Adam J. Choit

After "Where’s My Crosswalk?" has made the rounds on the Internet this week, Fox 11 followed up with a story about this area of Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, CA — between Gardner and Poinsettia by Guitar Center, Sam Ash, & Aroma Cafe.

No mention of me or my video, but hey, at least they’re covering this and helping the cause.

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Category: News & Politics
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I don’t know if this is something specific to Jewish mothers. Perhaps it can apply to all mothers.  Perhaps, you don’t even have to be a mother for this to apply, but sometimes it’s just hard to understand the logic (or lack thereof) of others.

Recently I took a trip back east to NY, and it was my last night in my childhood home before I was due to take an early morning flight the next day back to Los Angeles.  I have a grandfather who lives in Queens, about a half-hour from where I grew up, out on Long Island.

Anyway, my mom told me, “Call your grandfather and say goodbye.”  What?  Why?  What is the point of calling him to say goodbye on the phone?  I understand the point of the in-person goodbye, but the goodbye phone call?  A phone call sounds exactly the same whether I’m calling my grandfather in Queens from Long Island, or I’m calling him from California.

If my grandpa didn’t even know when my flight out of NY was, I could’ve called him from California after I got back — just to say goodbye to him.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I enjoy eating fast food (in moderation), but really prefer not to watch the food itself being prepared.  I understand the health codes that exist in this country, but nevertheless, I can’t imagine all that much care goes into food preparation by a person who makes minimum wage.

Not exactly the same scenario, but in the same boat is valet parking — which often is an abomination here in Los Angeles.  First of all, growing up I always thought of valet parking as something that was fancy, and something associated with fancy places — but that’s not necessarily always the case in L.A.  Middle of the road bars and restaurants will have valet parking, basically so they can stack cars.

I’ve heard that in many states, that for a person to park cars, he/she isn’t even required to have a driver’s license.  Wow.  Um, I’d say that I’m an okay driver, but my parking skills are possibly below average.  Not that I go around smacking every car in the lot, but I’m always “fixing it.”  And I actually have a license.

Anyway, similarly to (not) watching some kid make my fast food, I also like to avoid watching a stranger drive my car.  My preference is to avoid valet parking at all costs, but that’s not always a possibility.  When I can’t avoid valet parking, I just hand off my keys, and try to avoid watching.  I mean, I’m sure my car will be fine, but watching on can only make me more nervous about the whole situation.

I once mocked gang members and how they wear these solid (usually white or black) t-shirts.  It’s not the colors that I have the issue with, it’s that these shirts are over-sized, and almost go down to the knees of these dudes (and sometimes girls) who wear them.  I’m supposed to be intimidated by this pajama-esque look?

Anyway, I was walking outside with a friend today in the sun, and he mentioned how he regretted wearing a black t-shirt, and how he was starting to get really hot.

I then started to feel some sympathy for these Los Angeles gang members during summertime —- at least sympathy for those who have to wear black.

In fact, they’re at a disadvantage when it comes to conflicts with other gangs.  I mean, if you’re in the midst of some summertime brawls and knife fights, you wanna feel comfortable in your clothes.  I think these gang members really oughta switch from these cotton t-shirts to something that breathes more. Perhaps something more meshy?  Or maybe switch the gang color to something else, maybe a light pastel of some sort?

LA is fashion-conscious city, so c’mon, can all you designers out there come up with something fashionable and functional for our gang community?

I really think it depends on a few factors, but for the most part, I don’t think it’s a big deal to pet someone dog without permission.  I mean, if you’re in a public place, and you see what is clearly a harmless dog being pet by many other people, then it shouldn’t be a big deal to presume it’s okay for you to pet the dog as well.  Of course, it’s always a good idea to ask the owner first for permission, but when you bring your pet into a public place, particularly a crowded one, don’t act surprised by the behavior of others.

Let me give you an example of what I’m referring to.  Recently, I was out to lunch at “The Grove,” the well-known mall here in Los Angeles, which has an outdoor concourse/walking area.  Many of the restaurants have outdoor seating.  These people I was eating with had two dogs with them, and since the dogs weren’t allowed in seating areas, they had to be tied by the leashes on the other side of the metal barricade.  I forget what kinda dogs they were, but they were medium-sized, and both very cute.

Many people passing by interrupted our meal to pet the dogs, or just to comment on them.  Let me remind you that this was Sunday afternoon, and The Grove was packed, with foot traffic everywhere –  foot traffic including children.  Now, one of the dogs doesn’t really like being touched by strangers, so the owner had to constantly yell out to people not to touch her dog if they came remotely close to it.  Hmmmm, why bring the dog to The Grove in the first place then?  I don’t know.

Then she attempted to make a terrible argument that “you wouldn’t touch someone else’s baby without permission.”  A HUMAN BABY IS NOT THE SAME THING AS A DOG.  You don’t go around petting strangers’ babies.

