© the eyeranian

Pedram,

My sentiments excatly. Did I miss something when I came to the states? The mercedes dealer didn't greet me at the airport.

Funny, the immigrants we used to get in the old days started in the ghettoes and worked hard to get themselves and their families out.

Nowadays, they start out able to afford nice web logs but want to build more ghettoes.

Go figure.

You mention in your post that there are poor people in OC, but no ghettos. Is that to say that the poor in OC are living in poor, but not substandard housing? That their children may go to well funded, well performing schools with their upper income neighbors? That seems like a good thing to me. Certainly many of the folks in OC need to wake up to the realities of the outside world, but I don't think the poor of OC would appreciate being moved to a ghetto to prove that point.

I live in O.C. and let me tell you something,besides "porteghal abaad", it is also called "Karaj County" by some of our fellow countrymen/women! Yes, everything here is almost too good to be true: people are too nice, streets are too clean, laws and regulations are over-abided and the county is super-safe! Sometimes I go to L.A. just to come in touch with reality, I even jay walk a little to remember my nationality and where I have come from!
And yes you will be a disgrace to the Persian community if you ain't driving a Benz or a BMW for that matter. Grocery shopping with no eye shadow on is a sin and walking on the beach high-heels-less is so un-Persian!

Kristen, most of them live in ghettos of LA or Riverside and commute to and fro

Pedram,
Although I agree that most of OC is very nice and even "pasteurized", I would disagree that there are no ghettos. Admittedly, the OC ghettos are in places that were nice new suburbs in the 1950's and are now not so nice rundown neighborhoods. Spend some time in Santa Ana, Anaheim (away from Disney or Anaheim Hills) or Stanton and I think you'll see a very different side of OC. South Central it's not, but neither is it the nicely manicured conservative domain of Irvine, Laguna Niguel or Newport Beach. Overall though you are right, it's quite the experience to cross through the "orange curtain."

One thing that has changed in the way especially Iranians and people from developing countries come to US is for better economic life. Its somewhat rare that an immigrant comes to US to escape brutality at home or to gain freedom. To my established American friends, I have to say, times have changed and the American dream has been transformed to just a move to a better neighborhood for most immigrants. And that is a good thing, it’s a sign that globalization is at work and we are seeing the world community concept is coming to pass. As far as the Iranians and the Benzes or their other peculiar behavior, its just a momentary laps and I’m sure their next generation will come to their senses, like the “Persian girl in California”.

Pedram,

Your update cracks me up. I went to the USA vs Iran soccer game a few years ago and I saw what could only be described as the greatest dilemma facing the Iranian community in years. Most of the people were Iranian-Americans (95%)

First, most of the cars were Mercedes, but you started to see a good deal of SUV's too which for people who don't know is the favorite beast of OC residents. I think the game was in '98 or '99 which was the first year that Mercedes Benz's started producing an SUV and after closer inspection you could put together a funny little story about our culture within the So. Cal culture.

You see first we, as in Iranians, came to the states in different conditions. Some came with very little money and had to work hard to get rid of their Toyota's to purchase a used Benz, while others were able to come with money, or had invested money abroad and they bought new Benz's. Anyhow my theory is that this had developed and most people had Benz's and were happy with their Benz's and every few years would upgrade. But then SUV's came out, and they cried out to Iranians everywhere. This is the car for you as a community; it's big, it's loud and it's a status symbol, and if you're in Tehran no one could touch you. So people started buying SUV's through the 90's and by the time of the football game when Mercedes had started producing SUV's people were starting to buy the Mercede's SUV. Last time I was in Irvine, the cultural center of the Iranian community in Southern California the place was packed with them.

Anyhow, that's my little observation. I bought a ford escort rather than buy a Benz, but I wonder if there's a reason we're tied to Benz's.

I remember I had a friend in OC and travelled there from Echo Park where I used to live when I still was living in LA. I remember the same type of homes, row after row, the same white people, the same type of cars, the same level of life for all... Uniformity was what I noticed. Come to think of it, in China, uniformity is also the norm...

I will NEVER EVER go back to OC. Yikes... What a horrible place to live.

