DUDE!

I've always been amused at the Southern California stereotype. A stereotype that consists of an excessive use of words such as "dude" or "bro," an obsession with talking about traffic and how they will get from one place to another, and an abundance of Rvca clothing (It's pronounced Roo-ca, not R-V-C-A. Dude, you're so not a local).

For many years of my life, I've created a single story around the people from Southern California, which wasn't hard considering the media and news also like to make fun of this well known stereotype. For example, here's a clip of a sketch series that SNL produced a few years ago:

The news also enjoys contributing to this single story by emphasizing the "surfer bro" mentality.

The truth is, I never really visited Southern California until just recently. All of these stereotypes I had created were compiled into a single story that was represented with no factual evidence. However, this past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Newport Beach. Already having this single story engrained in my head of what the people would be like, I spent the whole weekend trying to build up the factual evidence I lacked. 

For example, my friends and I went to get Banzai bowls off the boardwalk for lunch one day. As we were waiting for them to make our orders, two girls in short shorts and bikini tops walked in. They were obviously shamelessly flirting with the young man working there. Here's my favorite part of their conversation.

Girl #1: What kind of granola do you use in these? It's sooooo good.

Worker: We use a blend called Hemp Plus.

Girl #2: Oh. Hemp is always a good idea. *giggles*

Later on that day, I was laying next to a lifeguard tower when I overheard this conversation between the lifeguard and his friend:

Lifeguard: Dude. Bro, the waves have been gnarly these past few days.

Friend: Dude! Yeah bro. The other day I heard about this 20 foot swell... knocked this guy's head right into the sand. Poor guy got pitted bro!

Lifeguard: Dude, yeah!! I was working that day dude! I had to save about 6 lives man. People were just getting shredded out there. 

I still love these interactions I was able to encounter. But, because of the single story I had allowed the media and other news outlets to create for me, all I looked for were instances that satisfied my viewpoint. In fact, I was stoked to come home and tell all my friends that everything we might have heard about Southern Californians growing up, is indeed true. However, after this class on creating a single story, I reevaluated my trip and realized I had overlooked a lot of other, more normal interactions. Like the girl from Stanford that I met on the beach, who I had an intellectually stimulating conversation with about politics and economics. Or perhaps the young couple I met in line for donuts who had lived there their whole lives, and were anything but tan, fake, and ditsy. Although perhaps the single story of a Southern Californian may be true in some instances, we neglect to realize that it is a vast geographical area, with a diverse population.