Real-Life TV Drama

A few weeks ago I had to move my car from its normal street spot outside my apartment to make way for one of the occasional TV shoots that take place across the street at Torrance Beach. Word was that it was an episode of 90210. If it were 1996, I probably would be have pretty excited by this. Given that it is 2010 and Luke Perry was nowhere in sight, it was pretty annoying.

This afternoon, I noticed that something was happening again. It looked a bit more involved: The entire parking lot of Torrance Beach was closed and filled with vans and campers; people were everywhere.

Living in the greater Los Angeles area, these productions—and the lunchbox trucks, camera crews and gangly blonde actresses that go along with them—are a part of life we must deal with. When we're asked to move our cars, we move our cars. When we can't go that part of the beach, fine, we don't go to that part of the beach.

And when we are diverted because someone craning their neck to catch a glimpse of a starlet forgot they were driving and crashed their car, we go along with the flow and drive around the block.

Now, I will say right now that I do not know for certain what caused this afternoon's accident on Paseo de la Playa. Thankfully, it looked like just a minor collision of a moving car into a parked car. The police and medical professionals were already on the scene, and there was very little visible damage.

I do hope no one is injured, but please, let's keep our eyes on the road, Redondo.