Wary Residents Reluctantly Return to Normal Lives

Californians struggled Wednesday to resume the regular rhythms of their lives. But the desire for normalcy was dampened by wariness and defiance.

Receptionist Vicki Guadelupe, 39, who works on the 20th floor of a Century City office building, shook off her fears of terrorism Wednesday morning when she spotted a large white plane cruising overhead as she drove to work.

“I refused to accept that they’re going to get any sway over my life,” said Guadelupe.

Though federal buildings and airports remained closed and Major League baseball parks stayed dark, other California landmarks reopened Wednesday, from Los Angeles City Hall to Disneyland.

Yet traffic remained unusually light and spots normally filled with tourists and shoppers were largely empty.

On Bunker Hill, managers of the 73-story Library Tower, Los Angeles’ tallest building, allowed only tenants inside. Nearby at Arco Plaza, the public was allowed in but nerves were frayed.

Robin Medley, who works on the 43rd floor of the complex, drew parallels between her office and New York’s World Trade Center, which she watched burn and crumble.

“It could have been one of those towers right here,” she said. “It’s too close.”

Official Los Angeles resumed its duties, but talk rarely strayed from Tuesday’s attacks.

“The story isn’t over yet,” said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. David Berger, who reluctantly went to work Wednesday in the 19-story Criminal Courts Building. “Why should we be any different? We’re just as much of a target as anywhere else.”

Casey Lilienfeld, a deputy public defender, said the mood in courtrooms was more somber than usual.

“Things are running,” he said. “But it seems like everybody is preoccupied.”

With air traffic grounded and conventions canceled or postponed, hundreds of downtown hotel rooms went vacant.

On Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive, few shoppers could be found. And some who did venture out did so with dark purposes.

One woman stopped at the Gianfranco Ferre boutique to pick up a black suit to wear to the funerals of two friends who she said perished aboard hijacked planes, according to Laura Weisberg, the store’s general manager.

“It’s very, very quiet,” Weisberg said. “How can it not be? . . . It touches everyone.”

The entertainment industry wrestled with getting back into production even as the real events in New York and Washington trumped most imaginations. Warner Bros. reopened its Burbank studios for most shows. But production on the top-rated sitcom, “Friends,” was postponed because one of its stars, David Schwimmer, was stranded in Canada.

Visitors to Disneyland encountered tight security at the front gates, and emotional heaviness inside. Kellye Mendoza, 30, of Harbor City, her husband and two children were part of the thin crowd under brilliant blue skies.

“It’s very hard trying to have fun and you hear 10,000 people might have been killed,” she said.

The outdoor cafes at Universal Studios CityWalk, which reopened Wednesday, were nearly deserted. Ken Cornish, a waiter at the Hard Rock Cafe, said he asked a manager at a morning briefing on the daily specials: “So are we supposed to act like everything is normal? Do we have to pretend we’re happy?”

San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid skyscraper reopened Wednesday, but many workers stayed away, leaving the normally bustling building eerily subdued.

“It’s kind of difficult to talk about anything else right now,” said Janie Fang, 26, among five of 13 employees who showed up at Lombard Investments’ 36th-floor office. “It’s unsettling to walk to work and think that something more than twice this height toppled yesterday, and so many lives lost.”

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Times staff writers Kenneth Reich, Stanley Allison, Sue Fox, Kristina Sauerwein, Zanto Peabody and Dalondo Moultrie contributed to this story.