At the time of the riots my wife and I were spending our final few weeks in Los Angeles after nine years there. Our new house in Southampton, New York was waiting for us, our apartment was (mostly) packed awaiting the movers, and our van had already been shipped (carless in Los Angeles).

We watched in horror as Reginald Denny was dragged from his truck and beaten with bricks, wondering, where are the cops? Of course, later we find out that the cops had an order to stay back ... Anyway, as Wilshire Boulevard started to burn, moving in our direction, we figured we'd walk (run) up to the store and lay in some supplies (survivor mentality). Soon, others had the same idea and there was a rush on the stores for food and water etc. Then the rush turned into looting (somehow justified by the wretched verdict in the King case). Rodney got rooked so let's get a new free washing machine.

So for a couple of weeks we were hostages of fear in our apartment. No car to get out of town, and nothing to do but wait for Global Van Lines to show up. As it turns out, our plans to move were fortuitous. In the wake of the "unrest" moving companies were in such demand they raised their rates by a factor of three. At that price we would not have been able to afford to move. Even car rentals tripled--a $150 rental from Los Angeles to Davis became a $600 hard-to-find compact.

The day after our stuff was picked up a taxi took us to LAX. Our relief to finally be going, gone was palpable. Our years in Los Angeles had been good for us, but the last month cast such a pall over our feeling about the place that our memories are clouded by those final days. Any regret we may have felt about moving evaporated.

Regarding race relations, lessons learned, etc. I really can only say, frankly that I'm glad we now live in a rather homogeneous community. I've lived in two melting pots (New York and Los Angeles) and find that I prefer life at a lukewarm simmer.

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Turning the melting pot to simmer

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