Down Rodeo
While in Los Angeles, I finally got to do it, after all these years: roll down Rodeo Drive with Rage Against The Machine’s “Down Rodeo” pumping out of the stereo. If you’re of a certain age, I know you’ve always wanted to do this, too. Just admit it.
![](/2010/06/down-rodeo/images/rodeo-drive-2_hu4c603a54423d8d3bcdf0ecb328ef483c_534229_360x360_fit_q75_lanczos.jpg)
I’m rollin’ down Rodeo with a shotgun, these people ain’t seen a brown-skinned man since their grandparents bought one
No one thought much of it. I was driving an Audi, which I’d just washed. And, well, I’m white. I actually blended.
I also drove into the residential area of Beverly Hills, to see how the other half live. It looks pretty much how it looked in Beverly Hills 90210. (If you’re of a certain age, I know you watched Beverly Hills 90210; just admit it.) White guy in a nice car. People smiled and waved at me as though I were their neighbor.
![](/2010/06/down-rodeo/images/rodeo-drive-3_hua27d06db58d720f4e2aeeec69b655393_639896_480x480_fit_q75_lanczos.jpg)
Rodeo Drive’s shopping district, a mere three blocks in length, is lined with astonishingly expensive, pretentious stores, many with names you’d recognize. The thin crowd is mixed between shoppers and tourists.
![](/2010/06/down-rodeo/images/rodeo-drive-1_hua27d06db58d720f4e2aeeec69b655393_490249_480x480_fit_q75_lanczos.jpg)
Overdressed store employees lurk just inside or just outside the empty shops, passing judgement on passersby, deciding if we are worthy, as we window-shop.
![](/2010/06/down-rodeo/images/rodeo-drive-5_hua27d06db58d720f4e2aeeec69b655393_621432_480x480_fit_q75_lanczos.jpg)
The guy washing the windows wears a suit and tie.
![](/2010/06/down-rodeo/images/rodeo-drive-4_hua27d06db58d720f4e2aeeec69b655393_506806_360x360_fit_q75_lanczos.jpg)
This statue stands, inexplicably, in the middle of the road at an intersection.
What a strange place.