Fuck Seattle
I fucking hate it here. I moved here for college and it has been the most miserable 4 years of my life. I'm moving in a few days and I'm ecstatic! Finally! When I first moved here, I was basically only concerned about the weather. I was used to over 300 days of sun per year so being in the rain for the majority of the year concerned me. While the weather is crap, it's actually the least of my concerns and the most minor of all things. I don't enjoy being under cloud cover for the majority of the year (the summers are shit too) but it's not the weather that makes me hate this place, it's the people and the environment as a whole.
Growing up in CA and NV, I had never once been exposed to people like this before. So many people here are idiotic, unnecessarily judgmental, and condescending. As someone previously mentioned, it's almost impossible to have a decent conversation with the people here. There's no reciprocation. It's not possible to carry on a conversation with someone who only gives one word responses. I've never had this hard of a time making friends before. It's simply not possible to make friends with people who immediately judge you and don't attempt connect with you. The people here are so strange! They aren't down to earth or easy going, they just seem to be cold and indifferent. For a while, I wondered if it's me but then I realized that immediately once I get out of the area, all of these issues stop. No one is friendly or considerate of others. People drop doors on you all the time (even when your arms are full). In the occasions that I've actually held a door for someone, people either glare or stare at me like they don't understand what I'm doing before walking through the door without saying anything - no thank you, nothing. If you smile at someone, don't expect to have that reciprocated. Instead, expect a glare or a blank stare.
The traffic is ridiculous. I've heard so many people say "Oh, the traffic in LA is horrible." I'd rather drive in LA rush hour than drive 5 blocks to the store here. At least people there know how to drive and seem like they're going somewhere. I seriously question whether anyone has actually taken driver's ed here. Turn signals are optional - a brilliant idea right? Not only are they optional, head checks apparently are as well. I've seen so many close calls on the freeway where people just swerve into the other lane, no warning, no checking. Furthermore, everyone paces! 4 cars pacing across 4 lanes of traffic = 1 massive traffic jam. Why is that so difficult to understand? If I speed up to pass you, don't speed up to pace me. I honestly don't feel like I'm asking for too much, I'm just asking for people to generally follow the rules of the road. People can't even go the fucking speed limit!
During the winter, it's like no one has ever seen snow before, despite that I've seen it snow every winter for the last four years. You'd imagine that they'd invest in some snow removal equipment by now. But nope, they have them all sent over from Spokane which is about 4 hours away. That's efficient right? People literally park their cars in the middle of the freeway when there is an inch of snow on the ground. Are you fucking kidding me?! That's a brilliant idea. My opinion may be biased considering that I've had to drive to school with 2 feet of snow on the ground but come on, this is still crossing some very basic lines. The amount of accidents I see as a result of an inch of snow and very light flutter is ridiculous. The fact that 16 year olds who just learned how to drive can navigate windy mountain roads with 2 feet of snow on the ground and 10 feet of visibility just goes to show how pathetic this situation is. Get your shit together, Seattle.
The roads are all crap too. I've never seen so many potholes in one area before. Many of the streets are paved over brick roads that were laid down a century ago. Look in some of the potholes, I guarantee you'll see brick down in some of them. It's not the proper way to lay down roads so everything is falling apart. Do they bother fixing them and actually doing it right? Nope, they just keep filling in the potholes and patching the massive cracks. Like that'll solve the problem.. The sewage system is also old and out of date. The storm water and sewage system are interlinked. If it rains a lot (which happens fairly often here - duh), the sewers will flood and begin flowing out of the drains on the street. Yeah, that river of crap going down the road during a rainstorm, it literally is crap. It might be good to think twice about stepping in that shit.
I don't understand the people who absolutely love this place. I don't understand the point of paying out of my ass for a mediocre apartment in a mediocre area. My rent is $1400 for a supposedly nice 700 sq ft 1 bedroom apartment in a super crappy area. Hobos sleep in the back alley that my apartment faces. In my search for sex offenders, I realized that there are approximately 30 in a 5 block radius. Great! Yeah, I can walk to the Safeway a couple blocks away (something some people would consider awesome or convenient - clearly I'm not one of those people) but in the process of doing so, I'll most likely see human shit on the sidewalk and be drenched by the rain in the process. I've even been stalked on my way to class at 8:30 in the morning! What is there to love about that?!
Despite being a city, there really isn't much to do around here other than getting drunk off your ass in Capitol Hill. The beaches are shit and actually have signs warning people to not eat the shellfish they find there because of the toxins in the water. Why are there toxins in the water? Look up where the sewage is pumped out, it's right around the corner. Yeah, I really want to go swimming in that shit.. That holds true for just about any beach you can find around here. The nearest ski resort is an hour and a half away and charges ridiculous prices for admission. A season pass to Crystal Mountain and a total of 2600 acres is at least $600 if you get a "good deal." Back in CA, a season pass to three different resorts and a total of 9800 acres (in the immediate area) is $300.
Nothing ever just works out like it should here. Customer service is practically nonexistent. So many times I've walked into a restaurant just to have the staff stare at me like I'm an idiot because I don't know to seat myself and buss my own table, despite there being a lack of signs or any instruction of any form. If you have a question at a store and need assistance, expect the shortest and most unhelpful response ever. That's assuming you can actually find someone to help you to begin with. The employees act like you're bothering them for asking them to do their jobs. What the hell do you think you're being payed for?! Recently, my bf took his car in to be serviced, have the oil changed, and to have his bumper adjusted (since they did the body work on it when someone backed into his car). The shop washed his car.. that's it. They literally "forgot" about everything else. This isn't something that happens once in a while either, it happens all the fucking time! On top of that, I've never seen so many homeless people in one area before, it's probably because this city caters to the homeless. I've even heard homeless people say that they like it here because of that!
Last but not least, the people who live here think they're the shit. They go around strutting their stuff and acting like hot shit when they're clearly not. They think they know what's going on since they live in this hellhole of a city. I'm so sick of this "I'm better than everyone else" mentality that everyone seems to share here. I would like to add that while this obviously doesn't apply to everyone in this city, I've noticed that it does apply to the majority. That's enough for me to hate this place. Clearly I'm not the only person who does either. I'm glad I found this site. I don't think I've ever despised a location and the majority it's people so much before. I'm so happy that I'm getting out of this shithole. I don't plan on ever coming back.