La Jolla? Coronado? What kind of job do you have? Why do you think people respond negatively to you? Perhaps you could maintain your professional standards but simply adjust to the tone of your office? Would that be asking too much? I mean, you admit you were calcified in one place for years -- sometimes that does wack out a guy's perspective.
You say you witnessed shootings and had bad relationships in New York. So don't go back there. If you must leave, go someplace else -- Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Austin, Denver, Seattle. You have more than two options.
I'm here to tell you that if you stick around San Diego you'll see plenty of nastiness. Ever witness a drowning up close? I have. Ever step over a dead body on the streets of Tijuana? I have. (Spend some time in Tijuana and New York City looks like Candyland.)
There are smart people here, good things to do, but you have to dig. You have to get past the artificial, pro-military B.S. that permeates the media (who can't be criticial of military for fear of losing their readership/viewership in a big military town). You need to give the place time.
I suggest you make a point of visiitng every museum in Balboa Park at least once. Get a yearly zoo pass and be sure to visit both zoos, including the wild animal park, at least twice to see all the animals (and the new baby elephant). Go to Morley Field and play a round of disc golf for three bucks; it's one of the best disc-golf courses in the country. Go to the museum of contemporary art in La Jolla, go to Scripps Aquarium, drive up Highway 101, explore the hiking trails around Poway and Ramona and Julian. Hit some dive bars in City Heights or South Park, see some indie-rock shows at the Casbah near Little Italy, walk around downtown on a Saturday night, see a Padres game. This summer go to the Comic-Con and laugh at everybody nerding out over Harry Potter, walk up the harbor and look at all the weird tree sculptures, take a tour of that old ship and the decomissioned air-craft carrier, take a ferry ride to Coronado, go to the Hotel Del and see where they shot "Some Like It Hot," ride bikes and look at all the great old houses. Drive east toward Yuma, keep going to Tucson, marvel at all the saguaro cacti, explore the Southwest, see the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, painted desert, monument valley, Sedona, Havasu, Las Vegas, Barstow, Vincentville....ha ha, just kidding, Vincentville sucks.
Bored with San Diego? Go to Los Angeles; you can get there in 2 hours if you go at night. I guarantee you Los Angeles has as much cultural stuff as New York City, possibly more, if you are resourceful at looking. You just can't walk or take a subway to find it, and you can't breathe so good, c'est la vie.
Can't find friends in San Diego? Guess what, alienation and loneliness is part of living in a new town. Use Craigslist, take a class, do whatever you have to to make friends. You could be in denial about your personality flaws -- see a therapist. Get a dog, they're good friends. Take your dog to Dog Beach or the Balboa dog park where the other dog owners are always friendly and chatty. Get involved with community projects, volunteer, go to coffeehouses and see open-mic artists at Twiggs or Lestat's or any of a half-dozen other places (Jewel got her start doing open-mic shows in San Diego and there are lots of talented up-and-comers trying the same). Volunteer for local film shoots, sign up for a 10K run, hang out in Hillcrest and make some gay friends, they're easy to talk to and they often know other straight people!
New York ain't all that. You've in one place for too long. Look around, take a deep breath, dive in.
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Look on the bright side...
[Read the article: "Make sure the rug says 'optimistic person comes to work'"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...at least Bush didn't ask a blind kid why he was wearing sunglasses.