What Is Your Californiaphobia?

Growing up in California I was well aware people thought of us as different out here. Even in first grade I remember watching cartoons where they talked about California falling into the sea, which was basically a jibe at the people of our state. People used to tell me that we must play under the palm trees all day with movie stars popping up around every corner.

I believe the Internet and the free flow of information has helped to ameliorate some of the fallacies people once had about California because even though we have movie stars, they tend to live in upscale communities and are not going to be seen around every corner. We have vegetarians here in California, but I have met just as many people who had panic attacks over me eating a veggie burger. We also have some staunch conservative communities that are just as traditional in their ways of thinking as any conservatives you would find in any part of the country.

In Southern California it is true we are the land of the palm tree, but many of our palm trees were imported from Mexico and very few are native to this region, except for the Washingtonia filifera. California has many different ecosystems and climates, and we are not just palm trees, surf and breeze. If you grew up in the mountains of Southern California you experienced snow, and could play the white frozen stuff the next day when the temperature might shoot back up to 70 degrees. We also have the vast Mojave Desert and Joshua Trees galore.  It was the extremes in weather and climates that confuse people, but that is California!

I am glad for the innovations we have made in science and technology, and I am appalled by anyone who thinks repealing the clean air act would be a smart move for our state. Smog checking vehicles began here in California and then branched out to the rest to the country, but I am sure there are some would would just like us to have overly polluting cars instead, especially if they could save money driving such cars.

As much as people have hated California, there are many people who revere our life and freedom of choice here as well. Although you can reinvent yourself and start over in other parts of the country, California has always been a state where anyone can come from any where in the world and do truly just that. Our populace is forever evolving, and people are always open to new and different ideas. People love us for our ability to try new things, but they also hate us because we do not do things exactly the way they have always been done. Life changes and people evolve, and change can actually me a good thing if you can embrace the new, good, and exciting parts of it, while retaining the knowledge of older ways that still work. People who are scared of trying new things are often scared, phobic, and abhorrent of California because this is truly a place where you can mix it up. There are some conservative communities here as well, but in general it has been the less inhibited status quo that scares people when it comes to California the most.

The Completely West Coast Kind of Person

View of Mount Baldy
The beauty of Southern California sunsets is one thing I always look forward too.

Both of my parents were born in the mid-west and talked about it when I was growing up, but it is fascinating to contemplate how they were almost ten years younger than I am now when they moved to Southern California in the early 70’s.  I have visited the mid-west and remember people commenting on my accent, and feeling like such a California girl.  Even though my parents are not native born Californians, my life is so deeply rooted here that I could not imagine living anywhere else, except maybe Hawaii or Tahiti.  I was never one of those angst ridden teenagers that wanted to get away from Southern California, which is actually not such a bad place to be.