Do you think the "Seattle freeze" would bother an introvert? (Vancouver: neighborhoods, friendly)
Seattle areaSeattle and King County Suburbs
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Seattle is just a pot full of angry, thin-skinned, PC losers who want to revel in their social awkwardness and remain lonely for the rest of their lives. Seriously, this is where lonely people come to die. It's sad. I seriously need to get out of here. Beautiful landscape, but the people are like zombies. I just really hope that my personality will come back to life once I move to a new city with socially in-tune people. I've lived here for almost three years now. I am now scared to smile or crack sarcastic jokes. I have lost inflection in my voice. I don't say anything when meeting new people, out of fear that any word will set them off because it reminds them of a bad person from their past or they will develop 96987987 assumptions based on one sentence I say. Seattle is seriously a dumping grounds for the rotten apples and the bitter folk with a chip on their shoulder. Not a good place for someone who wants to make friends. I might come back here someday if I am 65 years old with a family (or if I'm 65 and happily lonely). But I feel like I just wasted three years of my 20's living out here, whereas people my age living in other cities are now getting married or having the time of their lives.
Seattle is just a pot full of angry, thin-skinned, PC losers who want to revel in their social awkwardness and remain lonely for the rest of their lives. Seriously, this is where lonely people come to die. It's sad. I seriously need to get out of here. Beautiful landscape, but the people are like zombies. I just really hope that my personality will come back to life once I move to a new city with socially in-tune people. I've lived here for almost three years now. I am now scared to smile or crack sarcastic jokes. I have lost inflection in my voice. I don't say anything when meeting new people, out of fear that any word will set them off because it reminds them of a bad person from their past or they will develop 96987987 assumptions based on one sentence I say. Seattle is seriously a dumping grounds for the rotten apples and the bitter folk with a chip on their shoulder. Not a good place for someone who wants to make friends. I might come back here someday if I am 65 years old with a family (or if I'm 65 and happily lonely). But I feel like I just wasted three years of my 20's living out here, whereas people my age living in other cities are now getting married or having the time of their lives.
WOW! Lol... Your worm sure has turned. Remember when you wrote this in March 2013:
"I'm from the Midwest, but I have not been experiencing the Seattle Freeze at all nor do I understand others' perception of it. What exactly is it supposed to be? People here act the same as do Midwesterners, IMO. I mean, do people on the East Coast befriend you and call you up everyday or something once they meet you? Did you think everyone was going to hug you and try to invite you over for dinner? I don't understand what people expect?
I think the real problem is that so many transplants come here and get lazy. If you want to make friends, YOU have to make an effort. I think this goes for any new city. I was really lazy when I first came here so I didn't meat anyone, but I have been attending all sorts of Meetup events (some are kinda lame, not gonna lie) and I responded to platonic ads on Craigslist (be careful with those, though). I've met a ton of people, but only a fraction of them are people I still hang out with. That's how it is anywhere. You fish for friends, I guess. Half the friends I've made are from Seattle and half are transplants. They are all the same to me. Back at home, I would've NEVER considered using the internet to meet friends. But when you're new to a city and not in college anymore, you have to be willing to go alternative routes."
I would love to start a "before and after" thread on here for people that move to Seattle, extoll its virtues abundantly, and then eventually CRACK. If only you could turn back the clock, eh?
WOW! Lol... Your worm sure has turned. Remember when you wrote this in March 2013:
"I'm from the Midwest, but I have not been experiencing the Seattle Freeze at all nor do I understand others' perception of it. What exactly is it supposed to be? People here act the same as do Midwesterners, IMO. I mean, do people on the East Coast befriend you and call you up everyday or something once they meet you? Did you think everyone was going to hug you and try to invite you over for dinner? I don't understand what people expect?
