So I've been watching this television show which is filmed in LA, and the sky is always hazy. Sometimes only mildly hazy, sometimes thickly covered, but always glowing away up there, as though it were the sky. Which causes me to wonder. I understand that it never clears away, because that city is just too full of people and they all drive automobiles and the physical location doesn't get any powerful weather, et cetera, et cetera. But wouldn't a tremendous rainstorm -- a hurricane! -- clear it all away? Wouldn't that wash all the smog right out of the air? And if it did, what would happen to all those pounds of particulate matter? Would you be able to see it on the ground? Would it be measurable in the water table, or visible to microscopes in the pools? Would it clog up the filters of all the millions of pools in LA? And how long would it take before it was back?
And hey, does it affect the way the sunlight in that area hits the people who live there? It must, mustn't it? Change the way they tan, change the way they wrinkle? Diffused light, as far as I know (which is not very far) causes faster burning! Doesn't it? It must make it better, not worse, though, because if it caused their skin to age faster, you can bet all those actors and actresses would be stopping it! Right now! Unite to save our radiant dewy complexions from this monstrous pollution!
Because London, which used to be the smoggiest city on earth, cuz of burning coal ( I imagine) and congregating in large numbers in a smallish area, they were aware of what caused their "pea-soupers," their "London Particulars," and one of their kings, back in 13-something, forbade the burning of coal! Of course, he was The King, so people had to do what he said or have their heads chopped off ( this was 13-something, remember) but I'll bet the Screen Actor's Guild could go on strike or something! Think how that would affect the country! Movies and television are the number one form of entertainment for Americans!
It is amazing, in a not-so-positive way, that seven hundred years later, we can't get our act together enough to do what that King did. Edward the Somethingth. And say, 'Hey, knock it off. No more cars in the city limits," like that princess just did in Belgium. Not that she made the commandment and the people obeyed, or anything, she just supported the people of one town who said, "no more driving in our city. Only foot traffic and bicycles", and then built a car park at the edge of the city and arranged things to suit foot traffic and bicycles! It would certainly make for a lot more jobs, too -- as small stores had to spring up, since you can't carry a carload of groceries all at once on a bicycle. Gotta stop several times a week, or maybe even every day!
Okay, well, I'm simply free-associating here, so I'll stop. But it's certainly worth thinking about! Hear me out there, Screen Actor's Guild?
No comments:
Post a Comment