Seattle - Just another city

[Grampacharlie]

Seattleites ( that is anyone who has survived three years of the weather and at least one NO SUMMER Summer and still loves it here ) are not passive agressive. Seattleites appearing passive aggressive are actually asleep. It is a phenomenon where after being in the Emerald City for some time Seattleites can do anything necessary while asleep with their eyes open in the rain. It is an evolutionary advantage for living here since the weather is so horrible that all they want to do is sleep and it is so dark that their eyes must stay open at all times to absorb enough light to keep the brain functioning. I worked with one gay man for nearly two decades. He was well liked and well respected and he proudly never bothered to lose his accent. It was part of his charm. He never developed the "Awake while sleeping with your eyes open syndrome" as he had some sort of immunity.

[Grampacharlie]

Howdy Crazyanglophobe,
I like your accent.
I like George Bush.
I like Sarah Palin.
I like the no accent accent of native Warshintonians.
I don't mind being called a 'Yankee' but actually Seattle wasn't in that war and that war is long over.

[Grampacharlie]

Originally Posted by Cinema Cat

Not in L.A. I've lived in Los Angeles for 28 years now, and have never heard of any kind of accent being a serious problem. I've also known Southerners who've come to L.A. None ever mentioned their accents being a problem.

From what I've seen and read, Seattle is nice, but provincial. It likes the idea of diversity, but hasn't much experience in actual diversity -- which includes religious and political diversity, as well as trivial stuff like skin color.

Now L.A., you'll find a wide religious and political spectrum here, though liberals do dominate.

It is gray and cloudy here CinemaKat but believe it or not Seattleites do have skin color. Look very closely at Seattleite's noses. There are many shades and tones and colors from White to Black and every chroma in between. Just don't stare. It's considered impolite to stare unless you have an Rx for medical CBD/THC.

[Grampacharlie]

Celia your print voice is gentle and soothing. I am sorry that you haven't been greeted warmly by the web footed natives but at least we no longer tie newcomers to the top of 100 foot Cedar trees and see if they are brave enough to pass the rain torture ritual. Change often comes slowly but we are trying.
Crazy A you just like stirrin' the pot. You think this is fun. You don't care if you hurt someone's feelings. You use your gayness and southerness as a shield and a sword. You get tired and bored with a place and the people and don't want to do the real work of making friends so you stir things up and that gives you your justification for moving on and putting another sticker on your steamer trunk. You can leave your flag here though because this is definitely a place where the sun don't shine much.

[botticelli]

Reading this article I kept wondering why do people keep believing or hoping people in other cities are just vastly different? I think that's a mistake the OP made.

Cities are different. The environment can be different. The vibe, layout, atmosphere can be different, but I came to believe that people are essentially the same - you will encounter the nice, the friendly, the warm, and the arrogant, the cold and the bigoted (I wish it were a crime to be bigoted so that these people can be locked up) - there could be some small difference chance-wise but not massively different.

This is why I don't believe NYers are stand-offish, Bostonians are arrogant, SFers are so liberal minded, Angelinos are chilled, or southerners are backwards. We live in the world where information is widely available, why do we keep believing people in Arkansas are so different from people in Vermont? I don't even think people in Iraq or Lebanon are so different from Americans. Humans share a lot of common traits - what it means to be nice, helpful and understanding etc, because most people want to be treated the same. Just because we are raised in different cultures doesn't mean we behave so differently. And if the difference does seem striking, it is mostly because people show their emotions differently. I don't believe for a second that it is harder to make friends in cold Manhattan than in Los Angeles. It takes about the same amount of time and effort to earn some strangers' trust and respect. Just because people start talking to you with warm smiles doesn't mean they treated you as a friend from day 1, and just because others don't seem interested doesn't necessarily mean they dislike you. It takes the similar level of effort to be liked or disliked in general, for 99% of the population.

So we should not decide moving to a city because we think people over there are generally better - just look at the internet forums, and I don't think any city receives predominantly positive or negative comments, it is always mixed, depending on the new comer's personality and expectation. Think about this: why should anyone be extra nice to you for absolutely no reason? They are not your family or friends. They hardly know you, how can they know you are not a jerk? Only time can tell. So the friendliness in the very beginning (although we all like it) usually means very little - it doesn't mean they like you, just mean they didn't want to offend you (or they want to leave you a good impression).

[Tall Traveler]

My wife and I being originally from the South had to 'lose' our Southern accents as we are both in Engineering/Tech fields and many people assume that a Southern Accent means ignorant. I had learned from my Father to speak 'correctly' as he didn't allow such terms as ya'll around him as he knew of the prejudice against Southern accents outside of the South.

People are just not openly friendly upon meeting in Seattle versus Tennessee but they warm up after they get to know you...I hope things get better.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by botticelli

Reading this article I kept wondering why do people keep believing or hoping people in other cities are just vastly different? I think that's a mistake the OP made.

Cities are different. The environment can be different. The vibe, layout, atmosphere can be different, but I came to believe that people are essentially the same - you will encounter the nice, the friendly, the warm, and the arrogant, the cold and the bigoted (I wish it were a crime to be bigoted so that these people can be locked up) - there could be some small difference chance-wise but not massively different.

This is why I don't believe NYers are stand-offish, Bostonians are arrogant, SFers are so liberal minded, Angelinos are chilled, or southerners are backwards. We live in the world where information is widely available, why do we keep believing people in Arkansas are so different from people in Vermont? I don't even think people in Iraq or Lebanon are so different from Americans. Humans share a lot of common traits - what it means to be nice, helpful and understanding etc, because most people want to be treated the same. Just because we are raised in different cultures doesn't mean we behave so differently. And if the difference does seem striking, it is mostly because people show their emotions differently. I don't believe for a second that it is harder to make friends in cold Manhattan than in Los Angeles. It takes about the same amount of time and effort to earn some strangers' trust and respect. Just because people start talking to you with warm smiles doesn't mean they treated you as a friend from day 1, and just because others don't seem interested doesn't necessarily mean they dislike you. It takes the similar level of effort to be liked or disliked in general, for 99% of the population.

So we should not decide moving to a city because we think people over there are generally better - just look at the internet forums, and I don't think any city receives predominantly positive or negative comments, it is always mixed, depending on the new comer's personality and expectation. Think about this: why should anyone be extra nice to you for absolutely no reason? They are not your family or friends. They hardly know you, how can they know you are not a jerk? Only time can tell. So the friendliness in the very beginning (although we all like it) usually means very little - it doesn't mean they like you, just mean they didn't want to offend you (or they want to leave you a good impression).

I agree there are a lot of stereotypes but some are based on an element of truth. People from Arkansas certainly tend to be different from Vermont. I've never had a problem with New Yorkers or Bostonians but I have to get very Zen to deal with the South. Some Southerners come to Seattle like it's a oasis and I get it, I would too. But some Southerners come here and are shocked that Seattle is so different from where they came from and are actually offended. We have a recent poster that mentioned she is fleeing back to Texas. All I can say is thank you because clearly, that's where she will be most happy.