But even back then, I didn't quite get the Valley Go Home thing. I had friends and family over there, and I became defensive when people mocked Vals. I needed a job. Real-world wages are not readily available in Santa Cruz. That's because Santa Cruz is not in the real world.
People come here to get away from the real world, and it works.
Everyone who lives here delights in that. We brag, every one of us, about the fact that the San Andreas fault separates us from the rest of America. Of course, when the San Andreas fault did in fact separate this utopia from the rest of the world, everybody panicked. Even Bob, in unguarded moments, will relent from his anti-valley stance. He didn't complain at all.