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This winter has been one that separates the wheat from the chaff. We occasionally get a really wet winter that serves to remind many that Western Washington is not for everyone. With the kind of growth we've been having, that's not a bad thing.
Just came back from Seattle for a work trip. Used to live there in 2007-2008, now in Boston. Three big takeaways:
1. I can't count the number of times I heard "This winter has been really bad" or "This has been a really tough winter" from the people there - cab drivers, Uber drivers, waiters, bartenders, practically everyone I interacted with. And it's not just the fact that I heard it everywhere, but the complete hopelessness with which people delivered it. People b*tch about the weather all the time in Boston, but usually laugh it off - they don't get all morose and suicidal looking. So much S.A.D.
2. Also, so much pent up aggression and unhappiness in people out there in your fine city. Sure, everyone was friendly and cordial during the daylight hours, but then night fell and the alcohol kicked in. The realness came out. There was more than one situation where people in bars had absolutely zero interest in making friends, and were obviously looking to start a fight or argument. It is amazing how one simple question like "Where are you from?" can devolve into a verbal spat where people are openly and aggressively trying to tell you how much you suck and how much better they are than you. Newsflash: if you were so great, you wouldn't have to tell everyone about it.
2a. The aforementioned happened when a group of women approached our table (all dudes) and tried to strike up convo. It started out great, but quickly went downhill when we made a joke about the Seahawks (we're all Pats fans). So to recap: they wanted to know where WE were from, but ended up on a mission to tell us how much where we're from sucked, and how much better Seattle is than Boston. It was both tacky and childish and rude all at the same time. At the end I just felt sorry for them. (FYI, ladies of Seattle, trying to appear more aggressive or assertive, or whatever you think you're doing, than your male counterparts is not attractive. No wonder you're all single.)
2b. Another aforementioned situation happened when a girl at the bar asked my buddy what he did for a living and he jokingly said "dolphin trainer". This grown woman was actually gullible enough to believe that answer, so we decided to have some fun with it and carried it on another 5 minutes. Ended with the girl on the verge of tears calling us liars and a**holes in front of the whole bar. Why so sensitive, Seattle? Why??
3. I got food poisoning from the clam chowder at Pike Place Market. F*ck you, Pike Place Chowder. You have always been the one thing I look forward to enjoying when I visit Seattle, and now that is ruined.
So glad I left Seattle. Maybe I'll just schedule my work trip for the summer next time.
Last edited by raindropdroptop; 03-21-2017 at 05:45 PM..
Just came back from Seattle for a work trip. Used to live there in 2007-2008, now in Boston. Three big takeaways:
1. I can't count the number of times I heard "This winter has been really bad" or "This has been a really tough winter" from the people there - cab drivers, Uber drivers, waiters, bartenders, practically everyone I interacted with. And it's not just the fact that I heard it everywhere, but the complete hopelessness with which people delivered it. People b*tch about the weather all the time in Boston, but usually laugh it off - they don't get all morose and suicidal looking. So much S.A.D.
2. Also, so much pent up aggression and unhappiness in people out there in your fine city. Sure, everyone was friendly and cordial during the daylight hours, but then night fell and the alcohol kicked in. The realness came out. There was more than one situation where people in bars had absolutely zero interest in making friends, and were obviously looking to start a fight or argument. It is amazing how one simple question like "Where are you from?" can devolve into a verbal spat where people are openly and aggressively trying to tell you how much you suck and how much better they are than you. Newsflash: if you were so great, you wouldn't have to tell everyone about it.
2a. The aforementioned happened when a group of women approached our table (all dudes) and tried to strike up convo. It started out great, but quickly went downhill when we made a joke about the Seahawks (we're all Pats fans). So to recap: they wanted to know where WE were from, but ended up on a mission to tell us how much where we're from sucked, and how much better Seattle is than Boston. It was both tacky and childish and rude all at the same time. At the end I just felt sorry for them. (FYI, ladies of Seattle, trying to appear more aggressive or assertive, or whatever you think you're doing, than your male counterparts is not attractive. No wonder you're all single.)
