Why is everything so much harder and stupid here? (Seattle: rental, health insurance)

[ijoe13]

Originally Posted by TheTravellers

Almost everything we've done here (from shopping for groceries to finding a new job - yes, it's that pervasive) has entailed way more effort than necessary, and has almost always involved stupidity, uncaring, ignorance, or something else.... For example:

We couldn't get water turned on in our new apt because the previous tenant didn't pay their bill (in Sumner) - this should *never* happen, new tenants should *never* be liable or have to deal with previous tenants' BS.

Retail clerks are idiots - can't ring up 2 things and get both prices right (this is just one problem out of about a hundred that we've had with retail clerks).

Doctor's offices are incompetent - front office doesn't talk to the nurse, who doesn't talk to the doctor, then you get a call back a day later without them having talked to each other and they tell you to come in (yeah, duh).

Streets change names on whims, dead end, have straight lanes suddenly change into turn lanes, etc.

*Gravel* is put down on ice and snow - not salt, not sand, not other ice-melting/traction substances, but *gravel*!

I could go on and on and on and on (and will probably try to write a book about how bizarre (and not in a good way) Western WA is), but I won't. I don't even know if this will get past the mod... And yes, we're trying to get our a**es out of here as fast as we can.

Last straw is that WA can't process the extra $25/week unemployment benefits until f-ing MAY!!!! Other states are now paying it out to unemployed workers, but WA can't get its computers straight until MAY - how pathetic. And yes, I'm unemployed, got laid off, which is why I care about this.

Is there *any* explanation as to why everything is so hard and out of the norm here (I've lived in 4 different states and visited probably 30 others, so I kind of know how things are outside of this crappy corner of the USA)??? Geography, isolation, what???

Tell you what; why don't we swap places? I'll give you Cleveland (nothing backwards here) and you give me Seattle. Please hurry!

[ijoe13]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

I'm going tell everyone on a Seattle forum how stupid and crazy they are. Then I will expect them to agree with me and proceed to tell me why they are so retarded! I will then go ballistic and start swearing at them when they disagree with me. If they talk amongst themselves and don't make me the center of attention, I will have a temper tantrum.

Right, we're the crazy ones....

Well written!

[stuckinseattle]

I don't know if you're still reading responses, but you're right, people here are incompetent. I don't know what it is but it's hideous. I have never, ever, ever experienced anything like it before. People can't communicate, they can't get anything done, they don't show up when they say they're going to, and they don't seem to be able to make connections between these things and success in life. It's DIRE.

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by stuckinseattle

I don't know if you're still reading responses, but you're right, people here are incompetent. I don't know what it is but it's hideous. I have never, ever, ever experienced anything like it before. People can't communicate, they can't get anything done, they don't show up when they say they're going to, and they don't seem to be able to make connections between these things and success in life. It's DIRE.

How absurd can you get?

[toughguy]

This thread makes me laugh.

[sno0gans]

Originally Posted by TheTravellers

Almost everything we've done here (from shopping for groceries to finding a new job - yes, it's that pervasive) has entailed way more effort than necessary, and has almost always involved stupidity, uncaring, ignorance, or something else.... For example:

We couldn't get water turned on in our new apt because the previous tenant didn't pay their bill (in Sumner) - this should *never* happen, new tenants should *never* be liable or have to deal with previous tenants' BS.

Retail clerks are idiots - can't ring up 2 things and get both prices right (this is just one problem out of about a hundred that we've had with retail clerks).

Doctor's offices are incompetent - front office doesn't talk to the nurse, who doesn't talk to the doctor, then you get a call back a day later without them having talked to each other and they tell you to come in (yeah, duh).

Streets change names on whims, dead end, have straight lanes suddenly change into turn lanes, etc.

*Gravel* is put down on ice and snow - not salt, not sand, not other ice-melting/traction substances, but *gravel*!

I could go on and on and on and on (and will probably try to write a book about how bizarre (and not in a good way) Western WA is), but I won't. I don't even know if this will get past the mod... And yes, we're trying to get our a**es out of here as fast as we can.

Last straw is that WA can't process the extra $25/week unemployment benefits until f-ing MAY!!!! Other states are now paying it out to unemployed workers, but WA can't get its computers straight until MAY - how pathetic. And yes, I'm unemployed, got laid off, which is why I care about this.

Is there *any* explanation as to why everything is so hard and out of the norm here (I've lived in 4 different states and visited probably 30 others, so I kind of know how things are outside of this crappy corner of the USA)??? Geography, isolation, what???

Welcome to Earth.

[TheTravellers]

Originally Posted by ijoe13

Well written!

Actually, it's not - it's full of falsehoods, assumptions, and lies.

I never told *anyone* on here that they were stupid and crazy, I said that things here are harder and more stupid then they are everywhere else I've been in the USA (about 30 states at last count). If you're one of the ones that don't communicate, don't show up for appts, and generally make things harder than they should be, then, yes, I am talking to you, but I have no evidence that any of you are the ones that are part of the problem (which apparently really doesn't exist because "everyone else here loves Seattle" ).

