A walk down memory lane

I was driving around town the other day and passed an area on the West Side of Los Angeles which brought back some long forgotten memories. I was at a traffic stop on the corner of Doheny and Sunset; there was a bus-stand to my right. A man was standing by the bench...He was young and just stood there with arms crossed craning his neck to see if a bus was approaching....

I suddenly realized where I was. A flood of memories came rushing back. In a sense, it was on this street corner that my life in Los Angeles began so many years ago. The only store I recognized was a liquor store on the north side. No wonder it took me a while to realize where I was. The traffic light turned green and someone honked from behind. I pulled over, parked my car and decided to take a little stroll down memory lane.

As I walked the street, soaking up familiar scenes, I took another look at the bus stand. I remembered what it was like for me all those years ago. I arrived in LA from NYC in my early 20s with big dreams of making it in the entertainment industry. I secured an internship at a production company not far from the intersection of Sunset and Doheny. At that time, I didn't have any money and the internship was unpaid. A cousin of mine who lived in San Gabriel offered me a place to stay. It wasn't much of a place. Small and cramped but it was free and I wasn't complaining.

The daily journey to the West-Side was arduous.....LA is not known for it's excellent public transportation system and it was even worse back then. I had to take 2 buses and a subway to get to my destination and it took me about 3 hours one way.....I went from San Gabriel to downtown LA. Took the metro from downtown LA to Hollywood. From Hollywood, I took another bus all the way to Sunset and Doheny. I was usually the first employee to arrive at around 9am.

From the time I arrived in the morning, I made copies, ran errands, read scripts, wrote coverage, answered the phones, walked the bosses dogs. Every conceivable menial job you could imagine but they were great lessons and I learnt fortitude and patience. The folks I worked with were very nice but I wished they paid me even a couple of dollars a day. I wasn't looking for minimum wage, just a few bucks. But I didn't complain. Many of the interns I started with left quickly because they wouldn't stand working for nothing. It was tough. Often I only had enough money for bus fare so I lived on power bars for lunch and dinner, most of the week. To make matters worse, I nursed a right inguinal hernia which made it difficult to stand for long periods without it popping out but yet my work required that I stand on my feet all day long!

Once a week, on my journey home, I would treat myself to a simple dinner at a small Thai restaurant on Sunset and Vine. I had about 30 minutes between buses so I swung by the restaurant and wolfed down a vegetarian Thai fried rice with lots of carrots and broccoli.....and I always looked forward to my fortune cookie to see what it had in store for me. It was my crystal ball, bearer of news. Sounds silly looking back but as a struggling young man with multiple challenges and an uncertain future, the fortune cookie provided a tiny bit of comfort.

There was this one time I remember. It was pouring. Unusual for Southern CA. Must have been sometime in January. I finished work and was heading home when a storm broke out. Of course I didn't have an umbrella so I was forced to run out into the rain to catch my bus. Needless to say I was soaked to the bone. When I got to the bus stand, it was crowded full of people seeking shelter and the few buildings shelters nearby were also full of people. I couldn't risk walking into one of the stores because I could miss my bus...In the end, I simply gave up and sat on the sidewalk. Cold rain pouring down but I didn't care, I was just so tired. And then, this huge, stately Bentley Continental pulls up alongside me. The driver, obviously ignorant of my presence sitting below on the sidewalk was cosseted in the finest leather and advanced climate control system. Here I was, this street urchin compared to Mr Bentley, sitting on a sidewalk, rain drenched, and next to me this fabulously wealthy gentleman in a $300,000 automobile. The contrast couldn't have been be greater but then I realized for the first time in my life how completely free I was. I mean I had absolutely nothing to my name. No property, no car, no home, no family, nothing. I could simply get up, walk away or stay but I was not bound by anything or anyone. It was an incredible feeling which I've not been able to replicate since.

I got back to my car soon enough. Took another quick look at the street corner and drove off. I was glad I made the stop.....