(c) Joe Schumacher // Gothamist.com
I'm feeling a little homesick. No one's flipped me the bird, tried to run me over, or openly rolled their eyes at me in a while. It's not that New Yorkers are rude - they're just more familiar (you know, total strangers sharing their medical histories and major failures).
In my opinion, it sure beats the "Seattle Freeze" - people being nice enough, but never personal, which can be exhausting for newcomers seeking friends. And over the weekend, I had several encounters that reminded me why public interaction in Seattle can leave East Coasters feeling like they're in the Twilight Zone:
1.) When I was shopping for used CDs, a store clerk inexplicably handed me a cheaper version of an ablum I was about to buy. He seemed to possess no ulterior motives, nor any alien qualities...
2.) My cab driver and I had a conversation ... enough said.
3.) I was practically awarded a medal of honor for obeying the law by a pedestrian who waved, smiled, and mouthed "thank you" when I stopped at a clearly-marked crosswalk with flashing yellow lights.
Okay, maybe I disproved my own point. I'm glad that every day in Seattle isn't a Darwinian struggle. But I admit it - I miss the adrenaline rush from being a part of the implicit "Who's the most badass New Yorker?" competition and that weirdly familiar banter that leaves you with a smile on your face thinking, "I feel like I've known this person for years."
Comments
Seattle is NOT friendly and people dont pretend. They are as phoney as a used car saleman. People are cold, selfish as elitist as a Yale graduate at graduation, only they do it much more sublimely. There is not a day that passes that I dont stop thinking about living back east. This city is filled with mentally ill people walking the streets and buses and the rest of the so-called pseudo intellectual sheep following the march of the mentally dead local mayor. People have zero backbone and couldnt make a split decision if their lives depended on it. I cannot wait to move out of this social-political black void!
John, People dont pretend? But they are phony?
Sure, that makes a lot of sense...
All of your comments are absurd but let me single out a couple.The city is filled with mentally ill people. first of all there are mentally ill people EVERYWHERE. Or maybe its just you that is mentally ill and not everyone else. Consider that please. People have zero backbone.Either you have no clue at all what your talking about or you really miss someone kicking your ass because you took their cab.
This city doesnt need people like you or your condescending BS. If you cant take the heat..
John you are brilliant! So true. Crazies roam free here, (I've been physically assaulted by the mentally disturbed in this town), because there are not social programs to take them off the streets.
It is also very Seattle of people to not want to disturb the already mentally disturbed - they want to be polite and progressive - which may sound nice but unreasonable and truly silly.
People tend to be very cold here and beyond the vapid stare and mouthed thank you in passing, deep relationships are reserved for the locals. It is quite hard to break the veneer and belong to a group that has already established itself. It can make one really sad.
Seattleites are quite quick to make fun of southerners, east coasters etc. etc, but if ever the tables turn, you get Amiee's response.
Also, Aimee, you darling classic Seattleite, sometimes people just cant get up and leave due to various reasons.
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