Inane assumptions people commonly make about Los Angeles and the people who live here

Everyone works in the entertainment industry, or at least gives a shit about it.

We all are or aspire to be "beautiful people."

The area is so spread out, there's no sense of place.

Everybody surfs.

Nobody here knows how to drive.

No substantial artistic or literary movements have their origins here.

More than a small fraction of the population has even heard of Paris Hilton.

Nobody was actually born and raised here.

The freeways are just a constant, horrible traffic jam.

Our sports fans are less enthusiastic.

Smog and ocean pollution are much worse than they were 20 years ago.

Our major daily newspaper is biased to the left.

Our major daily newspaper is biased to the right.

People here can't drive in the rain.

We actually feel some kind of rivalry with San Francisco and New York.

Having a professional football team is important to us.

You really, really need a car to live here.

We are "sun-worshippers."

People here commonly resort to cosmetic surgery.

We have a different sense of right and wrong than everybody else.

It's always sunny.

Earthquakes happen all the time, and we don't really pay much attention to them.

Nobody reads.

If we're not on fire, we're getting buried in mudslides.

Our self-indulgent lifestyles make our suffering less significant when tragedy or disaster strikes.

We are constantly on the verge of open ethnic violence.

Lots of people actually ski and surf on the same day.

Everybody has a cell phone and a Blackberry.

-- Garrison Frost

(March 3, 2005)

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