In response to "A Place Where People Don't Shower
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12/23/2014
Your experience is interesting, considering Portland is one of the least religious cities in America. (Researchers found the greater area of Portland, OR-WA to be the least religious city with about 32 percent identifying as a religious adherent according to Huffington Post and a 2012 Gallup Poll still finds Oregon to be one of the most un-churched states in the country.)
I could reach for the low hanging fruit and simply point out that you misspelled laughable as laffable. But instead, I will point out that perhaps you shouldn't rely on a NY Times article and "short visits" to be your primary motivation to relocate. Did you actually interact with folks during these short visits? Did you visit more than one neighborhood, as they are all very dynamic and different, offering some sub cultures who like to smile and some who don't? I know this world can be a cold place, but believe it or not, not everybody's soul has grown so cold that they do not care to make pleasant, humane small talk with customers who they rely on for their business. Some people still actually like people, and see them as such. So I'm sorry, that must have been very rough for you to have people look you in the eye and treat you like a real person as you supported their business. And I'm wondering, were you wearing a t-shirt to let people know that you were in fact NOT a "proud Oregonian" so they knew to give you those icy cold stares that you attribute to them knowing that you were not a "proud Oregonian?" Or was it the icy cold stares that you were preemptively giving them in anticipation of the coldness you believed they would give you? Did they actually voice that they were afraid of you taking their job? Or was that again, perhaps your own paranoia? Did you ever consider that they were…what do they call it…oh yeah: genuinely interested in you? And it's not that Portland "thinks" they are a big city with world-class restaurants. They ARE a big city—or at least a major city—with world-class restaurants (recently voted 3rd best food in the nation). And if you don't like bone marrow ice cream: don't eat it. Must you be threatened by creativity and artisanship? And with 90% with a high school degree and 30% with a college degree or higher and 19 4-year colleges in the Portland metro-area, I think it's safe to say Portlanders have brain cells (and at least most of their teeth).
Kelsi | Bend, OR