North or South

California and Alaska share some general geographic similarities. They are large states with two major population centers--one near the middle and the other at the Southern end. The rest of the large states, including the broad expanses of land to the North, are sparsely populated by unique people and generously gifted with natural beauty.

It also seems that California's and Alaska's two major population centers share other commonalities. Stereotypically, people in the Northern one (San Francisco/Fairbanks) pride themselves on their uniqueness and grassroots-yness, and look down on their Southern neighbors as superficial Wal-mart sellouts with identical McMansions. People in the Southern one (Los Angeles/Anchorage) deride their Northern neighbors as being unwashed, patchouli-scented hippies.

It's quite funny, really.

I was prompted to think about this when I read part of an only marginally-related column today, entitled "Something People On the East Coast Don't Realize," by The San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle:

You know the song, ubiquitous in the late 60s, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" I was just in the shower, where it occurred to me -- with the penetrating insight that only comes to people in the shower -- that the song makes sense to everybody in the country, except people familiar with California.

The narrator is from San Jose and lives in Los Angeles. And he keeps asking directions to get back to San Jose. Directions? You go North! What person from San Jose would need directions to get there from Los Angeles?

Is the song really made for non-Californian sensibilities? The lyricist, Hal David, is from New York, after all. Or was the song a subtle but blistering (and rather unfair) commentary on the brain-atrophying effects of long term Los Angeles exposure? If the latter, then the song is actually . . . FUNNY. It's about a person who went to Los Angeles and lost his (or her -- it's usually her, as in Dionne Warwick) mind, and now can only babble incoherently to a stranger while asking for unnecessary directions.

I like that.

:)