A coworker asked how my ride in was.

"The mornings are great," I said. "It's cold, there are no bugs, nobody tries to kill me in traffic and the homeless are asleep."

He looked taken aback. I didn't mention that I drove past the ashes of a trash can fire this morning, or that the homeless now shout at me if I ride through between 8pm and 1am. I didn’t mention that I saw a piano on the river yesterday. I didn't mention that I was threatened with a Taser last summer or that I ran over a rat last week.

I had dinner with a couple friends. We discussed Los Angeles, as everyone in Los Angeles does. I mentioned the drive-bys that killed a couple neighbors in North Hollywood, before the DEA let the Armenian Mafia win their gang war by deporting 140 members of the Mexican Mafia. One of my friends said "why do you keep punish-fucking yourself in LA? Your experience doesn't have to be like this."

I said "because I don't want to spend $3500 a month for a bedroom in Studio City."

I didn't say "because my parents didn't give me a $250k down payment for a penthouse condo or let me live rent free in grandpa's old house in Alhambra like you two."

I intend to shelter my kid from hardship as much as possible. I only hope that I can do it without completely blinkering her perspective on the world she lives in.