ByMaggie GraingerStaff Writer
It was 6:30 a.m. Seven of us were huddled inside a 24-hour towingoffice, waiting for my roommate’s dad to pick us up from Santa FeSprings. Our car had gotten towed while we were dancing the nightaway at The Boogie and the guy wouldn’t release it to my friendbecause the registration wasn’t under her name. Shivering and stillclad in our clubbing attire, we were now in the delusional stageright before you collapse from exhaustion. All any of us could thinkabout was sleep and how we were so fortunate that there were stillgood people in the world willing to help us.
We decided to call him “Honest Abe.” If it weren’t for him, wewould probably still be sitting outside the club right now. He wasour cab driver who, not only drove us all the way to the towingcompany, but also waited with us for more than 45 minutes to makesure we were all right. He even drove us down to an AMPM – free ofcharge – so we could get money to pay the fine. When he dropped usoff back at the tow yard, my roommate Haley and I tried to give himsome money, a candy bar, cigarettes and even a bottled water; hewouldn’t take any of it. He just smiled and said he hope one daysomeone will do the same for him if he’s ever in a bind. Then he wasgone.
After he left, I turned to my friend Vicky, who came to visit mefrom North Carolina, and apologized for what seemed like the 100thtime. She just laughed and hugged me and said not to worry: S**thappens and she would have a great story to tell people when she wentback home.
Upuntil that weekend, I hadn’t seen my friend Vicky in more than twoyears, so when she called and said she wanted to come out toCalifornia to visit and take a look at the UCLA campus, I wasecstatic. I love to play tour guide and my mind started racing withall the places we could go to and all the great stuff we could see:Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Strip, Gaslamp District, Venice Beach andPacific Beach. We were going to do it all, even if she was only goingto be here for five days. I had planned a non-stop party.
And boy, did she get it.
During those two days, we got a traffic ticket (for having apassenger without a seatbelt on), watched Clay Aiken fans flip out ashe filmed his new music video (don’t get me started), went to a newHollywood club called Avalon (definitely a good time), danced withAndy Dick (he’s high up on my list, right next to Jack Black) andalmost got ourselves kicked out of a Super 8 Motel. Oh yeah, and wealso managed to make it out to UCLA so Vicky could get a feel for thecampus, although I told her she would have to make another trip inorder to see Venice Beach and Melrose Avenue.
This trip ended up being a total bonding experience, not onlybetween me and Vicky, but also among my fiveother girlfriends who made the trek with us. The seven of us were allfeeling swamped with schoolwork and the pressures of reality, so acrazy weekend in the big city ended up being exactly what we neededto come closer together. What made it even cooler was Vicky mergedright into our group, which made it seem like she had been everyone’sfriend forever.
Every time I go to Los Angeles I learn valuable lessons. In pasttrips, I have learned: Fake I.D.’s are not worth the hassle; waitersin Hollywood are gorgeous (and if you play your cards right, they canbe very generous – with dessert, that is) and that whatever happensin the city, needs to stay in the city.
On this trip, I learned Andy Dick is just as crazy in person as heis on television (in a good way), cab drivers can be angels indisguise and true friends will stick by you no matter what.
AndI think it’s safe to say that after all our misadventures, Vicky wassold on moving out to crazy California. My job here is done.
– Maggie Grainger is a pre-journalism sophomore and a copy editorfor The Daily Aztec.
– This column does not necessarily reflect the views of The DailyAztec.