2b. Another aforementioned situation happened when a girl at the bar asked my buddy what he did for a living and he jokingly said "dolphin trainer". This grown woman was actually gullible enough to believe that answer, so we decided to have some fun with it and carried it on another 5 minutes. Ended with the girl on the verge of tears calling us liars and a**holes in front of the whole bar. Why so sensitive, Seattle? Why??
3. I got food poisoning from the clam chowder at Pike Place Market. F*ck you, Pike Place Chowder. You have always been the one thing I look forward to enjoying when I visit Seattle, and now that is ruined.
So glad I left Seattle. Maybe I'll just schedule my work trip for the summer next time.
Classy. Sounds like a Pats fan. Maybe skip Seattle and go to Portland instead? (Sorry Portland.)
Just came back from Seattle for a work trip. Used to live there in 2007-2008, now in Boston. Three big takeaways:
2. Also, so much pent up aggression and unhappiness in people out there in your fine city. Sure, everyone was friendly and cordial during the daylight hours, but then night fell and the alcohol kicked in. The realness came out. There was more than one situation where people in bars had absolutely zero interest in making friends, and were obviously looking to start a fight or argument. It is amazing how one simple question like "Where are you from?" can devolve into a verbal spat where people are openly and aggressively trying to tell you how much you suck and how much better they are than you. Newsflash: if you were so great, you wouldn't have to tell everyone about it.
2a. The aforementioned happened when a group of women approached our table (all dudes) and tried to strike up convo. It started out great, but quickly went downhill when we made a joke about the Seahawks (we're all Pats fans). So to recap: they wanted to know where WE were from, but ended up on a mission to tell us how much where we're from sucked, and how much better Seattle is than Boston. It was both tacky and childish and rude all at the same time. At the end I just felt sorry for them. (FYI, ladies of Seattle, trying to appear more aggressive or assertive, or whatever you think you're doing, than your male counterparts is not attractive. No wonder you're all single.)
2b. Another aforementioned situation happened when a girl at the bar asked my buddy what he did for a living and he jokingly said "dolphin trainer". This grown woman was actually gullible enough to believe that answer, so we decided to have some fun with it and carried it on another 5 minutes. Ended with the girl on the verge of tears calling us liars and a**holes in front of the whole bar. Why so sensitive, Seattle? Why??
3. I got food poisoning from the clam chowder at Pike Place Market. F*ck you, Pike Place Chowder. You have always been the one thing I look forward to enjoying when I visit Seattle, and now that is ruined.
I am laughing as I write this! I'm really glad you explained why you think Seattle people are so lame because you really just exposed yourself as opposed to giving corroborating info. You know...I knew a dolphin trainer, and do you know who else I knew? I knew the underwater swimmer who swam with the dolphins for the underwater dolphin show. And no, I didn't work at Sea World, just lived in San Diego.
A dolphin trainer in Seattle may not be common, but that's only because there aren't enough openings for the people who want the job. If after you saw she believed you, and you and your buddies played with her for 5 minutes, you deserved what you got, and the reason I'm laughing? The food poisoning. God, I just can't help but laugh when I see karma come around this fast!
And if you're a troll, thanks! I just had a really nice laugh - great story!
I am laughing as I write this! I'm really glad you explained why you think Seattle people are so lame because you really just exposed yourself as opposed to giving corroborating info. You know...I knew a dolphin trainer, and do you know who else I knew? I knew the underwater swimmer who swam with the dolphins for the underwater dolphin show. And no, I didn't work at Sea World, just lived in San Diego.
A dolphin trainer in Seattle may not be common, but that's only because there aren't enough openings for the people who want the job. If after you saw she believed you, and you and your buddies played with her for 5 minutes, you deserved what you got, and the reason I'm laughing? The food poisoning. God, I just can't help but laugh when I see karma come around this fast!
And if you're a troll, thanks! I just had a really nice laugh - great story!
Ha! Be careful talking about "karma" around Pats fans, we usually come out ahead in that area...
So you support a grown woman that can't smell out a joke from a mile away? Good for you! "Not enough openings for people that want the job"? How about there are only like three SeaWorlds in the entire US, and the chances of you or anyone you know meeting a dolphin trainer that works at one is less than 1-in-a-million...
