It may not have rained in LA for 2 years, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t just see a Rainbow, right where I least expect to:
Yeah, I know. You’re welcome.
Here’s why it’s unexpected– this rainbow Mercedes is parked on the revered San Vicente strip in Santa Monica. This is one of those lovely tree lined LA streets with a big fat, grassy median where rich people work out with their lovers trainers. The houses on San Vicente are massive and often sport a gate with a long, impressive driveway–as illustrated above. But of course, you wouldn’t want the help’s nasty ’93 Honda Accord to pollute your view, so these street side spaces are normally reserved for the nanny, housekeeper, pool guy or gardener. In this case, however, I’d bet my Starbucks card that this is no domestic worker. This is little Skippy home from college.
It’s got all the signs. First of all, it’s a 420 SEL. That car was no joke when it came out, and still commands a fair amount of bank. If a domestic worker were to splurge, it wouldn’t be on a Benz with little bitty wiper blades to change– they do enough maddening manual labor. Second, it’s legitimately registered– which is often questionable in LA, even for the 1%. (Oh, calm the hell down, there’s all kinds of racial stereotypes I fall into proudly– note the Starbucks card…) And lastly, that rainbow didn’t come cheap. It’s an expensive, Westside rainbow, which probably a little pricey for the average nanny.
Thus the exiled offspring, such as Skip, is the only option. I’ll bet he’s the swanky homeowner’s hopeless, dreadlocked son home from his 5th sophomore year at college. Right now, he’s safely ensconced in his childhood home doing bong hits with the pool boy while the housekeeper does his laundry and his perfect Mercedes is one sideswipe away from being an incomplete color wheel. But whether or not Skippy parked on the street becuaes he hasn’t quite come out of the closet or he doesn’t want grandma to know he’s turned her beloved Benz into a psychedelic sedan– it doesn’t quite matter. Because Skippy’s ride is awesome and I just glad he shared it with the lovers, the dreamers and me.