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They're not polite, they're entitled
Posted by: Submit_News |
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Topic Theories
Seattelites, and Washingtonians have an interesting concept of what's "rude," or polite." My theory is that they exist in a solipsistic bubble of self-entitlement, that includes no obligations on their part and that they should get respect, but give none in return.
For instance, the following behaviors are rude to them:
Talking at a normal volume
Asking a question
Walking past them while they stand in the middle of the aisle in the grocery store, trying to decide between the brie or romano.
Not waiting to be the very last person on the elevator, when there is clearly a protocol for such things that includes a lot of standing, nodding and waving "go ahead, no you first" -- hint: their real expectation is that you'll let them go first, giving them a great opportunity to not say thanks.
If you smoke, forget it. I'm waiting for Seattle to pass a ban on smokers (not just smoking but people who smell of cigarettes) in public places. Smokers are automatically "rude" and obviously "not from around here."
The following behaviors that Seattlites have may be considered rude to outsiders -- but so what? It's their city, you just live here:
Inconsiderate business behavior:
White collar (banking, escrow, etc): not following up on phone calls, or following through on what they say they will do
Blue Collar (movers, painters, landscapers, etc): doing a half-assed job when you are paying them, then leaving it and expecting that they're "done"
Not using basic courtesy phrases like "excuse me," "please," or "thanks"
Lecturing people on their manners -- I don't get this, and it wouldn't fly anywhere but here -- I've seen people try to lecture other adults on things like jaywalking.
Nosiness: it's ironic that people of so few words still manage to be among the nosiest in the country.
It's all superficial -- they're polite as long as they're not expected to follow through.
Example:
Going into a department store, a salesperson comes up and asks if you need any help. You actually do, so you ask them where something is. They grimace at your question and say they don't know, go ask someone else -- meanwhile what you're looking for is the next aisle over.
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| They're not polite, they're entitled | Log-in or register a new user account | 123 Comments |
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| Comments are statements made by the person that posted them.
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Re: They're not polite, they're entitled
by Anonymous-Coward on May 19, 2007 - 12:21 AM
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I absolutely LOATHE that fake politeness when it comes to driving!!! I ALWAYS abide by the rules of the road. If it's your right of the way, then GO, dammit. Don't just sit there and wave at me to go instead. This has happened countless times on the road - I'm following the road rules and some idiot Northwesterner in a Subaru SUV is waving me to break the rules!!! If there's an accident due to this fake politeness, then I'd have to pay for it in insurance and all. So I just sit and ignore these waving idiots until they get really frustrated, wave even more frantically, then give up, pout and go, which should have been the case in the first place instead of wasting so much time on waving you to break road rules!!!
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Re: They're not polite, they're entitled
by Anonymous-Coward on May 20, 2007 - 12:51 AM
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I was actually thinking about starting a thread about this myself. This notion about Northwest people being polite is complete bullshit, and one of the biggest myths about this place.
The fact is that they have an extreme fear of confontation, to the point where any sort of open disagreement makes them uncomfortable. Although I can see how some people might misinterpret this as politeness in certain situations, which is probably how this myth has spread.
Also, this is probably where the NW "culture of sameness" comes from. I've never seen a group of people that were so mindlessly similar, and so threatened by outsiders, and this includes living in Asia! NW people seem capable of being comfortable only in a society where everyone looks the same, thinks the same, acts the same, drives the same, voices the same political opinions, makes the same amount of money, etc....
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Re: They're not polite, they're entitled
by Anonymous-Coward on May 20, 2007 - 03:54 AM
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Their aversion to confrontation manifests in absurd and sometimes macbre ways as well. Just follow the P-I or Seattle times over a month or so and you'll see articles about shootings, etc, that occur based on minor arguments in traffic or bars. Things that many normal people would just walk away from, some NWesterner hits their boiling point and acts out violently.
Also, what's with the way these people treat their kids? You either see unsupervised hellions, or read about neglectful parents whose kids come to harm (toddlers drowning because no one was watching them, mothers on drinking binges letting their kids starve, etc). No wonder so many people here are all messed up. They must have had terrible childhoods.
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Re: They're not polite, they're entitled by Anonymous-Coward on May 22, 2007 - 11:40 PMRe: They're not polite, they're entitled by Anonymous-Coward on May 22, 2007 - 11:44 PMRe: They're not polite, they're entitled by Anonymous-Coward on May 24, 2007 - 05:46 PM
Re: They're not polite, they're entitled
by Anonymous-Coward on May 21, 2007 - 03:18 AM
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Haha, that grocery store thing is so true. They get this deer in the headlights look whenever someone comes within 5 feet of them. I just tell people to move -- they usually do.
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Re: They're not polite, they're entitled
by Anonymous-Coward on May 21, 2007 - 04:25 AM
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Phoney nice is worse than mean.
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Re: They're not polite, they're entitled
by Anonymous-Coward on May 21, 2007 - 08:14 AM
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Solipsism: --noun
1. Philosopy. The theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist.
2. extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one's feelings, desires, etc., egoistic self-absorbtion.
Related forms: sol-ip-sis-mal --- adjective
sol-ip-sist --- noun,adjective
sol-ip-sis-tic --- adjective
This is a perfect description of the shitattlite and explains the child neglect thats been observed.
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Re: They're not polite, they're entitled
by Anonymous-Coward on May 21, 2007 - 07:59 PM
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This is hilarious. According to the WA state constiution, its primary purpose is to provide top notch educations to the state's children.
Yet, it ranks 20th in Teacher's salaries
http://www.nea.org/edstats/RankFull06b.htm
It hovers just above the national average in all areas.
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/profile.asp
If you want to rank it with the other states, WA comes in 2006-2007, Washington ranked only 33rd in "smartest states" data compiled by a private research company.
http://www.local6.com/education/10097048/detail.html
Wow, maybe "most literate city" means people pretending to read books just so they don't have to talk to each other.
I guess blueberry will come on here now dissing the 17 states that scored lower.
Washington: where mediocrity means excellence!
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Re: They're not polite, they're entitled
by Anonymous-Coward on May 23, 2007 - 04:58 AM
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Just ignore blueberry and he'll go away.
He's occasionally useful as a real live example of how racist and moronic the locals here are, but he's really just worn out his welcome and in typical Seattle fashion can't take a hint.
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Re: They're not polite, they're entitled
by Anonymous-Coward on May 25, 2007 - 01:41 AM
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It's so true--so-called "polite" can really be passive aggressive. My favorite is in the grocery store when someone walks past, when there is PLENTY of room for them to get by you, and they sarcastically say "excuuuuse me" like there's no room and you're in their way.
It then makes me wonder if living in Seattle causes problems with human spatial abilities. I can't tell you how many streets I've gone down where the oncoming driver is convinced that you and they ABSOLUTELY CANNOT DRIVE PAST ONE ANOTHER. There's always plenty of room but they think they're driving a Hummer, when they're in a dirty little Corolla.
Another circumstance is where people will refuse to go around a car or a bus that is pulled to the side because it might mean driving into the incoming lane for a few seconds. They instead sit behind the hold-up and prevent anyone for going. It makes you wonder what you're doing living in such a hick place.
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Re: They're not polite, they're entitled
by evil_jackass on Jun 29, 2007 - 04:58 AM
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The fucked up thing about all of this is that in other parts of the country people appreciate politeness but don't feel entitled to it.
Also, you can pretty much be yourselve whereever you go -- except for here, because the locals all act the same and expect you to be just as fucked up as they are.
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