I feel as a BMW owner (gulp!) and an eyeranian I have to defend my car here. I have had Toyota, Honda, VW and even Benz for a while, various models and makes. I have had Arya and even Biyok (spelling?) and Peykan for a while and I tell you, although I also own a 1979 beetle (truly as cute as a bug) my BMW, the one now and the one I exchanged this one for, both take the prize with me. They drive like butter, make you feel safe and cozy like "Korsi" (ahhhh!) and inspire you to give everyone a ride so they can share the pleasure with you. (no sexual imagery intended, quite).

So here is my two cents on vanity. I admit it. I know your talk is of showing off and "cheshm ham cheshmi". My argument is of being too poor to be able to afford cheap things. You will just have to replace them sooner. Could it possibly be that some of us actually like to spend our hard-earned cash on things that are well made? Having money clearly is a huge responsibility. Making sure you don't make frivolous purchases is just as important as sharing that wealth.

I think you'll find that Honda and Toyota have almost as good a record in durability these days as MBZ and BMW.

Asad,

I agree and they use much less gas so we're sending less money to those people in the middle east... oh wait.

Alas, I guess we could have worse steorotypes, and I remember in the mid-80's we did. Ummm.. another thing I refer to myself as Persian when someone asks where my names from, it's just so much easier than Iranian.. they immediately ask about if my family is okay after the war. I reply, well life was hard being bombed by Iraq. Then there's a look of confusion.. I don't like confusion.

I lived in OC in Huntington Beach right around the Iranian revolution, nice place to live but don't try to raise a family there. Southern California is a good place to be seen by friends while you are clubing, but you don't want to be there in the morning!!!!

kombiz that's so true, people at work were asking if my parents were in bomb shelters after the iraq bombing started. The I tried to explain iran and iraq are different and met the dreaded confusion
And personally I like MBZ when I can afford it I'll probably get one till then the accord will do.

well, well, well,...

- One of the biggest OC Mercedes dealers is Eyeranian owned ;-)

- For the rest of the MD dealers, I bet the top salesmen are Eyeranian ;-)

I used to live in Newport Beach, before I MIGRATED south... to San Diego. Let me tell you, OC is heaven compared to SD. I think percentage wise, SD even beat OC in voting for the Total Retard (http://www.yque.com/totretarschw.html).

Sasan,

It's a different kind of conservatism in SD than OC. The OC variety is more Tom Delay, christian conservative. I've lived in both and will happily move back to SD, but I will never live in OC again.

Nima: Whatever uniformity exists in OC exists by choice, China's uniformity is forced. big difference.

Sassan: I too have lived in Newport Beach (Corona Del Mar actually). San Diego is my home. To me OC seemed less tolerant, more snobish, more crowded and less layed back - in general. San Diego has cleaner air, less crime, more open space, and less of the elitist attitude so prevalent in OC. I'm not sure what parts of NB you think are "heaven" compared to San Diego. If you are comparing CDM to City Heights, I'm right with you, but in general I disagree. I've lived all over the world; I don't think it gets any better than San Diego. That is why I choose to live here.

The Mercedes thing is probably tied to prestige. Many of the Iranians living in California were among the Elite in Iran. Their lives were turned upside down when they moved here. Many Iranians who have been sucessful here, aren't exactly "Elite". But with a big black Mercedes they can appear to be, at least while on the freeway.

Kombiz: I agree with you about the two flavors of "conservative". OC is a major center for evangelical Christian conservatives. Us San Diego conservatives tend to want less government interference, more liberty, but with low taxes and fiscal restraint. That's why I had no problem voting for Arnold S. for governor. I'm perfectly happy living with cultural and economic diversity, but I think that's what many OC residents were trying to get away from by moving down there.

To me OC is an outgrowth of Los Angeles. It's geographically and economicaly tied to LA. San Diego is seperate enough that it has evolved differently. For me, it's a very pleasant, low stress place to live.

NIMA--are you the Nima that knew/knows and Iris K. from Laguna Niguel? I'd love to get in touch. And on topic--All I remember was the smog and lack of bathrooms.