Animal Style

In the few weeks I've been in LA, I’ve been making a game out of trying not to seem like a tourist while driving around in a car with Virginia plates. If I mistakenly get in the lane for an exit I didn’t mean to take, I take it anyway. With confidence. 

Yes. I did mean to wind up in Compton. Thanks for your concern.            

I even went to In-N-Out Burger (A California institution) for lunch today and ordered my burger “animal style.” What is animal style? I have no idea, but on previous trips to CA, I remember hearing people order their burgers that way. Like a secret code. It’s not on the menu and the employees never mention it; you only know about it if you’re in the loop. So, in a desperate attempt to squeeze into that loop, I boldly ordered something that sounded as if it were made of raw meat. And I ate it. 

I still have no idea what animal style means (pretty sure it's not "raw meat" though), but the burger was good and I received a little nod and a smile from the cashier when I ordered as if to say, "Welcome. You’re one of us."

This feeling of inclusion, after making wrong turns, getting honked at and feeling like a burden to society in general, is absolutely necessary. Especially in LA, a place where no one is from, but where everyone wants to belong.

Today's thoughts while in traffic: Apparently, all you have to do to run a successful business in LA is add the words "to the stars" at the end of whatever it is you do.