When I first moved to Los Angeles, I decided to not get a car right away. I was really only planning on being here for six months, and coming from a city like New York where public transportation is as accessible as pizza at three am, I figured that Los Angeles (another big city) would also have a efficient system. I could easily figure out LA transit; after all, I was a New Yorker.
Boy was I wrong.
#1. In Los Angeles, buses and subways stop running at midnight.
#2. In order to get anywhere, you have to transfer at least four times.
#3. They usually only run every half hour.
And last but not least..
#4. The people who take the bus… well they're not your garden variety commuters. The bus crowd usually consists of the illegal, the license-less, and the paroled.
Oh yeah, and also the naive New Yorkers who mistakenly think they can get around LA without a car.
And the thing about cabs in LA... well they aren't as accessible as they are in NYC. They don't wander the streets looking for people. You have to actually call a cab and if you take one from the west side to the Valley, you're looking at spending at least 50 bucks. It's less than ideal and if you're phone is dead (as mine usually was), you're proverbially up creek without a paddle.
And the thing about cabs in LA... well they aren't as accessible as they are in NYC. They don't wander the streets looking for people. You have to actually call a cab and if you take one from the west side to the Valley, you're looking at spending at least 50 bucks. It's less than ideal and if you're phone is dead (as mine usually was), you're proverbially up creek without a paddle.
As a result, on several occasions, I found myself without car, ride, or mode of transportation. Even though there were most certainly times when I felt concerned, in the end, I always ended up finding a safe way home, thanks to some hardworking guardian angels, and a few kind souls I met on the streets. And while I don't condone hitchhiking in any city, I'd like to share with you my favorite "hitching" experience.
About three weeks into my LA residency, a short film that my roommate worked on won an award at the Independent Reel Film Festival in Hollywood. Since she was out of town for the holidays, I attended in her place.
The night of the show, I took the bus to the theater without any problems.
But figuring that the bus only ran every hour after midnight, I tried to sneak out of the show a few minutes before it ended to make sure I caught it.
What I learned once I got to the bus stop was that it sopped running altogether after midnight. And it was now after midnight. I was stuck in Hollywood alone.
Uh oh.
I started to panic. I ran back to the theater and started asking everybody on the street if anyone was going back to the Valley, and if I could hitch a ride back with them.
One person said yes.
His name was Mike and he was also from New York. He told me that he was going to a diner in Studio City to meet some friends so if it was ok, he would drive me to the diner and I could figure out how to get home from there.
I quickly thought it over and weighed my options. At least I was going to be back in the Valley; I figured that I could always walk home from the diner if I needed to. I had no other options. My phone was dead and I didn't know what else to do.
So I opened the door to his silver Cadillac, slowly sat down in the soft leather seats, and said a silent prayer.
Off we went. We started to chat awkwardly. There I was, in a car with a stranger, and I had no idea where I was or where we were going.
It was terrifying.
When we got to the diner (thank God we made it there!), he invited me in to meet his friends and have a drink. So I went in, not knowing what else I was supposed to do.
That night ending up changing my life.
In the diner, I not only met some of the people who would become my very close friends, but also someone who would indirectly set me up with my dream job.
One of the girls at our table also happened to be from NYC so we exchanged numbers to hang out. A week later she called me up and invited me to a Christmas party in Beverly Hills. At the party, I met one of her friends, Harold, who introduced me to one of his friends, Melissa. When talking to Melissa, I learned that she too was a huge New York Giant's fan and played in a flag football league in town.
I had no idea what these people did for a living and I truthfully didn't really care - I just appreciated that they were so nice to me. We all exchanged phone numbers. A few weeks later, I received a call from Melissa to join him at an after-party for some show.
The show happened to be Dancing With the Stars.
And Melissa just happened to be Karina Smirnoff's publicist.
Wait, what?
The next thing I knew, I was drinking champagne and being introduced to my favorite ballroom dancer, Karina Smirnoff. I had seen her on Broadway years earlier, and she was one of the few dancers I truly admired and enjoyed watching. I couldn't believe that I was actually meeting her.
She was super cool, and super nice - extremely personable and just as beautiful in person as she is on television. I couldn't believe that we were laughing and talking together over cocktails. It was all so surreal.
And if that wasn't crazy enough, once we started talking and it came out that I too was a ballroom dancer, she excitedly exclaimed, "This is fate! I am actually looking for someone to work with me at my new studio."
Shocked, I mumbled something about her getting my info from Melissa but she cut me off.
"No, let's exchange numbers now. Here's my number and email address, email me your resume when you can."
Was this really happening? I dumbfoundedly nodded my head, took her information, and walked away. This couldn't be real. In a few hours, I was going to wake up from a dream and laugh at the absurdity of it all.
But it was real. And the next thing I knew, a few weeks later I was in Karina's studio, dancing a foxtrot to Frank Sinatra for her.
I am pretty sure it was the most nervous I have EVER been in an audition.
Once I finished, she took me into her office. I had no idea what to expect. She sat down across from me and told me that she thought I was great. She loved my spirt and positive energy. Then she told me that she would love for me to join her team and work for her. I was hired.
Oh. My. God.
I now worked for Karina Smirnoff. Two years earlier I was watching her dance on Broadway. A week ago I was watching her dance on television.
Now I was watching her pull out a contract for me to sign.
So the moral of the story is this: when hitchhiking, never turn down a ride to a diner at one am with a New Yorker; they know all the right restaurants and all the right people. And to think, I never would have needed a ride with him if I had gotten a car when I moved to Los Angeles. I never would have went to the diner that night and met all those people. I never would have ended up at a random Beverly Hills Christmas Party where I met the friends who would bring me to a DWTS after-party and introduce me to Karina Smirnoff.
Talk about fate.
It was a true Cinderella story: The poor hitchhiking girl who ended up getting her dream job thanks to a random stranger on a street corner.
Only in Hollywood.
The red carpet for the show I attended in Kim's place that night:
Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival
One of the friends I met that night, Rachel
At the Diner later that night with Mike and his friends. Photographed here with Josh Sussman who has since become of my favorite people in LA. He and his girlfriend Tess (who has become one of my best friends) ended up driving me back to my apartment that night.
No comments:
Post a Comment