When disaster strikes and lives are turned upside down, it is often the familiar–like a good cup of coffee–that helps to begin the process of healing.
The Eaton fire in Altadena, California has really hit close to home, not just because I have several friends who lost homes or because the fire was 10 minutes from my house, but because I worked so closely with that community in my first “real” job with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. I consider the community home and my heart breaks for all who lost their houses and all earthly possessions. When I close my eyes, I can picture what each street looked like before the fire.
One thing that has troubled me is that the fire has prompted business closures stretching far beyond the danger zone. These closures cannot be reduced to poor air quality or a desire to protect employees.
Take the YMCA of the Foothills, a gym network my family belongs to. I knew the La Cañada Flintridge branch would be closed because parts of the city were under evacuation orders, but the two other branches were also closed all week…both outside the danger zone. The Glendale YMCA closed too.
I am certain I am not alone in scratching my head over this…
So many restaurants, retailers, and other businesses have stepped up to offer free food and clothing to those who have been displaced and simultaneously remained open…that is what the community needed and these places have answered the call.
Meanwhile, the Y collected canned goods and blankets and offered telephone counseling, which was perfectly fine, but that’s not what people need from the Y…they need to exercise. Distraction too. What’s a better way to relieve stress than to workout, sit in the sauna, and shower? There is no better way. For those suddenly displaced from their homes, they needed their Y open…not thoughts and prayers alone. We all did.
My daughter takes swimming lessons and my son plays basketball at the Y…nice indoor activities that are welcome distractions to the bedlam outside. People needed a place to go…indoors.
[Thankfully, the YMCAs are (finally) re-opening today]
Republik, one of my favorite coffee shops in Pasadena certainly understood this from the very start:
Oh, how I appreciated that email.
What a pillar of the community Republik has become. And the best coffee in Pasadena too…
When disaster strikes, life still goes on…I saw that in Kyiv in the midst of war. It must, for the alternative is even worse. People need coffee and groceries, no matter how bad things are. They need a gym too. It’s a coping mechanism and I am thankful for businesses like Republik that serve the public best simply by staying open.
From photos in the newspapers , I notice a difference between Altadena and Palisades .
The photos show Altadenians in groups , whilst remaining around . Same as Lahaina .
Palisadians moved to ritzy hotels .
Altadena has historically been a working class community, though it has gentrified in the last two decades.
It was reassuring that the unelected California “Royals” , Harry and Meghan , visited Altadena-Pasadena to distribute food from the food stalls .
Harry and Meghan together would make a more competent governor than Newsom , who didn’t serve food to anyone .
It was not-assuring that the elected “‘Camel-a” , nor the unofficial “Opera” , did not visit anywhere .
Who elects royals?
Oprah is waiting for someone to pay her production company before she makes another “free” appearance, lol. And of course the Duke and Duchess of Montecito would make an appearance – there were cameras and attention on them. Plus they handed out goods that had been donated by others, so the publicity cost them nothing, just a helo ride to and from.
Really? You took time out of your day to write that? WTF? I would guess Gavin Newsom has a few more things to focus on then dishing out food. You people just can’t help showing the world how immature and stupid you truly are.
You stay away from Los Angeles….we have too many people that want to live here already.
For once can we NOT get political here.
Not everyone in Palisades are affluent
@Ric: It is hard not to be political when the level of incompetence showed by CA politicians in this situation has been unheard before. I think that everyone, even people that live thousands of miles from LA, are very angry the more they learn how disgraceful those managing CA have been in the last years doing absolutely nothing to prevent this tragedy. There are serious implications when you vote wrong but this is absolutely stunning. I still cannot understand how that mayor is still in charge. She is the most disgraceful administrator I ever seen.
Oh come on, leave the poor mayor alone. She had to take advantage of the free junket to Africa, because such trips will disappear beginning next week.
While your assertion is not without merit it kinda seems like you’re making this all about you. I think the Y’s should reopen but to temporarily shelter the people who just lost everything and are trying to suddenly reassess their entire lives rather than people wanting to play basketball.
I’m in Pennsylvania this week and last…I’m not even in California.
I agree 100%. Providing basic needs takes priority over workouts. Lifting cases of canned goods and bottled water would be a great workout……
I served a board member on a community center that servcd an entire county thru several locations (PA, not CA).
Decisions to close during nature disaters (rare in PA), extreme weather, COVID, etc. were often made due to the home of the employees, not the location of the facility.
It would be nice if the YMCAs could welcome the Red Cross or similar as a place for shetler, supplies, etc.
@Matthew: Looked at their menu on the wall. What is an Espresso Tonic? Although their prices are not crazily expensive compared to other places, it makes me want to go back to Italy every time I see how expensive coffee is in the US (even before the expected tips).
Looking at those California pictures, I see similarity of Gaza. The same result, nothing left. What zionist pigs did in Palestine, the nature did with their supporters in California. Too many zionist from Hollywood lived there. Karma is a bitch!
As come for the others, do feel sorry about their loss as in Gaza and Lebanon.
How many of the employees of the YMCA lost their homes or were evacuated? I would think at least some, making it difficult to open the gym with no workers. In fires past, I’ve evacuated, and my childhood home/neighborhood burned down some years ago. I didn’t go to work after trying to get the dog, cat, rabbit and some import essentials into the car to flee in the middle of the night.
LAUSD closed schools district-wide for the first few days. Just for fun. Those of you who don’t live in SoCal might not appreciate just how spread out the LA region is. But despite what you might see on the news, the vast majority of the city and county is entirely unaffected by the fires. So if your kids were going to school in an area 50 miles from the fire, they had to stay home and you had to arrange childcare so the teacher’s unions could have some more free time. Ever since covid, our officials are obsessed with “Stay Home”. It’s ridiculous