I never asked anyone on here to agree with me, I asked why these things happen here specifically (never said anything about "retarded" either).

I didn't go ballistic - did you know that people sometimes have different personalities and personas while online than they do in real life? There were smilies in there and some joking. Yeah, I got ticked off at blondie's complete incomprehension of what I (and others had typed), but that's understandable since he/she was completely on Mars...

As far as talking amongst yourselves - if you had any clue of netiquette (which has gone by the wayside nowadays, but used to still be somewhat enforced way back when people still gave a sh** about it on the net), you'd know that thread hijacking and not staying on topic used to be frowned upon, but apparently it's just a free-for-all now...

So, got any other points you want me to take down?

Why can't you people just read what's written and either respond to it if you know the answer or not answer if you don't? Or maybe ask some questions before you start assuming you know exactly what scenarios happened and how I live my life and then posting like you're an authority on those things?

And thank you to tada and stuckinseattle for verifying my experiences - you must not be from around here originally.

And to the others who said it's like this everywhere - yeah, you're right, but it's exponentially worse in the Puget Sound area (e.g., happens 4 times a day instead of 4 times a month), which is why I was curious.

So did everybody who sees nothing wrong with your everyday life here in Puget Sound grow up here or have you lived here for a long time (10+ years)? Actually, don't answer, I pretty much know the answer and I really have no desire to continue down wild-a** tangents and defend what I wrote (instead of what you *think* I wrote or what you assume I wrote or when you put words in my mouth (or hands ).

As I said, this thread has devolved into absurdity and is completely useless to me, so I'm bowing out and will leave you and your broken highways, housing market, viaducts, social interactions, and everything else to yourselves and we'll see how you are in 10-20 years if everything is just perfect here (as you think it is). There is no answer, it is just the way it is here, apparently...

[tada]

Originally Posted by TheTravellers

And thank you to tada and stuckinseattle for verifying my experiences - you must not be from around here originally.

Actually, I am from around here.

This kind of stuff happens in other places too, unfortunately. In some European countries from what I hear, cashiers will literally hurl your change at you because they hate their job. I'm mainly posting here because people are fooling themselves into thinking that these things are pleasant.

I'm going to try not to get too political here, but I think the fact that the book Do The Right Thing exists shows how much things have really gone downhill, and if people would just have a grain of common sense these days, things would be so much better. I consider myself an independent now, but unfortunately people will still probably lash at me.

[Hamza]

I had the MOST delicious slice of cake today!

[blondandfun]

Originally Posted by TheTravellers

Actually, it's not - it's full of falsehoods, assumptions, and lies.

I never told *anyone* on here that they were stupid and crazy, I said that things here are harder and more stupid then they are everywhere else I've been in the USA (about 30 states at last count). If you're one of the ones that don't communicate, don't show up for appts, and generally make things harder than they should be, then, yes, I am talking to you, but I have no evidence that any of you are the ones that are part of the problem (which apparently really doesn't exist because "everyone else here loves Seattle" ).

I never asked anyone on here to agree with me, I asked why these things happen here specifically (never said anything about "retarded" either).

I didn't go ballistic - did you know that people sometimes have different personalities and personas while online than they do in real life? There were smilies in there and some joking. Yeah, I got ticked off at blondie's complete incomprehension of what I (and others had typed), but that's understandable since he/she was completely on Mars...

As far as talking amongst yourselves - if you had any clue of netiquette (which has gone by the wayside nowadays, but used to still be somewhat enforced way back when people still gave a sh** about it on the net), you'd know that thread hijacking and not staying on topic used to be frowned upon, but apparently it's just a free-for-all now...

So, got any other points you want me to take down?

Why can't you people just read what's written and either respond to it if you know the answer or not answer if you don't? Or maybe ask some questions before you start assuming you know exactly what scenarios happened and how I live my life and then posting like you're an authority on those things?

And thank you to tada and stuckinseattle for verifying my experiences - you must not be from around here originally.

And to the others who said it's like this everywhere - yeah, you're right, but it's exponentially worse in the Puget Sound area (e.g., happens 4 times a day instead of 4 times a month), which is why I was curious.

So did everybody who sees nothing wrong with your everyday life here in Puget Sound grow up here or have you lived here for a long time (10+ years)? Actually, don't answer, I pretty much know the answer and I really have no desire to continue down wild-a** tangents and defend what I wrote (instead of what you *think* I wrote or what you assume I wrote or when you put words in my mouth (or hands ).

As I said, this thread has devolved into absurdity and is completely useless to me, so I'm bowing out and will leave you and your broken highways, housing market, viaducts, social interactions, and everything else to yourselves and we'll see how you are in 10-20 years if everything is just perfect here (as you think it is). There is no answer, it is just the way it is here, apparently...

So I take it you WON'T be following my book recommendations?