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Alejandro Gomez

Professor Jennifer Rodrick

English 115 Fr. 2PM

22 November 2017

Living Life On The Curb

Another City is a novel, which not only exhibits the city of Los Angeles, but the various

types of people who reside here. Bad Girl On the Curb is a short story by Lisa Glatt in the

novel, throughout this short story, we see the characters life and the conflicts that the denizens

of Los Angeles have the potential to come across. The narrator of this story deals with a certain

conflicts that Los Angeles has provided to its residents. A conflict in which she goes into detail

with, is how a Bad Girl is seen on the curb of a sidewalk being attained by the police for her

actions of being under the influence, possibly of alcohol, as she was described as walking in a

line, tipping left and right (Pg 201, Glatt). Conflicts like these result in the character shaping her

identity to an extent that portrays Los Angeles, in the way that she lives her life. This degree of

identity that the narrator has portrayed is showed in the way she lives in her Los Angeles

apartment structure, as well as the space that she has encountered, for instance seeing the street

she lives on influenced by alcohol, and in the way she tries to hide her imperfections like many

other people in Los Angeles.

To begin with, this character narrates on how she a Good Girl was at home sleeping

and was woken up by her significant other in order to inform her about the Bad Girls car

accident. Looking at the car accident she starts to talk about how she wasn't the only one who
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was out there looking at the accident. As said in the story, neighbors have gathered, little groups

under trees, a young man and woman leaning against a fence (Pg.201, Glatt). Relating back to

the argument, this quote significantly implies that Los Angeles is a place which is extremely

populated and most people are living in compacted structures, namely, apartments are what most

of the residency in Los Angeles can be made up of. The narrator lives in an apartment or in an

apartment like structure due to the fact that she says, We live on the third floor and even up

here (Pg. 201, Glatt). Providing evidence that she is living in an apartment, this also ties back

to how her identity is portrayed in this way because of Los Angeles over population which

pushes people into apartments. Therefore, this is a way in which the narrators identity can relate

back to Los Angeles.

Moreover, the character observes how Bad Girls acts can reflect on her suitability. The

Bad Girl was in a car accident as the result of drinking and driving. This interpretation was taken

out of the novel, in the narrators words, She must be damn drunk, I say, stating the

obvious (Pg 200, Glatt). The bad girl being drunk is also another conflict that the denizens of

Los Angeles encounter, and this occupant was the narrator. Drinking and driving is an identity of

Los Angeles that can be statically proven, The Southern California boasts more drunk

driving violators than any big town in the country, according to a new analysis by Insurance.com

that looks at the 10 Top Cities for Drunk Drivers" (Kristof). This illustrates that the narrator was

affected by drunk driving by witnessing the aftermath of the bad girls car accident. Her identity

was reflected by this because she used to be like that bad girl as well when she was younger.

Mesmerizing about her old days, There are things about me my husband does not know: how

many nights I was drunk too, running into cars and men I didn't know were there (Pg 200,
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Glatt). The narrator was also under the influence at one point in her life in Los Angeles. She was

relating herself to this girl who's identity as well was inspired by the Los Angeles ways of living.

Furthermore, this short storys narrators identity relates to living in Los Angeles by

looking at herself and wanting to be perfect. In other words, many people in Los Angeles have a

strong desire to be perfect like models and actors they see in this city or on billboards within

the city. Outsourcing for information, To be a professional model you need a beautiful face,

good teeth, healthy hair, nice smile, and great legs. As important as looks are sizes - a model has

to fit the sample sizes perfectly (Modeling). This proves that people are wanting tot be perfect,

namely, models are used to compare on person to another. In this story, the character tries to hide

her imperfections form her husband, Pulling the sheets up over my nightgown, covering the

thick scar I haven't yet let him see (Pg 199, Glatt). This quote states that she is trying to hide her

imperfections from her husband because she's not a perfect as a model and she doesn't want

him to look at her differently. Los Angeles being the city of dreams, hence the term Perfect this

leads the narrator to be self-conscious about her body image. Also stated in the story, There are

positions I avoid in sleep; spooning him would mean my one good breast against his back, and

him spooning me might mean this palm searching for whats no loner there (Pg 200, Glatt). This

states that her not to be conformable with her body makes her feel bad. She does avoids any

contact with her significant other so that she can feel better. Him not seeing her imperfections

means that she still thinks that he wont look at her differently. Los Angeles perfection of people

leads her to be self-conscious about her body image, in which is reflects her identity in a negative

way.
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In Conclusion, the identity that the character has portrayed is showed in the way she lives

in her Los Angeles apartment structure, as well as the space that she has encountered herself

seeing on the street she lives on which was influence by alcohol, and on the way she try to hide

her imperfections like other people in Los Angeles. This city is place were its population is only

of the biggest conflicts. The narrator is part of the conflict so this results her into most likely

living in an apartment. Her living situation reflects on her identity as well as other reasonings.

Seeing the Bad Girls aftermath of her car accident made the narrator describe her identity upon

Los Angeles. Also this text provides significant evidence that implied drunk driving is a major

conflict in Los Angeles. This relates back to the narrators identity because she also used to be

like the Bad Girl in the story in her younger days. Evidentially support from CBS, also helps

illustrate that drunk driving is a major issue in Los Angeles. The narrators identity ties back to an

extent on how drunk driving is a conflict in Los Angeles. Same as Important, the narrator living

in Los Angeles makes her feel self-conscious about her body. She is afraid to let her husband see

her scar because she finds her self to not be perfect. Since the identity of Los Angeles of being a

place of models and perfect people helps effect the narrators identity in a a negative way. The

narrator not seeing her self as perfect, has put a barrier between her self and her significant other.

These reasonings help state that Los Angeles really plays a role in her conflicts being a source of

her shaping her identity to an extent.

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Work Cited

Glatt, Lisa Bad Girl On The Curb. Another City, edited by David L. Ulin, City Lights, 2001,

pp. 199-201.

Modeling. How Do I Become a Model?, http://www.amisontario.com/modelbecome.php

Kristof, Kathy Top Cities for Drunk Drivers. CBS News, 29 September 2010,

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-cities-for-drunk-drivers/