In the mid 1980’s, my parents lived in Huntington Beach, California. I was just out of college and living in the house where I grew up in Dickinson, TX. Every once in a while I would catch a flight to visit them in Southern California for a few days. It was fun taking drives to see the sights in LA, Burbank and all the other famous places.

One day I went to Rodeo Drive, parked the car and walked to see the sights. As I started walking, I saw a red Bentley convertible with the top down going down the street but did not see a driver at first. I watched as the Bentley went by and noticed Dudley Moore driving while looking through the steering wheel. The top of his head was about the height of the top of the steering wheel.

As I looked at the store window displays along the famous road one thing I noticed was that there were no prices listed on anything. I guess if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. I came to a street corner and had to wait for the light to change so I could cross. I then noticed I was standing next to Loretta Swit, who played Margaret Houlihan on the TV show MASH. I looked at her, she smiled, so I said, “You are shorter than I thought you were.” She replied, “You are taller than I thought you were.” The light turned green and we crossed the road.

As I drove back to Huntington Beach, I thought about the people and things I saw along Rodeo Drive, I came to the conclusion that that area is a different culture unto itself. It was a very interesting place to visit but I was glad I was returning back to my simple life.