First Impressions

First impressions are a funny thing: they are lasting and deep yet they are impressions based on such little data. For example: you go out on a date. The first thing to see is him/her with a funny look on their face. Impression: they are not smart. They are not social. They are not for you. I mean isn’t that the entire crux of Tinder? It is simply not fair.

So here were my first impressions of Seattle when I moved here about 3 years ago:

  • It’s so green. Arizona was soooo brown, arid, and dead. I know T.E. Lawrence said ‘the desert, it’s so clean’. But it is really not. It’s dusty and dead. Water brings life, and Seattle has life all around. I think that transfers into the liveliness of the social scene here. I say that with zero proof.

  • The fauna here is disgusting! With water comes moisture, and with moisture comes moist creatures. Slugs, snails, earthworms, holy cow! So gross. I prefer my animals prickly or scaly.

  • The traffic is soul crushing. My first day in Seattle was an event. Coming from Tucson, where the roads are wide and the traffic is sparse, I could easily make it from inside the city to a suburb 20 miles away in about 30 minutes at rush hour. Typing this now, I see how stupid I was. 60 minutes! Yes, 60 minutes……for me to get to the I-5 on-ramp that was .5 miles away. I was literally in tears, shaking and yelling ‘is this my life now? What did I get myself into?’. That is actually the truth. My dog, who was my co-pilot at the time, has never looked at me the same since.

  • Hipsters aplenty. Oh, it is soooo cool to have a beard, a tattoo sleeve, a cigarette, and a Johnny-don’t-care attitude around here. To be fair, this is not the entire city. If that was so, we would be Portland. But there is enough of these pretentious ragamuffins bumping around town to get your ire up.

  • Homeless aplenty. You may think it is too rainy and grey to live outside in this city. But you would be wrong. Seattle is a haven for the crazy homeless as well as the nary-do-well urban campers (perfectly able but not willing to find work). I’ll say more about this later, but I guess to feel like a big boy city, you need that fresh smell of urine in the air.

  • Social scene is pretty cool. There are so many bars, restaurants, shows, sporting events, etc. to do. Again, the indication of a big boy city. It is not just college kids or desperate divorcees that go out on the town.

  • Big business rules. Amazon, Alaskan, Costco, Boeing, Microsoft, Expedia, offshoot branches of Facebook and Google, the list goes on. They rule the roost around here, which is good in many ways but it comes with a cost………..

  • It is soooo expensive here. Not San Fran pricey, but much more than the SW.

  • The Seahawks are the most influential entity in Seattle. The logo is everywhere, dominates news, talk shows, attire, etc. And I am OK with that. :)

In sum, these first impressions have been lasting impressions thus far. The city kicks ass!! I am very happy to be here.

With that in mind, every post after this one will criticize the city and it’s flaws. Well, probably.