Fitting In

So, I'm here in my bubble. What  more can I do to fit in? Do I even want to fit in? Surely I will be a happier person if I can just learn to shrug off and playfully dismiss my current bugbears as mere idiosyncrasies of living on this side of the pond? Remember the mantra - it's not bad, just different, and after all the weather is gorgeous which makes up for an awful lot.  Yes of course it would be easier to count my money if a twenty dollar bill was a different size and colour to a ten dollar bill, or five dollar bill, or one dollar bill, but hey, I'm an intelligent person; I can cope.

Surely I can get used to lightweight TV programmes  interrupted every seven minutes by five minutes worth of commercials? Of course I can - the commercial break is an excellent opportunity to stock up on snacks or make a cup of tea (every seven minutes?!!). Will I get to appreciate those lengthy commercials for pharmaceutical products that list every single contra-indication including death?  Well I suppose it's good to be so well informed - after all, I had no idea half these conditions even existed  let alone were curable (at a risk of course!).

Will I wake up one morning, eager to watch those local TV channels to get my dose of LA style news? After all, who wants to hear all that grim stuff about the global economy and worldwide humanitarian disasters anyway. There's a bear stuck in a tree in Glendale? That's so much more interesting!

And what about this "car" driven society? Will my legs really seize up if I don't walk for at least 20 minutes everyday? Of course not, and with gas prices so low why wouldn't you want to take your car everywhere with you?  Pedestrianisation - that so's European!!

But what about our carbon footprint? I suppose we might as well go for it and leave a big one - after all, it'll be good for the grandkids to have something to remember us by! 

So - all these minor irritations can be coped with. I will learn not to be bothered by the wanton waste as garden sprinklers water the sidewalk - after all it's not my water bill literally going down the drain and who am I to tell homeowners how to irrigate more efficiently and adjust their sprinklers to water the lawn not the pavement? So what if there is a lack of awareness and regard for the environment and the world's limited natural resources? Should I let that bother me?

And then there is fast food and oversized portions in restaurants - yes I know I can take it home in a box but if I don't want to eat it tonight, will I really want to re-heat it and have it again tomorrow? And don't get me started on political campaigning, health care reform, gun laws, dogs in bandanas, dogs in T-shirts, dogs in handbags, dogs in pushchairs....

You see, that's why I doubt I'm ever going to fit in and really feel at home here.  Take the dog in the pushchair incident.  So you could say: good idea, if your pet is sick or has failing back legs.  But this wasn't the case.  This dog was perfectly healthy, it was sat in a custom made pink pushchair - the ideal way to take your dog shopping.  No! A dog is an animal with four legs that should be running around  a field chasing a stick - it doesn't need to go to the shopping mall.  Unless of course, it was heading off to the pet boutique for a doggie T-shirt fitting....

Now when I think that's perfectly normal, I'll be thinking like a true Californian - until then, I'm staying put in my bubble thank you!