In early November as we drove across the Bay Bridge to Oakland for a flight back to So Cal after attending the wedding of good friends Suzy and Scott, Ralph noticed a billboard advertisement for the Auto Show in the Bay Area. Ralph, ever the marketer’s dream, thought that this might be the year for Noah to attend his first car show (now you know why companies spend so much money on billboards: they actually work, at least for people like Ralph). Anyway, from that point on Ralph was determined to take Noah to the Greater L.A. Auto Show whether Noah was interested in it or not. Auto Shows are custom-made for father-son outings and 2006 would mark Noah’s third birthday and first Auto Show, kind of like a rite of passage.
Of course auto shows are just one giant commercial for which you pay $10 per adult, $20 to park and $30 on bad food to see. We figured we’d wait out traffic and head to the downtown area at around 7:00 p.m. but, of course, we forgot that there was a Lakers home game and the opponent was no less than LeBron James the phenom star of the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, after negotiating a bit of traffic in the downtown area, we found parking, paid the $20 ransom, and made our way to the Los Angeles Convention Center.
WARNING: Out of Context Commentary Follows (may not be suitable for all audiences):It’s been a while since I have been downtown and I remember why. What a complete dump that place is. And, what I don’t understand is why they keep building more and more stuff down there to chase some stupid dream of a “city center” in a city that doesn’t really want a center!!! Going to the Auto Show on a Thursday night is a prime example of why this whole “design” (I’m not sure I want to give them too much credit by even calling it a “design”) is silly. Back in the day, the Lakers played in Inglewood. OK, not the best neighborhood, but at least it spread out the people a little bit so a couple of folks can take their kids to see the Auto Show on a Thursday night and not have to spend as much to park as they do to get in! I just wish that Eli Broad and his cronies would get over the idea that we will ever have some kind of a city center that anyone from any suburb of any distance is going to drive to for any other reason than to see a Laker game or go to the Auto Show. We will never be Chicago, San Francisco or New York. Just get over it. And, I swear, that if they put an NFL team in that awful Coliseum venue I will not go (unless the Bears happen to be scheduled to play there and then I won’t have a choice but to set my little protest aside for a chance to see my team–but that’s it, otherwise it will be a total boycott!) End of Warning. We Now Return to our Regularly Scheduled Blog Entry
Noah was interested in the cars for about 15 minutes. The rest of the time he just wanted to ride in the plastic stroller in the shape of a car (that we rented for $7) and collect brochures. He did like it when he got to sit in a couple of trucks and pretend to drive. Amazingly, the Auto Show was about as uncrowded as I have ever seen it and we had a remarkably nice time. We even got a chance to see the $1.2 million Bugatti Veyron which was the major debut of the show (it’s ugly).
I was disappointed in the Auto Show for two reasons: (1) I really expected a much better people watching experience but the people in attendance were, largely, normal and polite, and (2) there really was not a single car that is in my price range and that I was particularly interested in. The sorry state of the U.S. auto industry was on full display when you see their offerings next to the displays of the European and Japanese auto makers. It’s no wonder they are in such trouble.
Anyway, we had a good time and Grandpa John is already talking about taking Noah next to the Boat Show. Remember, as Chick Hern used to say, “Don’t miss the Boat…Show!”