Kent Setterberg
Mrs. Larson
English 1010
6 July 2011
LOVE IN L.A.
By Dagoberto Gilb
(short story)
This is a story about Jake, an unemployed bachelor, daydreaming about his freedom from not having a job and the nice car he wishes he had. He wasn’t paying attention to the traffic when he went through a green light and a second too late saw that traffic had stopped. He locked the brakes but it was too late, CRASH! He considered leaving the scene. He had rear-ended a new Toyota with a beautiful
Venezu elan woman driving it. He was taken by her beauty. It didn’t do any damage to his car but caused significant damage to the woman’s car. He was more concerned with getting to know the woman than he was with the accident. She didn’t really have the time for his advances. She just wanted to get to work. He asked to have breakfast or coffee but she was having none of that. He lied about having insurance and he didn’t have his driver’s license either. He tried to impress her by saying he was a musician and an actor and that he had been in a few movies. He was able to get her phone number but he gave her a fake one. As he entered his old Buick she had pulled in behind him to get his license plate number which was a plate he had taken off another car. As he drove away, he was back to daydreaming about how good a new car would smell and how good an FM radio would sound.

The character in this story, Jake, is a man of no integrity.
He didn’t have a worry in the world. He was willing to leave the scene of the accident. He gave false personal information. No job, no driver ’s license, illegal vehicle, what a loser. He was just concerned with getting to know the woman and wasn’t worried about her car at all.
Mariana seemed like a responsible woman. Apparently she had just moved to town with her parents. She has a job, a nice car and parents who care about her. She acted responsible with her actions in asking for his information. She must have been able to read him and realize what a loser he was. That explains why she wrote down his plate number. I think that if this would have happened in a rural setting that he probably would have left the scene because in the story the traffic was one of the reasons he didn’t leave. He probably would have given her the one finger salute and left.
I think that you can feel the emotion in her words because of how upset she was because her car was wrecked and her frustration with Jake.
The author’s description of Jake makes me wonder if this is the life he had or wishes he had, just driving around without a care. I question the trustworthiness of the author. He says he is a Latino and the book says he writes about working class Latinos.
But it says nowhere in the story that Jake was Latino. You could maybe assume that he was Latino by the car he was driving and the obsession with an FM stereo radio and velvet upholstery. Assuming that would be stereotyping. The author doesn’t show much logic on the part of Jake with his irresponsible attitude.
I thought it was an interesting story. I could see the characters in my mind.

I know a “Jake”, his name is Chris. He has never held a job for any significant amount of time. Most of his working career he has worked “under the table”. He is currently living with a lady, but when he’s not, he’s at home with his father. He has never had a car. He relies on other people for transportation. He is a nice guy but I don’t know how he survives without money or a car. He has had some good jobs but ends up quitting. I don’t know how he could get social security when he retires. You have to pay into it to get it. I see him in the bars at dart tournaments. He is always bumming cigarettes and drinks. He has found his freedom in life. At least, Jake has a car.