No Wonder Most Of Seattle Is Depressed!
84Depression Rains Supreme
So the minute I got off the plane I began to feel it. Yes, rain, gloom, doom...welcome to Seattle. I'm here for about ten days on a business trip and just like a video postcard, the minute I got my luggage and went up and over at the airport Habitrail to get a cab, I could see that the rain was falling a mile a minute. No wonder most of Seattle is depressed! - Don't Get Me Started!
Okay now before you Seattle fleece wearing, look at us we have Starbucks and Seattle's Best Coffee people start coming down on me, let me just say that I happen to love the downtown of this town but this weather, come on.
People start with you the minute that you land, "Did you see Mount Hood from the plane? Isn't it amazing?" Now I'm no nature person. My parents were the original Green Acres couple and my partner and I have followed suit. I don't know anything about Mount Hood (sounds like some uncircumcised date my friend once had) but between that and the Space Needle, it would just seem that Seattle is the phallic symbol capital of the world. Good for Seattle that it has nature everywhere you look but I'm more excited about the Nordstrom and Kenneth Cole in walking distance from one another.
The people here are from some other planet. A planet where trans music (and we're not talking RuPaul trans here - visit the site later this month for a fab interview I did with the "Ru" her/himself!) no, it's a land where crocheted hats and fleece reign supreme. There's more brown, blue and corduroy here than a lesbian convention. I'll be the first to admit that I just don't get it. Add all the piercing and the multi-colored hair and you feel as though you've walked into a freak show that inhabited an entire town.
True the streets are much cleaner than most big cities and other than the homeless people (who mostly talk to themselves) it's one of the few cities that feels really safe. But it's the weather. I'm telling you, if I lived here I'd be twelve hundred pounds. I'd sit inside all day watching "the crystal raindrops fall and the beauty of it all" (well, you get the idea) watching Mickey and Judy movies and eating myself into oblivion. (Now that's depressing, right?)
The amazing thing here is that you know you're a tourist and everyone else does too because the residents of this fair city don't seem to use umbrellas at all. This I really don't understand. I mean, besides the obvious (that you get soaking wet) it seems to be some sort of weird clique as you see the citizens walk around with a hat on possibly but never an umbrella. (Of course, you do see the occasional gay with some big ass umbrella he got as part of a Drakkar cologne giveaway trying not to let his Kenneth Cole's get wet.) I guess when you have frizzy hair and no product in it you don't have to worry so much but if I ever went without an umbrella I'd leave a trail of product behind me so thick that Hansel and Gretel would be able to track me down.
These people want you to think they're all granola eating, coffee drinking, thrift store wearing "green" folk. But I think that thanks to the weather, they're just too depressed to get done up. So you can say that Vegas is vain and has no real culture but if this organic, no deodorant wearing civilization is the alternative, I say, "Darling I love you but give me Park Avenue" (and some sunshine).
Like most things in life, this weather just annoys me more than anything. So don't write in and tell me how much I should love this city, I do it's just that it needs more sunshine, Axe body spray and Prozac (in my humble opinion). To be continued...I'm here for another seven days! No wonder most of Seattle is depressed! - Don't Get Me Started!
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- Some Like It Scott!
An acquired taste, like Tab cola, Some Like It Scott is one gay man's experiences with love, life and things that make him crazy, all done to a musical theatre soundtrack.
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Now you tell me...what the hell? Are you people like those people on the fishing shows with the wader pants or just really kinky wearing only clothes that you can wipe DNA clean from? And an umbrella is more than something to put an eye out with, you can always do the Singin' in the Rain number ala Gene Kelly! (Yes, I admit I've done it.)
Umbrellas are fashion accessories in Seattle, not rain repellants. Did you find the kinky neighborhoods? Because we have them! The rain, or endless grey skies, can be a downer...but when the sun is out, there's a reason why Seattle is called the Emerald City. Hope the rest of your trip went better. (Oh yeah, and I have frizzy hair, but I use product...it's just uncontrollable.)
