Dear American Way magazine,
I wouldn’t say I’m a longtime reader, but I do admit to picking you up for those handful of minutes after the cabin door is closed and before I’m granted the use of my approved electronic devices. However, yesterday, on my flight from LA to St. Louis, I was at first elated and then disheartened by the sly bait-and-switch that you performed on your cover. Of course you wouldn’t mean “walking in L.A.”—so clever!—because no one walks there!
So what does L.A. mean? Anyone? Anyone?
I would guess Louisiana, which is abbreviated L.A., and where there is plenty of great walking to be done. But it actually means Lower Alabama—the part that actually touches the state of L.A.—which local residents do indeed call L.A. as well. I certainly didn’t know that, but wouldn’t the cover have been a great place to explain this fact, instead of making a joke about Los Angeles?
Instead, you resorted to a cheap stereotype simply to poke fun at one city and simultaneously undersell another. Yes, your cleverness also does a great disservice to Lower Alabama—don’t they deserve to be promoted on the cover instead of delivered as a punchline on page 54?
Furthermore, the aforementioned article is not even ABOUT walking, in L.A. or L.A. or L.A. Most of the story takes place on one of several boats, and I could only discern two specific mentions of walking, one of which is found in a caption, which we all know does not count.
How to fix this gaffe? Why not hire me to write an article about walking in Los Angeles? It is possible, perhaps even pleasurable, to walk in LA, as you might have considered if you weren’t so busy conjuring up sophomoric cover lines. For inspiration, check out this New York Post article (yes, the NEW YORK Post) that notes our “truly walkable neighborhoods.”
Thanks A.W.!
(And I don’t mean American Way, I mean thanks to myself: A. Walker in LA)
