Why does everyone in Pasadena walk around with earbuds in their ears? That's my latest question about life here. Technically, it's not everyone, but the proportion is much higher than in Memphis. I have a few hypotheses.
- I live by a train station, so the people I see walking around are commuters listening to music/podcasts
- People are on their way to or from working out so they are rocking out to their warm up/cool down music
- They have iPhones and they want to be able to take calls easily
- No one wants to talk to anyone else
I mean seriously, one of our movers had his earbuds in the whole time he was unloading our stuff. That didn't seem very friendly. But also, he didn't really seem to speak English, so maybe he was wearing them as a way to fend off my attempts at conversation.
Part IIOn a totally different subject, so far it's been interesting living in a place where many residents are also transplants. I've come across a handful of native Californians, but the majority of people I've met are originally from somewhere else. So when I say that I just moved from Tennessee, I get responses like, "Oh, I grew up in Virginia," or "My aunt lives in Chattanooga," or, "We moved here from Boston 10 years ago," etc.
No one yet has gaped at me and said, "MEMPHIS??!! Why did you guys (y'all) move HERE??!!" That's the reaction I often got about our last move, except it was SEATTLE??!! Most people just ask if it was work that brought us here, and they don't seem shocked at all about it.
My point is, Los Angeles metro is a place where lots of people are moving all the time, for all sorts of reasons. Memphis, by contrast, has a smaller in-migration effect going on. Sure, people still move there, but it doesn't have the pulling power of Southern California. I guess we're more "normal" here with our nomadic lifestyle, ha ha.
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