When I saw Sting and Annie Lennox play a local amphitheater, the folks on the lawn not only came in their sou'wester gear, they had huge sheets of plastic and clear tents, like they were getting ready for the front row of a Gallagher show. And once the rain started, they need all of it. Thank the Goddess I had seats.... However, I will attest to the fact that here in Seattle we get more summer weather in the summer than when I lived in San Francisco.
OMG, you ARE a gay man, aren't you? First San Fran and now Seattle? No wonder I love you!
Ah, but which city has a higher suicide rate -- Seattle or Vegas? That's right, Las Vegas has the highest suicide rate of any US city, at 17 per 10,000 residents.
Yeah, I live in Seattle and I actually use my umbrella to keep the rain off my head, weird, I know. After 25 years here, I actually like the rain, although if it rained in the summer I'd be really pissed.
But, when I was in Vegas last year, I may have saved some crazy young woman from tryin to kill herself walking across the 8 lane main drag in Vegas. Hopefully after all that work she didn't just finish the job later after they let her out of the hospital.
I just moved here from S. Cal and I'm about ready to fucking shoot myself.
Seattle is horrible, traffic, NW assholes that think any temp above 75 and below 50 is barbaric. It does not actually rain just a fucking heavy fog that never stops. 105 percent relative humidity. There is more rain in many other places. However living in Seattle is like living in a damp sponge, makes waterboarding look attractive. Get me the fuck out of this shithole. I need a suicide hotline and it has only been raining for two weeks god help me survive till fucking July when it warms all the way to 75 (wow) and the sun peaks out for a few short fucking weeks
yeah, the only place to buy decent fashion here is Capitol Hill. For the most part, Seattle people have no fashion sense, and are all very very granola. It's a perfect fit for the outdoors-person trying to make a transition to big city life, but it's not for me either.
I am visiting Seattle for the first time and am really shocked at how disappointing it is. I had heard so many great things about the city so I feel very let down. The depression I have after being here for only a week I guess is partly from the weather but may also be from the lack of energy of the city itself. How can such a busy city have no pulse at all? Also it is uncomfortable to be an attractive well dressed woman here because I don't fit in with the locals and have gotten many comments on my appearance and am being gawked at like Im some kind of friggin celebrity! Wow! Not at all what I expected. The whole "green" and organic movement is greatly exaggerated since I don't see anything offered here that I have not seen in any other major city. The people do seem relatively polite but without warmth or personality. To each his own.
I moved to Seattle 4 yrs. ago from New Mexico, and , yes, I was and still am in culture shock. However, depressing as the winter can be, summer is usually wonderful. People here seem to have split personalities, too. Really outgoing and giddy during the summer. I can't get over how few people here will meet your eye and at least nod or acknowledge your presence on the street. Bitching about the weather is the one way to start a conversation with a stranger.
luckylady, if people are gawking at you, maybe you are lucky. I usually feel invisible. NOT necessarily a bad thing!
Seattle is seen as the "GREAT BIG CITY" from those who live on the East Side (Redmond, Kirkland, etc) but coming from the Bay Area (Oakland, SF) Seattle is really disappointing. The "international district" is a joke, it's just more ghetto. I still cannot find a decent Chinese food restaurant, and don't even get me started on finding Mexican. Chipotle does not count Seattle.
Also, luckylady who mentioned the lack of a pulse... I completely agree! San Francisco has glamor, a presence of sorts, but Seattle falls flat. It's boring up here and get this: it rains while the sun is out. What kind of sick joke is that?
yes, i have lived here 10 months and i am leaving in 2 weeks. Seattle is a total dissapointment on so many levels! the weather is miserable. its mid-june and we haven't broke 70, the skies are constantly grey, i almost had to get on anti-depressants this winter, well its still winter.!!! also, the people out here are completelt passive aggressive and rude. no one talks to anyone, they act like they are all green and pro- environment and it is all a lie, everyone drives everywhere, the traffic is horrible, pasty and smelly. this place sucks and i cannot wait to leave.
all of the above is true- Ive have been here 13 yrs- my kid is raised, so its time to go home to california where I belong... so looking forward to getting outta here...
wow! i was just looking into moving in to seattle, from marin county, ca...sounds like seattles not the place to be!
