Official "Seattle Freeze" Discussion Thread (high school, live in)

[41Willys]

Huh,,,, thanks. I guess one has to experience it to feel/see it.

[badmikeyt]

Originally Posted by seahawksweetie

Question-What do you mean by the "206 mafia"? Just curious as I hadn't heard this term before.

Thanks

People who insist that if your home doesn't fall within the boundaries of the 206 area code that you are somehow inferior.

[badmikeyt]

The other thing that sticks in my memory (outside of the now infamous Seattle Freeze article) was an article in either the Stranger or the Seattle Weekly about Seattle being the 'culture of no' .. While I learned to very grudgingly accept the fact that the people were polite but standoffish, the one thing that I will always remember about Seattle was that I never felt that the people I knew or met had any passion about anything at all, unless it was something that they were against.

Living on Capitol HIll for 2 1/2 years, I saw more than my fair share of protests. I also marveled at how Seattle had such a reputation (deservedly so) for being so anti-big-corporation, yet a large percentage of the population worked for the companies they were supposedly so vehemently against. You can't spit without hitting a corp headquarters in King County.

If you pressed anyone to actually articulate what they were FOR, you'd be hard-pressed to get an answer out of them. Ask them what they were AGAINST and you'd have to brace yourself for the onslaught.

Ultimately, that was what pushed me over the edge and made me move. I missed being around people who were passionate about something positive. I missed people who took risks when it came to meeting others - not being afraid of or annoyed by the thought of opening themselves up to a new person and all of the potential that comes in establishing a new friendship.

Last night I had coffee at a Seattle-esque coffee shop here in the Lakeview burb of Chicago and while it took a moment, I had a striking realization - the place was packed, and not a single person was on his/her laptop with his/her ipod protecting them from strangers or unwanted social interaction. It was heaven.

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by badmikeyt

If you pressed anyone to actually articulate what they were FOR, you'd be hard-pressed to get an answer out of them. Ask them what they were AGAINST and you'd have to brace yourself for the onslaught.

So true! It's part of the Seattle culture. I find this a little less so as Seattle becomes more mainstream and affluent, though.

[Dweeby]

I am originally from the midwest, but have lived and worked in many other states and even abroad. I never had major social problems and feelings of adult isolation until I moved here in 1996. After I moved here, I pondered whether there was some secret handshake I didn't know, because the social climate was so odd.

When, like the woman in the article experienced, none of the natives seemed interested in knowing me, I tried taking the initiative for myself despite being new. Organized a large special interest social group. Hosted parties, restaurant outings and barbecues at my home. What I found is that people here are happy to tell you what you "should" plan for them, and are happy to critique your efforts, but don't want to reciprocate. Weird entitlement attitude. And, even when you do take the initiative to plan what they say they want you to plan, they still might not even show. The social group I organized had 300 people on the mailing list but it was rare for more than six to show up.

So, I pretty much gave up. Now I'm like the natives, and it's a development I don't particularly like. I've even become a Seattle stereotype, having depression issues. Like the article said, if a dog gets smacked every time he puts his nose out of the cage, he'll stay in his cage.

I am married, and my spouse is pretty much locked here for job reasons (unusual position, good pay, very few opportunities for it outside Seattle). So I stay here because the marriage means more to me than my dislike of the people here. But, I'll put it this way: if my spouse died on Tuesday, and the funeral was on Friday, I'd have the U-Haul in my driveway by Monday.

[41Willys]

I'm going to bed now but will take score of this debate tomorrow. Seems there's a lot of hate in Wa. for Seattle!

[goldengrain]

Originally Posted by badmikeyt

The other thing that sticks in my memory (outside of the now infamous Seattle Freeze article) was an article in either the Stranger or the Seattle Weekly about Seattle being the 'culture of no' .. While I learned to very grudgingly accept the fact that the people were polite but standoffish, the one thing that I will always remember about Seattle was that I never felt that the people I knew or met had any passion about anything at all, unless it was something that they were against.

Living on Capitol HIll for 2 1/2 years, I saw more than my fair share of protests. I also marveled at how Seattle had such a reputation (deservedly so) for being so anti-big-corporation, yet a large percentage of the population worked for the companies they were supposedly so vehemently against. You can't spit without hitting a corp headquarters in King County.

If you pressed anyone to actually articulate what they were FOR, you'd be hard-pressed to get an answer out of them. Ask them what they were AGAINST and you'd have to brace yourself for the onslaught.

Ultimately, that was what pushed me over the edge and made me move. I missed being around people who were passionate about something positive. I missed people who took risks when it came to meeting others - not being afraid of or annoyed by the thought of opening themselves up to a new person and all of the potential that comes in establishing a new friendship.

.

I'm sorry if I'm missing something, but the movement FOR liberty and a restoration of democracy is why people are AGAINST multinational corporations.
Our politicians, to keep their jobs, need to be re-elected. That takes money. That is what these corporations offer. Voila! They own our democracy. News programs are paid for by corporate money. Their stories just have to be selective, knowing their funding. A major radio station in New York, but this happens all around the country, systematically rids itself of liberal talk show hosts despite good (sometimes great) ratings. This is reality. Money talks and our government listens.

So, I see this as a movement FOR freedom and democracy and to restore choice to the people. How can people be expected to vote intelligently when they hear only one side of an issue, or when, for ratings, the progamming will never do an in-depth study of an issue - which leaves people superficially swayed by whichever party can spin the best.

The negativity that I see is in the studio heads and politicians who cultivate this environment. We need campaign financing reform to get corporations off the backs of our government and make it accountable to the people once again.

We need an equal time amendment to move media in the direction of presenting multiple sides of an issue. Talk show hosts should not be allowed to systematically hang up on people who do not agree with them.

So I see the demise of lobbyiests as a great positive for free civilizations.

[angelbug]

I've been doing a lot of reading in the Oregon and Washington forums because of impending family moves, and one thing I keep reading is how Midwesterners have such a hard time out here because people aren't as friendly as folks back home.

Then I visited an Illinois forum because a friend just moved to Galena, and I wanted to get some feel for the place. OMG. If the flame wars between the people in Illinois and Wisconsin don't take first prize. Makes the reaction we "Californians" (whatever *that* term means - but that's one of my pet peeves on these boards so don't get me started) get in the PNW seem downright homey. So much for Midwestern friendliness.

[Monumental1]

This might be the most ridiculous thread on city data.

The way I see it. If you can't make friends in a metro of 4 million people, then maybe there is something wrong with your social skills.

Seattle is too big now, with droves of people from everywhere, to put a label on the general population. Maybe 20 30 years ago, you might have a valid point. But in 2007..................don't think so.

Seattle is way to lively, and too large with so much going on. You could just walk in Downtown Seattle and meet 10 people if you wanted too.

[chris]

how long have you lived here monumental?

I've met several hundred people since I've been here, but I have seriously, maybe 2 friends outside of family. Not that I have time for much more than 2 friends...