Wait, am I really explaining this to you?? Sh*t, you're her, aren't you?!?!
It's something that we wouldn't have even considered fathomable even just a couple of years ago, but we are in the process of leaving the area and heading to Southern California (Marina Del Rey area). We're presently about 50/50 between the 2 areas as we transition. The reasons were many:
-Housing costs. Even though we have made almost no improvements to our home, its value has nonetheless absolutely shot through the roof for very little reason. I would go so far as to suggest *no* reason, as I understand the reason for the housing spike is simply foreign (usually Chinese) investors looking for tax havens for their money that are buying all the properties - most of the time sight unseen - and creating a frenzy that just isn't justified in this area. A number of homes in my area have gone up and sold within a matter of days, and then remained empty. It's the beginning of the same issue that has been plaguing Vancouver for years. Which leads me to point 2, which is....
-We did a cost analysis between Seattle and Los Angeles, and amazingly found that LA would only end up being about 3% more expensive once the initial housing jolt is dealt with (and, thanks to the profit to be made up here thanks to some random Chinese buyer, is largely mitigated). So now you're telling me that for 3 points, I can actually have pleasant weather where you actually see the sun more than 3 months out of the year, dominant culture, better food, outdoor activities that more align with our preferences, better mental health (that seasonal affective disorder is actually a thing, it turns out) and less wear and tear on our bodies (as we get older, the moist climate up here works more and more hell on our bodies). That's a steal at twice the price.
-Social climate. Honestly, this was what got the conversation going. We simply got tired of having to deal with another protest every single day up here. Tired of the traffic jams. Tired of the screaming. Tired of the having to avoid certain parts of town, usually near the core. We're centrists, very live and let live types of people, and we find ourselves ever more surrounded by a bunch of hardcore intolerants who can't accept someone not agreeing with their more extreme positions. It says a lot that this city has actually become more granola than frigging SoCal....we're just tired of it, and tired of worrying about how we're going to raise a reasonably well-adjusted child in an area where indoctrination comes from all sides and is openly pushed in the education system. The LA area at least has the benefit of you being able to stay away from that nonsense if you want due to its sprawl.
-Weather. The summer is the payout up here, and we've been robbed of those summers more than once in recent years (either it doesn't really start until way late or too much of it ends up being uncomfortably hot). Similarly, the winters have been even greyer than normal, yet this was the first year in a while we at least got some snow to change things up. Why this is, we don't know, but without the payout, this place is really trying.
-We live on the East side, but both work west of the lake. Our commute is already abysmally bad, and the 90 express lanes are being appropriated with no traffic mitigation in the very near future. We did dry runs, and our commutes down in Cali are actually faster even before the war on cars continues up here.
-Taxes, taxes, more taxes, and then more proposed taxes on top of that. At least LA already has most of their taxes already baked in. ST3, taxes to coddle the homeless (and there's another big reason, btw), taxes for public art projects, taxes to mitigate the loss of Federal funding because the city won't get off its sanctuary city kick and figures the populace will just eat that. I read somewhere recently that there has never been a point in history that the area has had as much money in the government coffers as it does right now, and yet they keep reaching ever further into everyone's pockets. Tired of it. I'm seeing a new proposed tax almost weekly at this point.
The short of it is that at the turn of the century, this was one of my favorite places anywhere in the world. Fast forward to today, and I barely even recognize the place anymore, and I don't mean in terms of architecture. The entire vibe of the place has changed in just 15 years and, for us, this place has just lost its soul and what made it such a great place to be. It's gone from being a criminally underrated hidden gem to a woefully overrated experiment in what happens when inmates are given run of the asylum. No regrets.
Short & sweet: You probably shouldn't live here if you don't like it. This might apply to anywhere.
Maybe the weather gets to you. Maybe it's too expensive. Maybe the traffic grinds your gears. Maybe you're having trouble connecting socially. Maybe the politics don't agree with you. Maybe you can't find a good gig.
Copy and paste to whichever city forum you like.
It gets tiresome to read how much greener the grass is elsewhere. Go frolic in it. No sense in killing the grass here.
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As long as the herd is thinned, I don't mind being the chaff that stays.
