Native surprise.


[ Tuesday - May 19, 2015 ]

Soooo... I received a summons to serve as a juror at the Superior Court in downtown LA.  Oh so droll.  Now I have to look at driving down there.  Or do I.  In the last minute, the night before I had to serve my civic duties, I decided, "Screw it!  I'm going to take the bike."  This turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.  The reason is on multiple front, but most of all I'm impressed with the people of LA.  The only other major metropolitan location I've been to on a motorcycle is San Francisco.  When I was riding around there, I was extremely impressed with the locals in the area.  Unlike other places, they actually gave Nu and myself a really wide birth.  They were pleasant and very generous.  When we signaled to change lanes, they actually gave room for us to move over.  Is it because we look like police?  I don't think so.  Is it because it's obvious that we're not from around town?  This is very likely.  I'm sure the way we're geared had us stand out like a sore thumb and is a lot to do with it.  In that situation I came away with renew respect for the people of SF.

Well, I had half given up on LA from so much commuting, but when I went to downtown to serve my time, the LA commuters were treating me in very much the same manner as the SF commuters.  I was completely surprise and very appreciative.  Only once did someone tailgated me, but even then it was just for a short amount of time until the other lane opened up so they can pass.  Doing a slow split of traffic had folks giving me plenty of room to get pass.  Is it just me or are these folks really understanding and generous?  For once I find myself reassessing my way of thinking.  Perhaps I'm not giving the people in Los Angeles enough credit.  Having completed my jury service in 5 days, here also I came away with renewed respect for the people of LA.

Perhaps not all aspects of human nature is so bad even when we're all stuck in rush hour traffic.


Written on: June 9, 2015
Last modified: June 9, 2015