Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 7 - Response to Laguna Beach

Response to: Laguna Beach
http://xxyoungblood.blogspot.com/2012/11/this-past-weekend-was-parents-weekend.html

Hey Alexandra,
I really enjoyed this post. You were very descriptive and seemed to be dead on with your descriptions and observations of the city as a whole. Although I am not from Laguna, or Orange County for that matter, I have visited Laguna Beach on numerous occasions, so I feel that I have a great sense of its surroundings and the feel of the city.
You first mentioned that Laguna became quite a popular place to visit due to its popular reality show Laguna Beach on MTV. I do think this is very true because I admit that I watched the show and began to visit Laguna Beach due to the show. On the show Laguna appeared to be a great place to visit and can appeal to many people of all ages due to the various activities along the beach that can attract anyone of any age. What was funny/interesting to me is that one time I stayed in one of the hotels that was located right on the beach and one of the members of the cast of Laguna Beach, Dieder, worked there. I found this a little funny/interesting because I had been watching him on the show just enjoying his life in Laguna, hanging out with his friends, etc. and seeing him in a work environment was an absolute different experience. It sort of shed a different light on the show and Laguna itself. The show seemed to represent a care-free environment where the teens just spent all their time together, and seeing Dieder working showed that they have responsibilities just as anyone else may from somewhere else. It sort of humanized the show for me and made Laguna less of an oasis for people who actually lived there. (But then again, one cast member out of the whole cast, that may be an exception).
Your observations at the restaurant were pretty interesting to me, although not surprising one bit. The fact that the hispanic worker was very quick to help and the young, "cute" waitress was a bit slow just shines the light on the segregation there is among the city. Odds are, the young, white, waitress just has this as her part time job because her parents want her to learn responsibility and it is a way to earn a little extra cash for some extra shopping. Whereas, on the other hand, the hispanic bus boy uses this job to earn a living and maybe has a family back home (in another city) to support. The bus boy probably takes a bus to work everyday and the young waitress probably drives herself a few minutes from home just up the road. That's the way the system generally works in Laguna.
As you mentioned, Laguna Beach is generally all white residents and it seems to  have stayed that way for awhile. They keep their town clean and inviting by the plethora of shops and restaurants along the sidewalk. With the fact that they want their streets to remain clean, safe, and inviting, I liked how you mentioned the benches and how they have a divider in the center preventing from homeless to sleep on them. I think the benches and impacted white race citizens reflect right onto the safety that you also mentioned in your post while seeing the young kids at Starbucks at night. Parents probably feel at ease in Laguna regarding their kids' safety due to the fact that they don't have many homeless around and are generally a one-race city. They should be able to feel at ease there because they certainly pay for it with the cost of living there.
Well done, Laguna!