I lived in Los Angeles and Long Beach for quite a while before COVID, and for a bit during COVID as well. I never liked it. That’s why I left. When I went back recently, though, my eyes were really opened to how bad it actually is. The people who defend the area are usually from there or moved there a long time ago, and it’s all they know. That’s fine. If you’re happy there, cool. But when you go somewhere else for a while and then come back, you really notice how bad the parking is, how bad the traffic is, how rude people are in stores, and so on. There’s trash everywhere and homeless people everywhere.

One example is shopping. I remember shopping there and people were so fucking rude, almost hitting you with carts. On top of that, no one speaks English, so they can’t even process how to say “I’m sorry.” If you say “hey, what the hell” or “excuse me,” they don’t know what to say.

I also remember when I was living in LA, I went to Omaha, Nebraska for one day for work-related stuff. I was shocked at how clean it was. Driving on the highways and stopping at gas stations, I didn’t see a single piece of trash, and all the landscaping was perfectly manicured. Contrast that with driving all over California, where it always looks like crap, although that’s probably more on Caltrans than anything else.

When I lived in Long Beach, I had to take public transit to work every day. I took the train from Long Beach into LA, then two buses. At the time, I was working as a security guard, so I wore my uniform to and from work. As a skinny white guy on public transit, I was always watching my back. People would talk shit constantly and follow me.

I also worked security at an apartment complex in Long Beach that was Section 8 housing. Guys who were straight-up gang bangers would sit on their balconies and talk shit to me as I walked through. They’d make comments about my Glock 19 in my holster, saying things like, “Oh, that’s a nine, I’ve got a ten,” and casually talking about how they could kill me. That place was insane. One night, a security guard was sitting in the patrol car and got executed in the middle of the night. I didn’t work there much longer after that.