Wednesday night I was heading into the West Valley to meet up with the extended family for my brother-in-law's birthday. One problem: I couldn't remember if Maria said the Thai BBQ location we were meeting at was on Reseda, or where on Reseda.
So I called 411 on my Blackberry.
"411, city and state please," the pre-recorded voice intoned.
"Los Angeles, California."
Suddenly, a live voice came on: "Listing please."
"Thai BBQ on Reseda."
"Sorry, I have no listing for that. I have locations on Venice and on Hollywood," she replied.
"Hmm, none in other parts of Los Angeles? Nothing in the 818 are code?" I asked.
"Sir, 818 is not part of Los Angeles."
Ooh, dem's fightin' words. Of course, quite a huge chunk of Los Angeles is in the 818!
"No, 818 is in Los Angeles."
She got testy. "Sir, I'm gonna need a city name."
Ugh. I know what's happening here; 411 considers neighborhoods like Northridge or Reseda as separate cities.
"OK, what cities do you have there?" I asked.
"Van Nuys, Reseda..."
"But, but, THAT'S LOS ANGELES!" I spit out.
"Sir, I'm going to transfer you to my supervisor."
I ultimately just called the Thai BBQ in Hollywood and asked if they had a location on Reseda; they did, and gave me the address. Guess I should have just done that to begin with.
UPDATE: OK, just to be a city nerd, I tried another test. I called 411 and told 'em I was looking for a Los Angeles phone number. "Barney's Beanery, on Santa Monica."
They gave it to me. IT'S IN WEST HOLLYWOOD, PEOPLE!
So here's the recap. 411 won't recognize parts of L.A. -- Northridge, Reseda, etc. -- as Los Angeles. Yet it does recognize West Hollywood -- a completely separate city, unlike those Valley neighborhoods -- as a part of Los Angeles. It's an area code thing, I suppose. But still!
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