Some cities have hip, sexy nicknames, like The Big Apple, or the Mile High City, or the City of Lights. My city has a much less sexy and somewhat bulky nickname "America's Finest City". But this week, San Diego earned its nickname over and over again. Readers, I know some of you who dislike it when I share personal thoughts and drift from the topic of GH. However, I am incapable of writing a fluff piece about Daytime Drama without acknowledging the fact that my city has been an inferno all week. So bear with me for a little bit, and I promise I will get to GH.
I heard Matt Lauer on the Today show talking about the differences between Hurricane Katrina, and the wildfires this week. He said there were 2 reasons that our natural disaster had a better outcome than Katrina. 1) San Diego's Reverse 911 system - where people got emergency evacuation calls directly to their homes telling them to leave, where to go, and what to do. People got those calls, and, for the most part, followed the instructions and evacuated. 2) San Diegans "showed Up" as Matt Lauer put it.
There were in excess of 500,000 people evacuated and in shelters. It was smoky, dark and scary outside. Ashes were drifting down like snow, and my dear friend David said to me yesterday "Every time I see those ashes falling, I keep thinking- that could be what's left of someone's wedding photo album, or a table their Grandpa made them or some other treasure they cherished.", which made me cry. And the rest of San Diego cried, too. Roads were closed, businesses were closed, and newscasters told people to stay inside. But, San Diegans didn't stay inside; they came out into the fire to help their neighbors. City officials had to come on TV and tell San Diegans to STOP bringing food and supplies to the shelters, because they HAD TOO MUCH. Think about that for a minute.
People waited in line at the stadium as if they were going to a Charger's game, just to drop off a case of bottled water, or a sleeping bag, or some blankets or sandwiches for people who had been evacuated. You did not see any evacuees with signs in San Diego saying "Please Help Us" because before the signs were made, the help was already there. The citizens in this town mobilized and volunteered and gave and pitched in wherever they could. They are still working to help the fire victims and will continue to do so for months. America's Finest City isn't just the finest because we have miles of glorious coastline and Panda's and Killer Whales. San Diego is America's Finest City because it has a Giant Heart.
We also have a Governor who stepped off the silver screen from playing a hero and became a hero in real life. The minute San Diego was in trouble, Arnold showed up, too. And he didn't show up for 20 minutes for a brief walk through the ashes to shake his head with a sad look on his face and fly off again. He parked here. He stayed. He worked with city officials and firefighters and he got them what they needed. When Schwarzenegger ran for office, people joked about it. No one's laughing now. The man is remarkable. America's Finest City has been blessed with America's Finest People and America's Finest Governor. Our nickname may be a bit clunky, but it's completely true.
Lucky, on the other hand, hasn't been very Lucky. (See, I told you I'd get to GH eventually.) He's been brainwashed, his Mom is in a vegetative state, he got shot and hooked on drugs, his baby sister is mixed up in a mob war, his Dad vanishes for months at a time, his son Jake is... NOT his son Jake and his marriage to his high school sweetheart Liz has fallen apart. But perhaps his luck is changing. Sam is back from her Everyday Heroes location shoot, and ready to have a real relationship with Lucky. It's great to have Kelly Monaco back and to see her actually SMILE. Sam has been written so angry and cranky and whiny for so long, it's nice to see glimpses of the Sam we once loved. Maybe she's still in there somewhere.
Lucky's brother Nikolas may still be in there somewhere, but he's crazy as hell. He keeps having "Blackouts" where he almost accidentally kills someone and then 4 seconds later doesn't remember that it happened. Man, I wish I could get away with that. I have a few people I'd like to accidentally hold over a railing for a few minutes.
But all kidding aside, dear readers - why is Nikolas still out walking around? He should be holed up in Shadybrook in a bed next to the Back of Laura's Head. Nikolas has violently attacked a plethora of people, yet no one has pressed legal charges, or moved to have him committed. He nearly dropped Sam over a parapet at Wyndemere, and then tells her "Sorry cousin, I don't remember what just happened." Sam is very casual about dangling to her near death, and shrugs it off with a "Well, hey, if you don't REMEMBER trying to kill me, no problem!" Same with Jerry Jax, "Well, yeah, Nikolas stabbed me, but you know, I *did* poison him after all, so I guess I owe him my silence." And then there's Logan, and Alexis, and Carly's idiotic "I don't know why Max intervened when Nikolas had a letter opener to my throat - I was talking him down!"
Nik has a steady line of people who have witnessed his outbursts, and no one has done anything about it. Just as well - otherwise he wouldn't be free togo totally mad and kill someone at the big Black and White Ball. Rumor has it that Nikolas is going to kill a major character at his gala event. I only wish it was like American Idol and we got to phone in and vote on which character he offs.
It won't be Robin, that's for sure. Now that Patrick has told her he won't interfere in her elusive quest for sperm anymore, I suppose we will find out Robin already IS pregnant with Patrick's baby. I don't buy the "Robin is having dizzy spells because she is so stressed out about finding a sperm donor." logic. When Robin thought she was pregnant before, and the home pregnancy test came back negative, I thought... "Mmm Hmmm." I have a hunch she doesn't need Spinelli to do his... duty. BTW, just the thought of Spinelli pleasuring himself in Dr. Lee's office made me a little queasy. Robin is probably already pregnant, with Patrick as the unwilling 'sperm donor' like it or not. If I'm right, the depth of this storyline will be two-fold, watching Patrick try to wrap his mind around parenthood, and Robin and the rest of us being educated on HIV and pregnancy.
Lulu needs an education too- apparently no one ever taught her how to LISTEN. Like when someone says "Don't you dare go back to the house of that madman, he will kill you." She still goes back. Boy, that Anthony Zacharra is a real whack job. Hooray! There's nothing like a seriously unbalanced murderous villain to spice up a soap opera. If the crazed maniac adores roses, too - that's just gravy. Lulu would be much better off working things out with the Beautiful Disaster known as Logan Hayes, and I hope eventually she forgets about Johnny. However, Johnny might be a good match for Skanky Maxie, assuming she can sober up and get back to work. (Meow.)
My deepest respect to Lucky and Liz for silencing their warring lawyers and making the best choice for their kids, together. Imagine if every divorced family were able to behave so rationally and put their children's happiness above getting even with each other. But hey, that would put all those family courts and mediators out of business.
What will happen tomorrow? Will Rick and Sonny finally become BFF's and team up together to take down Mr. Big (Oops, I mean Trevor)? Will Molly and Lila Rae play nice together while Skye and Ric work hard at pretending there is no agenda other than dual diaper duty? Will Anthony Zacharra get his dead wife's necklace and choke Lulu with it? Will Carly actually follow instructions for once and wear Black and White to the Black and White ball? Will someone remind poor brain damaged Jason where the barber shop is located? Will Sam tell Lucky that his brother tried to kill her during their next hot tub romp? Will any of the GH doctors ever remind Epiphany that she is a nurse and therefore not the boss of them? Will Sonny be mad when his suit gets messed up after that car exploded on it? Will God please, please, please send San Diego some rain? (But not too much, we don't want mudslides.)
