wandrlust – discover the undiscovered

Some people love donuts. Cops for example are stereotypically associated with the donut. Maybe they do love donuts as much as they are portrayed to, but I have a theory, one that comes down to the donut shop itself.

See — the majority of representations we see in regards to officers of the law come from film and television. Most of said shows take place in Los Angeles and even if the setting isn’t LA, generally, they are at least shot here. Of all the places I have ever been to, I have never seen a city so densely populated with donut shops (that and places that serve pastrami all over shit) as Los Angeles. Yelp has around 960 donut shops listed in LA County — although I think its even more than that. My point is, with the hours cops have and the surprising lack of places that are open 24 hours, donut shops tend to be the default establishment for cops — or maybe, cops just love donuts.

All this being said, I am not much of a donut man — but, I had to make a trip to UPS in Baldwin Park and knowing that the Donut Hole was down the street, I made the pilgrimage to neighboring La Puente. From the outside the building looks akin to the axle of a car from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”. Yet even with my general lack of donut enthusiasm, one can’t suppress the giddy excitement derived from driving through two gigantic donuts:

Freud would probably have a field day with the implications of this. One can’t help but to draw a parallel between this and passing through the birth canal; a feeling one has over and over again passing through endless tunnels during a visit to Disneyland. The symbolic act of birth and rebirth through Disneyland’s rides are probably a well thought out psychological effect — to evoke  a subconscious feeling of being born. Passing through dark, cavernous tunnels only to emerge into a bright, blinding light and to be thrown back into the constantly disappointing throws of reality, of age and decay… or something. So again, you stand in line — to repeat this feeling ad nauseum; to crawl back into the womb, emerge with disappointment, and eat a churro.

Driving through the Donut Hole is similar to this sans the dramatic implications. I got a single glazed donut for the sake of it:

The donut was as fresh and tasty as one should be. Would I drive all the way here to get a donut? Well, since I already did that point is moot. If anything you should drive all the way here to pass through the Donut Hole to be re-welcomed into life with a delicious donut, realizing that simple pleasure do exists on the other side.

The Donut Hole is located at: 15300 Amar Rd, La Puente, CA 91744

See more penetrating photos of the Donut Hole in the Gallery.