The L.A. Personal Service Entourage — Explained

Ah, the lovely rays of the sun as they beat down, intensified by the smog. The sound of traffic on the 405, which almost sounds like the Pacific, just a few miles west. It’s the city where dreams are made and shattered, and to commemorate our devotion, here’s an eye-opening ode, from Laura Mannino. “LA vs. NY: You’ve Been Served”:

In LA, no one cares about the name on your purse quite like the name of your yoga instructor, or Pilates instructor, or your Yogalates instructor.

In New York, it’s whose party you’re invited to and who you’re wearing. In LA, it’s whose vacation home you stayed in and who rejuvenates your vagina.

In New York, it’s how expensive you look. In LA, it’s how much money you spent to look like you don’t care.

What defines your social status in LA the most is who and how many serve you: personal trainers, stylists, shoppers, assistants, concierges, organizers, dog walkers, groomers & whisperers, spiritual readers, life coaches, relationship coaches, gardeners, estheticians, and event planners.

How many people do you pay to ensure your personal well-being? In LA, there’s an onslaught of professionals offering personal services. This all exists in New York, but I didn’t feel its presence as strongly as I feel it in LA.

Why? Because in LA, what else are out of work actors going to do after they quit? Sure, there’s plenty of out of work or former actors in NY, but there’s plenty of office buildings that need temps. In LA, once you spent a year in Coffee Bean with your laptop being your own “boss” and “writing” your script, there’s no going back to a 9 to 5 cubicle world. If you can’t make a small business as an actor, you can make a small business of teaching actors how to make a small business as an actor. Or you can do this.

Ah, Los Angeles. It’s so true.

Image from Paper Castle Press.