So I'm pretty sure by now most of you have already seen this video of Hawai'i 5-0 actor, Scott Caan talking about Hawai'i on the Chelsea Lately show. If you're from Hawai'i, I'm about 99.9% sure you already watched it and probably had some sort of rage moment while watching it. If you haven't, here's the summary of what Scott talks about (the video is at the bottom of this post if you want to see it):
- the pace of life in Hawai'i is too slow and Hawai'i has no "hustle"
- surfing in Hawai'i is difficult in comparison to Malibu and he likens it to trying to survive rather than being actual fun
- the crystal meth problem is bad
- the food "sucks"
As far as the other things he said, I see absolutely nothing wrong.
I'm from west side O'ahu (for those not familiar with O'ahu, it's the part of Hawai'i where Dog the Bounty Hunter catches 85% of his meth criminals) and yes, the meth problem is bad in Hawai'i.
The surfing in Hawai'i is obviously some of the best in the WORLD, and on top of that, Hawai'i measure's waves in a way that makes waves smaller than they actually are (Hawai'i measures the back of the wave instead of the front, so what we measure as 3ft waves, in the rest of the world, it would be measured as 5-6ft). So of course he "no-Caan" handle. See what I did there?
Then there's the issue of his comment of Hawai'i having no hustle. I see what my Hawai'i people are tryine to argue but come on. But let's be real my Hawai'i people, NO ONE'S moving to/staying in Hawai'i for the hustle and bustle of amazing career opportunities.
"But my aunty works 2-3 jobs just to make ends meat."
Yes, she's "hustling" but that's not the "hustle" Scott Caan is referring to. There's a lot of people working 2-3 jobs and no one's knocking THAT hustle.The HUSTLE he's referring to is the hustle you got going AFTER you get off your day job(s) so you can quit and be financially free. It's the multiple things at once type of "hustle". It's that LA/NY hustle he's used to and Hawai'i lacks it.
"But we're not LA/NY, we're Hawai'i."
EXACTLY! The pace in Hawai'i is drastically slower than anyone at home realizes and you don't notice how incredibly slow it is until you move away for a couple years then come back like, "Damn this place is slow!" And it's nothing negative at all, it's just something to get used to. Even I get incredibly restless whenever I go back home to Hawai'i because as much as I love eating and going to the beach everyday, I need to make moves. So imagine someone like Scott Caan, who was BORN into the hustle of the cut-throat entertainment industry. An industry where if you don't make moves NOW, you could lose a potential job/gig to someone else within the hour. An industry where a "normal" day for him since he was a fetus is a mixture of waking up early, workout, take meetings, shoot tv show, photoshoot, promos, travel for more meetings, etc. Compare that to what we call a "productive day" in Hawai'i, which is stopping by the post office before the grocery store in between jobs or on the way to the beach.
That 2-3 job "hustle" is NOT just a Hawai'i thing so I'm negating refererence to that as THE hustle. That's A hustle, but not THE hustle. It's what you do IN ADDITION TO that 2-3 jobs. It's that Type A, go-go-go personality kind of hustle that dominates LA/NY that Scott and Chelsea are referring to. LA/NY is just on a different level and as crazy of a lifestyle it is, you get used to it and sometimes need it. Hustling is a habit not just a rap lyric. Imagine living in a CITY of people with this habit and then you could imagine the culture shock of slow-paced Hawai'i. And to be clear, NOTHING'S WRONG WITH HAWAI'I BEING SLOW.
I don't see him as knocking on Hawai'i's laziness by saying that it's slow but morso commenting how easy it is to be content in Hawai'i. Everyone's happily content in Hawai'i and it's easy to settle for the status quo because the status quo in Hawai'i is pretty sweet. Hawai'i is one of those places where you have what you have and family is all you need and nothing's wrong with that.
Let me put it this way: Personally, I honestly wish I didn't have to go to sleep because I feel that sleeping wastes valuable time. When I go back home to Hawai'i, even if I'm out with friends until 5am, I wake up before 8am and have the intense feeling that I have to so something productive relating to my career (ie set up meetings, edit, write, location scout, make calls, etc.). I feel like there's always something that needs to get done and I get antsy. I have to actively calm myself down and tell myself repeatedly "I'm back home. Just cruise. You don't have to do anything." It's a crazy lifestyle, but it's one that I enjoy. Would I rather sleep til noon only to wake up, cruise and go to the beach and drink beer. Of course! But until I accomplish the incredibly high goals I have set for myself in life, I'm constantly hustling. If my life's goal was just to settle down and have a big family (which nothing is wrong with that), then of course, the pace of Hawai'i is perfection. It's still doesn't change the fact that it's slow, but it's perfectly slow.
It's the reason why people come to Hawai'i to RETIRE and the same reason why people from Hawai'i (and I know you know many out there) who move away from Hawai'i for better opportunities.
I spent an extra amount of time on the "hustle" part of the interview because I was just surprised at some of the reactions I've seen by my Hawai'i people as if they are surprised at the change of pace lifestyle as if it's new information.
Hawai'i, like anyplace else, has it's positives and negatives. How are we gonna complain that "people don't know what it's really like and Hawai'i is tougher than people realize. It's not all hula skirts, surfing, and coconuts" then turn around and act surprised/offended when someone says that Hawai'i is less than paradise? Come on, son!!