Stereotype City
Washington becomes #22 on the visited states list as of today. K.L. and I flew in today and, aside from an experience much like one documented earlier when I was in Salt Lake City, there weren’t any major bumps getting here. This trip is not what I would call a regularly scheduled vacation. It’s actually a trip with a purpose. K.L.’s middle brother, whom she refers to as the “Seattle Brother,” lives here and her parents and oldest brother, referred to as the “Weird Brother,” are flying in tomorrow so I can meet everyone. The trip, so far as I know, was not planned with me in mind specifically but it works out that I get to meet everyone. Whether this is a good or bad thing, I do not know yet.
I’ve been dreading this trip for the last two weeks, to be perfectly honest. For reasons I won’t bother documenting until after this trip—as, by then, I believe there will be some sort of conclusion to it all—I’ve actually lost sleep. Meeting parents has always been a problem for me and I seem unlikable. I’m not sure precisely what it is or if I give off some kind of odd pheromone but that’s just the way things have panned out historically. Even the few that have liked me have always done so begrudgingly. Like I said though, I’ll cover this specifically from start to finish later. (Or, I might. Those that read know it’s sporadic.)
Seattle Brother picked us up at the airport and the meeting seemed pleasant enough. Thus far I would say that I like him and he didn’t seem to react negatively to me. I don’t know how much that means though, since I have some feeling Laine’s entire family plays their hands close to their chests. In many ways, they’re quite the opposite of what I’ve grown up amongst and reading them is difficult, further complicated by the fact that without a long history to analyze, I’m not great at reading people in the first place.
Thus far, in the little I have seen, Seattle fits many of the stereotypes I’ve associated with it. I forget the name of the establishments, but one of the first buildings I noticed as I was entering the city was some sort of coffee company that lauded themselves as “green.” This is quintessentially Seattle.
K.L.’s brother took us to a Mexican restaurant that wasn’t bad and then on a tour of Theo Chocolates, another place that typified Seattle’s sort of green, hippie, laid back culture. The chocolate is all organic and they pride themselves on it. I thought this was a weird selection for an outing, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The tour was fun, I learned more about the chocolate making process, from plant to bar, than I ever thought I’d care to (but hey, I’m rarely one to turn down useless knowledge) and I tasted the finest chocolate I have ever tried. It’s a coconut curry chocolate bar and while I’m sure many out there find that sounding unappealing, it’s right up my alley. On top of being a flavor seemingly tailor-made for me, the chocolate is worth the expense. This is good, good stuff. (A few lucky people back home might get to try one of these bars.)
As a side note the girl giving the tour said that many people who are allergic to chocolate aren’t actually allergic to chocolate but the cocoa butter substitutes a lot of modern chocolates use. My dad and sister are both allergic and I’m curious if they could handle this stuff.
This place is full of bikers and there’s a lot of recycling going on too. I see a lot of Obama support here and there and not much in the way of McCain. Superficially, it meets the stereotypes and that’s kind of amusing. For the record, I’m not really knocking the stereotype. I had previously characterized Seattle as a sort of pretentious place but in my tiny sampling thus far it hasn’t felt very pushy or preachy about what it is and I do like that. Strangely, I’ve enjoyed my little sliver here and am looking forward to seeing more of it. I wonder if I could pick up and live here one day? It’s smaller than I thought it was, that’s for sure. It actually feels a lot like Reno for reasons I can’t seem to put my finger on.
Anyway, I’ll write more about this trip later. I should be vacationing, not writing!