The Seattlest Guide to Seattle Stereotypes: Part 2
Not everything here is what it seems. courtesy of the Seattlest flickr pool
Seattleites are all coffee fiends who practically live in Starbucks.
Data about coffee consumption overwhelmingly suggests that Seattle reigns supreme. It may seem like our lust for coffee stems from the fact that the world's most iconic café chain is a Seattle business, but Starbucks isn't the whole story. Immigration from coffee-loving Scandinavia, importation of Asian coffee beans through the port, and a robust counterculture centered around coffeehouses meant that Seattle had a well-developed café culture long before Starbucks, and many of us still patronize independent shops and smaller local chains.
Anyone who thinks Seattle's love of coffee runs only as deep as Starbucks has grossly underestimated the depths of our great civic addiction. Accuracy Grade: 5/5
Everyone is a hipster/yuppie/limousine liberal/some other euphemism for a trendy, privileged pseudo-intellectual who one finds annoying.
Any city that has: several universities, jobs in creative fields, a dense urban core, a high median income, a reputation for vibrant culture (and counterculture), and progressive politics is bound to attract a number of people who fit into those amorphous and overlapping categories of people. But not everyone wearing flannel workshirts and sipping Pabst is faking it- Seattle's new "knowledge economy" hasn't completely supplanted blue-collar industry. Warehouses and factories are still humming in South Seattle, Boeing machinists are still building planes, and longshoremen and teamsters still move cargo through the city and in and out of the port. The globalized economy hasn't made every Seattleite wealthy: like everywhere in America, we have our share of the unemployed, and people barely making ends meet in dead-end jobs. Nearly 20% of Seattleites are foreign-born, and some of them may not yet be familiar enough with American culture to reference it ironically, or have the English skills to fluently quote Arrested Development.
Many Seattleites fit the various stereotypes of well-off, urban liberals. However, the working class and the urban poor also exist in here, and not just in yuppies' box sets of The Wire. Accuracy Grade: 3.5/5
It's the rainiest place ever!
On average, Seattle gets less annual rainfall than Washington DC, New York City, or even Dallas, Texas. So why are we called "Rain City" instead of, say New Orleans (with nearly double the annual rainfall)? There may not be much water falling on us, but happens quite frequently. Typically, there's some precipitation about 155 days a year, which is more often than almost any major American city. Even when there's no rain, frequently overcast skies can give the impression of sogginess. On the bright side, we're usually safe from the kind of storms that are severe enough to interfere with daily life, but "bright side" is purely metaphorical in a town that's cloudy and drizzly enough to make us seem rainier than cities which are annually battered by hurricanes and tropical storms.
It is, indeed, frequently overcast and drizzly, but true downpours are rare. Accuracy Grade: 3.5/5
Everyone is anti-social and cold! The "Seattle freeze" is real.
If you're unfamiliar, the term "Seattle freeze" refers to the perception that people here are polite at first meeting, but are distant, and reticent to engage in deeper friendships or romantic relationships. Obviously, it' ludicrous that an entire community of people is hard-hearted or lacks the basic human desire for companionship, but maybe there's something about Seattle that makes it hard for outsiders to fit in. Here are some theories:
-Virtues like stoicism and politeness were particularly valued by the Scandinavians, Japanese and New England puritans who formed a large portion of the city's early settlers and may have left a cultural legacy to modern Seattle.
-Seattle is full of transplants. By nature, newcomers have fewer built-in social networks. In a city with many newcomers, there are fewer connections between people, which may make the place seem less friendly.
-Some transplants won't make friends or find dates due to their own habits, personal qualities or bad luck. The idea of the "Seattle freeze" is perpetuated by these sad sacks who want something to blame for their lack of friends and dates other than their dorky selves. The tech industry is what lures many newcomers, and it does seem suspicious that when engineers and programmers have social problems, we take the word of such a notoriously geeky and introverted group of people that it's only due to a local cultural phenomenon.
This is almost too subjective to judge. What's the difference between rudely ignoring people, and giving them space and respecting their privacy? Where's the line between a friendly neighbor and a nosy neighbor? Semantics aside, there are some concrete factors which suggest Seattle could be tougher than average for outsiders to get along. Accuracy grade: 2.5/5
To sum up: we're caffeinated, only slightly damp, some of us are hipsters or yuppies, and depending on your point of view- we're either a bit distant, or respectfully un-intrusive.
Readers: if there's a stereotype out there that you'd like to see ruled upon in future installments, feel free to make suggestions in the comments section.