Anyway, throughout the course of our lunch, I bet over 600 people passed by our table —- maybe five of them tried to pet the dog without asking for permission.  That doesn’t sound so bad to me.

To sum this up, in an ideal world in which we’re all courteous, one should ask permission before petting someone else’s dog — but if you don’t do so, that doesn’t make you a complete fool.

However, what might make you a fool is bringing a dog that hates strangers into a crowded public area with lots and lots of children around.

This is something Jews like myself have to deal with every year during the Holiday season.  Most stores/restaurants/etc. will tell you “Happy Holidays” upon your exit.  However, quite often people (cashiers and whatnot) will say to me, “Merry Christmas!”

They’re just trying to be nice, but it really is wrong of them to assume that I celebrate Christmas.  Christmas technically is a religious holiday, believe it or not.

In fact, it’s not just Jews who don’t celebrate Christmas.  In Los Angeles, which is the MOST ethnically diverse city in the world, plenty of people don’t do Christmas.

Every time this happens to me, I quickly run through the thought-process, “Should I correct this person?”  Suddenly I then realize that I’ve already said, “You too” back, and have been handed a receipt and have gone on my merry (no irony intended) way.

I guess it’s ok.   People are just trying to be nice.    I mean, it’s not as if these people are trying to convert me, or trying to convince me the Holocaust didn’t happen.

I generally like the Christmas/Holiday/whatever you wanna call it season anyway.

Often I’ll be online pretty late at night, talking to my friend who lives back in NY.   I’m all the way across the country in Los Angeles, so this got me thinking.

Suppose my friend is home alone, and something suddenly happens to him that requires immediate medical attention.  If he himself is unable to call for help, and nobody else is around, wouldn’t I be the one who has to step up and help?

Being out in L.A. , how would I get a hold of 9-1-1 in NY.   I guess I’d have to call 4-1-1 and ask for 9-1-1 in NY?

So weird, and probably not worth thinking about…but that’s what I do hehe.

Yes, I’ve changed the theme of this blog…I’m gonna continue to tweak with it though more in the coming weeks….I hope you all like the changes…

Anyway, maybe this is more of a Los Angeles thing, but I’m pretty certain this exists a lot in other places.  Often streets will continue on and on, and then suddenly come to a dead end.  Then on the other side of this dead end (or break or whatever) this “same street” continues.

Well, the reason I’m referring to it as the “same street,” is because it has the same name.  I gotta tell you that this can be a bit annoying.  When I’m driving on Butthole Street, but not in an area I’m familiar with, but know that if I stay north on Butthole Street I’ll eventually get to a familiar place — I don’t know why these people feel the need to deceive me.

When a street ends when it comes upon a mountain, please do not continue with the same street name on the other side of the mountain.

Thanks.

Good friend Lance told me the following story the other night:

He was pulling into a parking lot somewhere here in Los Angeles, when a group of Mexican men started waving at him.  Being polite, he waved back.  Then all of a sudden all these guys started sprinting toward his Toyota pick-up truck.  Once they got to where Lance was, a couple of them even started frantically tapping on the hood of his vehicle!

Scared, and not knowing quite what to do, Lance quickly rolled up his windows and locked all of his doors.   Realizing that these men were probably illegal immigrants just looking for day labor, my friend yelled out “No trabajo!  No Trabajo!”

As the Mexican men realized Lance had no work to offer them, they started to disperse.  When considering what had just happened to him, my friend could do nothing but just laugh at the whole situation.

However, as the men started to disperse, Lance noticed that the men were all clearly disappointed, even saddened by what they may have originally thought was a work opportunity.   Then Lance just felt sad for them.

A couple of things worth noting from this story — First of all, JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE DRIVES A PICK-UP TRUCK IN LOS ANGELES, IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY ARE LOOKING TO HIRE FOR DAY LABOR.

Also, assuming that these were illegal immigrants, perhaps if they were here legally, they wouldn’t have to take such desperate insane measures in search of work.

I know nothing about immigration issues, but it my mind I say we should let EVERYONE in — legally of course.

Overpopulation-overshmopulation.  We gots plenty of room in them rectangular states like Wyoming.

These are the best people to bring into our country — ones willing to work hard!

Of course a major part of the culture out here in Los Angeles, is dealing with the ridiculous amount of traffic here.  There’s only so many things I can do in my car to keep myself entertained without losing patience.

When driving in very slowly moving traffic, one of my favorite activities is to, well, check out cute women in the vehicles next to me.  If I’m pulling up along side a car, it’s possible that I’ll have a good idea if a cute girl might be driving it before I even see the driver.

I guess I should say I can often predict that a cute girl will not be driving certain vehicles.  If I see a van up ahead, no way will there be any eye candy inside.

All types vans are anti-hot women.   Vans are associated with “living in a van down by the river.”  Unmarked vans are associated with creepy mofos, perhaps child molesters.  Caravans are for soccer moms and middle-aged people.

One day though I’m sure I’ll be shocked — that one time I see a hot girl in her 20′s — driving a Dodge Caravan.