I think the real problem is that so many transplants come here and get lazy. If you want to make friends, YOU have to make an effort. I think this goes for any new city. I was really lazy when I first came here so I didn't meat anyone, but I have been attending all sorts of Meetup events (some are kinda lame, not gonna lie) and I responded to platonic ads on Craigslist (be careful with those, though). I've met a ton of people, but only a fraction of them are people I still hang out with. That's how it is anywhere. You fish for friends, I guess. Half the friends I've made are from Seattle and half are transplants. They are all the same to me. Back at home, I would've NEVER considered using the internet to meet friends. But when you're new to a city and not in college anymore, you have to be willing to go alternative routes."
I would love to start a "before and after" thread on here for people that move to Seattle, extoll its virtues abundantly, and then eventually CRACK. If only you could turn back the clock, eh?
I'm flattered that you took the time to dig for an old post of mine.
But yes, you're right. I cracked. I came here and held out hope for a long time before I too realized that this place sucks. And?
Seattle is just a pot full of angry, thin-skinned, PC losers who want to revel in their social awkwardness and remain lonely for the rest of their lives. Seriously, this is where lonely people come to die. It's sad. I seriously need to get out of here. Beautiful landscape, but the people are like zombies. I just really hope that my personality will come back to life once I move to a new city with socially in-tune people. I've lived here for almost three years now. I am now scared to smile or crack sarcastic jokes. I have lost inflection in my voice. I don't say anything when meeting new people, out of fear that any word will set them off because it reminds them of a bad person from their past or they will develop 96987987 assumptions based on one sentence I say. Seattle is seriously a dumping grounds for the rotten apples and the bitter folk with a chip on their shoulder. Not a good place for someone who wants to make friends. I might come back here someday if I am 65 years old with a family (or if I'm 65 and happily lonely). But I feel like I just wasted three years of my 20's living out here, whereas people my age living in other cities are now getting married or having the time of their lives.
Seattle is the sort of place that, prior to the tech explosion, was a large town with engineers @ Boeing and other aeronautics businesses, fisherman/sailors from the fishing fleets and professional axmen via Weyenhaeuser. That was it. Ask yourself why so many teenage runaways used to see Seattle as a haven? Why heroin use was synonymous with Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, B.C. up until the turn of the century? Why the politics in a previous backwater has such a communist/socialist bend to it? Seattle was the last frontier before Alaska if one was weird or strange and fit in nowhere else. Beyond social misfits, it was also a place where career criminals could get lost in. You can still see some of them on the streets and the term skid row was coined for Pioneer Square.
Now these days are a bit different and things change. I personally could never live in such a place ever again and my recent trip there ensured me of that. Most of the people there just aren't worth all the work and even when they are they remain smug and reticent in a bad way, in a 'I'm special' sort of way. So I finally realized why their stock phrase "If you don't like it here, leave" actually meant. I think a good number of people up there either wish they could leave themselves or want to rid themselves of anyone who intrudes on their protective bubbles. It's a sad misanthropy going on up there and not one I want to be surrounded by. Eats the soul, bogs down the heart.
I'm an introvert (and I actually teach the MBTI -- so it's long been official) and I lived in Seattle and loved it for 13 years. That said, I found it EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to make genuine friends, much more so than other places I have lived, though I did manage to find a few, mostly other introverts. It can be VERY difficult to break through the facade that many in Seattle put up -- both for an introvert (like me/you) and as someone who just doesn't like to waste time.
If you aren't prepared to have a small circle of GOOD friends (that it can take a while to cultivate), and a larger circle of "friends" who will only occasionally get together and/or follow through on plans -- but rarely if ever reciprocate invitations and the like -- Seattle may not be the place for you, at least socially.
And, trust me, this is NOT something that is my viewpoint alone.
I'm flattered that you took the time to dig for an old post of mine.
But yes, you're right. I cracked. I came here and held out hope for a long time before I too realized that this place sucks. And?