All so true!! It's the night of the living dead!
True Seattle can be crappy.Thats why you go visit Bellevue,where i live.People are more nicer,friendly, and best of all we're way richer then Seattle.(you barly see homless)
way richer, you just can't spell.
lucky i got outta here since 08, LOL, now i am more happier than ever
I remember growing up in Bellevue. Until about 1990 it was ok. Then traffic increased and the influx of Californians came into play along with Redmond booming. Then there was the grunge music which killed the LA sound for a little while. The whole thing sucked. People in Seattle want to play at acting laid back, when in reality they're all uptight. Then there is the women. I had to move to Canada to find a woman. All the women were gay, taken, or whacked in Seattle. It still dumbfounds me to this day how I didnt find anyone in Seattle I was interested in hanging out with. Its no wonder that most of the grunge rockers ended up suicidal. The city sucks. Im glad I escaped that bs permanently.
Has anyone moved away from the Seattle area and found that they feel better? I have been here six years and find that I live 9 months just wishing for light... If the sun comes out even for a few hours, I feel emotional(kind of an anxiety) Also, in the summer, there is a sense of pressure to "get out" becuase everyone knows that after October, it is a gray, sad, wet life that takes hold. The people are very nice, in my experience. 60-70 days a year of direct light, is just not enough to support a healthy emotional outlook.
I am not the one!!! True, Seattle is boring, not enough diverse population to secure events and cultural identity that is prevalent in most cities. Add the dreary behavior from gloom, but for those of you with parents, siblings, etc, you make the trek. But if you can, build your life outside of Seattle
There is a clinical trial for depression going on in Seattle. http://depressedinseattle.com/clinical_research_st
Maybe this will help someone.
I've been back 21 years. Fortunatly i travel for work. I split the last 6 years between SF. & Sea. I can't take it anymore! I just got back from Florida on Fri. Night and now it is Sunday. I have NOT seen the sun since. That is it I'm done. I moving away. Life is too short to live in the mold and cold, doom and gloom ...
This is stupid! We are not all depressed. And it isn't raining all the time, just a lot in the spring. In the summer, it can get hot, hot, hot. Also, the climate is very mild, which makes it nice. It's never too hot nor too cold, and IT SNOWS. Take that Vegas.
We don't sit inside all and day and we are actually the cleanest, nicest-smelling people in my opinion.
Really..you're just a Debbie-downer who talks so negatively that they make everything sound depressing and exasperated. Offence taken.
we learn to dance in the rain!
I grew up in SWMissouri and am happy to have found Seattle. I'll take the "rainy" days and gray skys in winter here, over the 100*+ 90%+humidity or minus teen* 10-15%humidity of Missouri any day. After all, what those pussies who came from the coasts would call "rain", we in the Southern Midwest would call an articulated mist at best. Seriously, what most here in Seattle call "rain", you could walk in for 30min and barely get wet(as opposed to Missouri rain where you dash 15ft to your car, then have to thoroughly ring out your shirt). I'll also take the grey sky's in winter over the garish ,southerly sun that we get in the southern midwest in winter as well. All around the coastal PNW has some of the mildest whether in the nation and, personally, I don't appreciate some overly opinionated New Enland schlep knocking it be cause he happens to think New York City has the upper hand on weather.Also, the people here may be a bit less green and a little more yuppie/bourgeoise than SanFran, but at least they'll stay out of your face(east coast) and they won't be telling you all the time why your going to Hell(Midwest). So suck it, those of you not in the PNW who wanna judge!!-)
relache 4 years ago
Sorry I didn't meet up with you when you were in Seattle, Scott. BTW, we all wear waterproof jackets, shoes and rain pants when it gets bad. An umbrella is just a device waiting to put an eye out.