Scary Seattle Summer
I don’t know about you guys, but this summer is Seattle is starting to freak me out. I thought the feet washing up in B.C. was a little creepy and somewhat entertaining- but more importantly, far enough from Seattle to maintain some sense of distance.
Next, we had the spikes in Greenlake- and much like the B.C. feet, more and more spikes are showing up in the lake. I couldn’t imagine someone being evil enough to put that much effort into hurting swimmers and boaters, so I’m still clinging to the more benevolent explanations- plastic sheeting, theater, whatever. As long as some psycho’s not swimming around Greenlake in the winter to set up spikes intended to hurt people months later…
But then we had the case of the traffic circle gardener, who died after being punched during an altercation. (#) This was a story that just seemed… awful. Granted, there are multiple versions to any story, but the idea of a 60-year-old man dying from a single punch to the head while tending a public space- no matter how much of a cranky curmudgeon he may have been- it just seemed like the worst kind of tragedy, one that could have been easily prevented by someone taking a different approach.
And today, I run across news that suggests that some Critical Mass bicyclists may have attacked a driver after he (intentionally or not) hit one of the bikers. (#) Now, I understand both sides to the story- but again, this seems like a situation that could have been easily prevented by cooler heads. Bicyclists, don’t touch peoples’ vehicles during bike rides; Drivers, be patient with slower-moving bikes… being late isn’t truly the end of the world, after all.
Maybe it’s just my idealistic tendencies, and the fact that I had to stop watching the news shortly after we moved here because it was like seeing the worst stories from the last five years of living in my hometown all packed into one half-hour segment, but I just can’t quite seem to wrap my head around people being so angry here. Like another Metblogger said (#), Seattle, what’s wrong with you lately? You’re freaking me out…
Does anyone have any good, uplifting stories to help us see the brighter side? I’d kill for some good news…
That critical mass violence is just the mob mentality in full effect. When big groups of like minded people get together it can be easy for violence to spill over (especially if others in the group support violent actions, then it just feeds off of the "go ahead" from others).
I’m not surprised to hear about violence happening from the Critical Mass crew. Not because any of the participants are particularly violent but simply because most everyone riding is already in high defense mode. They are riding bikes in such a way as to prove a point (a point i fully agree with mind you) but also are on the defense because they know many people (mainly people in cars) will be pissed off at them for slowing down car traffic.
The negative stories in the media is a problem with the media, not with Seattle. I stopped watching the local news after moving here for the same reason, but one of the news channels in my previous hometown suffered from the same problem–rather than actually go out and find real news to report, they just get a copy of the police blotter and read that off instead.
It makes a fun game: count how many consecutive stories on your local newscast involve death, near-death, or criminal activity. (My record was at least 13 on KING/KONG’s morning show.) Does anyone actually tune in to hear about the car-crash-of-the-day? This kind of "news" is lazy, depressing, and useless.
Thanks for including a photo of mine in this post!
Even though its mostly about weird freakiness going on in Seattle lately. :)
No problem! It’s got a great atmospheric quality to it that I thought captured the sinister effect I was going for well. It’s beautiful, and eerie. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more of yours ;)