I Hate Seattle

I moved to Seattle for school, from the mid-atlantic. I plan on leaving when I'm done.

I do hate Seattle because of the weather, but not because of the clouds or rain. I used to live in Pittsburgh. We had plenty of that. I hate the sorry attempt that Seattle makes at actual winter or summer. I hate when people whine about it being 'hot' and 'muggy' when it's 80 degrees with a 50% humidity. Hot? Are you kidding me? Try 95 with 95% humidity. Stop whining. I actually miss hot humid days and not being cold when I go outside in the morning. I miss actually having snow. Eternal fall and spring (and a cold one at that) are not my idea of good weather. Summer here is NOT beautiful. I have to wear a jacket in the summer, what is up with that? Sure, it looks nice outside, but I want it to feel like SUMMER.

Construction, I don't really care about. Maybe they could have better public transit. A light rail would be nice, but it's not terrible as is. Traffic isn't so bad for me, but I don't usually drive during peak hours, so I really don't know. Drivers, though, are quite passive aggressive. Also, pretty dumb. At a traffic circle, you go AROUND counterclockwise to turn left. At a 4-way stop, you wait for the cars that stopped before you. Is that really so hard? If you're a pedestrian, it is unwise to dart into traffic whenever you feel like it. Also dumb: running across the road, and then slowing down when you reach the lane where a car is coming. Yeah, you have a right to cross the road as a pedestrian, but you can also be friendlyand patient and wait for cars to pass. You're not any better than me because you're a pedestrian (or a bicyclist) so stop acting like it. I'll be nice to you, but you need to be nice to me. Don't treat me like a dick just because I'm driving a car.

These really aren't the big things though. I really dislike most of the people. There is a passive-aggressive tendency inherent in the population. Also, people judge others on HUGE stereotypes. For instance, if I say I'm from the east coast, your first response is, "wow, everyone's just so mean there!" If someone says they're from the midwest, the reply might be something like "oh, well I guess you're glad you made it out of there." Seriously, have you been to the East Coast? Yeah, people are mean, if you're stupid! Don't be a dick, and they won't be mean to you! You really think the Midwest is so bad? How much time have you spent there?

People are lumped into stereotypical groups and can't hold opinions and be treated like real human beings. People in Seattle try to drive away others who disagree with them. Just on one of these other posts I saw someone say, "Well, Seattle hates you too." Way to try to be inclusive and understand, asshole. This is why people hate you in the first place. If you disagree with someone in Seattle, they just hate you. If you don't fit in to their 'culture', they hate you. Of course, they don't come right out and tell you. You're just treated ike less of a human being. I've watched this happen to others. Furthermore, people feel like their opinions must be plastered everywhere. Great, you like democrats. Do you see a lot of people disagreeing with you? You're in a city, almost EVERYONE likes democrats. The population of the city doesn't embrace diversity like it wants to. It clings on to race and gender, and doesn't think about diversity of opinion, class, belief. It just talks about issues anyway, and never does anything about them. Most of the people I encounter are homogeneous. They all have the same beliefs, the same political alignments, the same lifestyles. The neighborhoods are mostly the same. Sure, one has a troll, and some a few more hipsters than the others. But, I have no need to go to a 20 different farmer's markets. They're all the same. Haven't you seen a farmer's market? Yeah, it's great, but, it's just a farmer's market! What is wrong with you? I don't care about another independent book shop or independent coffee shop. Are they really all that different? It's coffee and books, for crying out loud!

What does it say about the city when the two most popular attractions are an observation tower that isn't all that tall and a farmer's market? Where's the history? Where's the ACTUAL culture? People are too busy cherishing 'culture' and trying to be 'creative' and 'independent' themselves that they end up not embracing a culture that may have already existed. Seattle now has little culture, and people just keep trying to force it. The culture it does have is entirely homogeneous, exclusive, and passive aggressive. Really, people aren't all that much smarter here either. Yeah, there are some smart people (as you get anywhere), but most people go around espousing some new found facts that they just read from some sensational book. Great, you can read. Now, stop trying to tell me how stupid I am, and start actually discussing something, you pretentious ass. If you had one semblance of original thought then I might actually think that you're smart. If you were willing to think about an idea rather than just assume its correctness because you happened to read it somewhere, I might actually think you're smart.

Unfortunately, Seattle ends up being a city full of people who want it to be great, and keep pushing in the wrong directions. Some people genuinely love it. Good for them, I hope they enjoy it. Others do not. I am included in that lot.