I have just been on this site long enough to remember your name from the past. I think (but don't quote me on thus ) that you may have once told me how crazy I was for thinking Seattle sucked. The point is exactly what I said: I would love to have a thread on here that compared the before and after experiences of people that moved to Seattle to give people some grounded perspective. I think the large amount of posts on here from people who have lived in Seattle for 3 months, talking about how awesome it is, are really misleading.
There is anti-social subculture in Seattle that many could mistakenly identify as introvert tendencies.
As a true introvert you might find people here readily taking credit for your work or taking advantage of the fact that you don't have a large, loud and active social networking group.
To me this is most obvious when getting employed: those with a strong social network and good built up reputation in their circle always get preference over those with actual skills, creativity or ability.
For an introvert to have a small independent business would be the best!
I have just been on this site long enough to remember your name from the past. I think (but don't quote me on thus ) that you may have once told me how crazy I was for thinking Seattle sucked. The point is exactly what I said: I would love to have a thread on here that compared the before and after experiences of people that moved to Seattle to give people some grounded perspective. I think the large amount of posts on here from people who have lived in Seattle for 3 months, talking about how awesome it is, are really misleading.
That's how I feel. I love a lot of things about this place. It's also teaching me some social skills I never quite learned, because I am no longer being overshadowed by loud boisterous people. But ultimately I am wondering if it's best to just quit early, rather than sticking around a couple years and cracking.
If I stay here for ten years I will be pale, antisocial, overweight, divorced, neurotic, and probably have more STDs than friends. Just statistically, that is my most realistic future here, from what I see around me. I'll probably get fired from my job due to low performance as a result of depression.
Quote:
I just really hope that my personality will come back to life once I move to a new city with socially in-tune people. I've lived here for almost three years now. I am now scared to smile or crack sarcastic jokes.
I'm the opposite. I have trouble smiling for no reason, unless I am just in a really good mood. Now I am learning to be more friendly and outgoing because I get a positive response here...people are happy when someone breaks their sadness and solitude. Well, some are.
I don't know. I fit in here pretty well. I am the Seattle stereotype, but I have just never been around people like me. I need to come to terms with that and see what it means.
Last edited by FleeingSeattle; 11-23-2014 at 02:05 PM..
Seattle is just a pot full of angry, thin-skinned, PC losers who want to revel in their social awkwardness and remain lonely for the rest of their lives. Seriously, this is where lonely people come to die. It's sad. I seriously need to get out of here. Beautiful landscape, but the people are like zombies. I just really hope that my personality will come back to life once I move to a new city with socially in-tune people. I've lived here for almost three years now. I am now scared to smile or crack sarcastic jokes. I have lost inflection in my voice. I don't say anything when meeting new people, out of fear that any word will set them off because it reminds them of a bad person from their past or they will develop 96987987 assumptions based on one sentence I say. Seattle is seriously a dumping grounds for the rotten apples and the bitter folk with a chip on their shoulder. Not a good place for someone who wants to make friends. I might come back here someday if I am 65 years old with a family (or if I'm 65 and happily lonely). But I feel like I just wasted three years of my 20's living out here, whereas people my age living in other cities are now getting married or having the time of their lives.
I'm sorry to hear things aren't working out well for you.
I personally have noticed that people are more PC and a bit more open about their political/social views than other places. There are also a ton of hipster types all around Seattle, which probably contributes to this. It's not like there's just one or two hippie neighborhoods, even downtown in the shopping district you'll see plenty of hipsters and other characters. This may be a unique characteristic of the American PNW, because when I visit Vancouver, BC (which I do quite frequently) I notice that people are friendlier and that hipsters are hard to find.
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Maybe!
) that you may have once told me how crazy I was for thinking Seattle sucked. The point is exactly what I said: I would love to have a thread on here that compared the before and after experiences of people that moved to Seattle to give people some grounded perspective. I think the large amount of posts on here from people who have lived in Seattle for 3 months, talking about how awesome it is, are really misleading.
