When a random person tells you they're sorry you live in L.A., they're trying to goad you into a debate or shame you for your choices.
My favorite retort comes from an essay in Samantha Irby's latest collection, Quietly Hostile. She writes about a person who insisted on telling her that they didn't like something she enjoyed.
Refuse to take the bait and tell them, Well, I love it! Sure, they can point out things that are wrong with the city, but you don't have to get down in the conversational muck.
As a native Baltimorean, I'm very used to people responding to my hometown with grim assessments born out of overblown headlines, political point-scoring or just plain ignorance.
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