lines can haunt you

2006-03-13

The difference between Seattle and Vancouver

This will probably make me sound racist or ignorant, or perhaps both, and I have no defense for that except that it really was the first thing I noticed: that if you took half of the Asian people in Vancouver and replaced them with African American people, the two cities would be a lot more similar, demographically speaking. Maybe it's weird, I don't know, but I almost never see black people in Vancouver.

The second difference is the sheer number and variety of drive-thru service that is availble to citizens of Seattle. There is drive-thru banking - and I'm not talking about pull up to an ATM and get cash or whatever, I'm talking pull up to some sort of pneumatic tube station where you can insert your id and bank card into this tube, then send it via aformentioned tube assembly to bank worker sheltered inside, who can make sure you are who you say you are, and then, eventually, send back a tube full of cash or balance information or whatever. This is crazy, no? There is also drive-thru coffee stands, drive-thru photo-finishing, drive-thru pharmaceutical, in addition to the plethora of drive-thru restaurants that dot every major intersection. Eventually, you will never have to leave your car.

There are more used bookstores too. This, seemingly, must be the single biggest industry in the city (after specialty coffee retail, of course.)

For the most part, we did the tourist thing while we were there. Alki beach, Pike Place Market, the original Starbucks. We skipped the Space Needle. We took in a Sonics game. We skipped all the museums (I'm sure they are fabulous.) We got very drunk. (Long live the Maharaja!) We were fiendishly lost many, many times.

I renamed a cat. He was large and had very long, grey fur. His name was Oliver, but he'll always be 'Lord Grey' to me. I sent random text messages to random people detailing the activities of Lord Grey, sans context, of course. No one ever replied.

We met a lot of good people, some of whom became good friends. They will visit soon, I hope.


Navigation previous entry next entry latest entry archives profile notes e-mail How lines can haunt you... Recent Forays 2009-03-10: The names 2008-05-21: in medias res 2007-11-14: The things I meant to write about: 2007-07-29: More than meets the eye 2007-04-13: Where the words have gone. Links Abroad in medias res Modern Drunkard Ftrain The Onion Exploding Dog McSweeney's Internet Tendency The National Pist Higher Blogs Palinode's Palace Schmutzie Friday Films Luvabeans Sprigs Fairlywell Dirty Laundry Boombasticat f-i-n jonquill Stray Sparrow Swordfern Pablo Ashahands Erasing		2006-03-13 The difference between Seattle and Vancouver This will probably make me sound racist or ignorant, or perhaps both, and I have no defense for that except that it really was the first thing I noticed: that if you took half of the Asian people in Vancouver and replaced them with African American people, the two cities would be a lot more similar, demographically speaking. Maybe it's weird, I don't know, but I almost never see black people in Vancouver. The second difference is the sheer number and variety of drive-thru service that is availble to citizens of Seattle. There is drive-thru banking - and I'm not talking about pull up to an ATM and get cash or whatever, I'm talking pull up to some sort of pneumatic tube station where you can insert your id and bank card into this tube, then send it via aformentioned tube assembly to bank worker sheltered inside, who can make sure you are who you say you are, and then, eventually, send back a tube full of cash or balance information or whatever. This is crazy, no? There is also drive-thru coffee stands, drive-thru photo-finishing, drive-thru pharmaceutical, in addition to the plethora of drive-thru restaurants that dot every major intersection. Eventually, you will never have to leave your car. There are more used bookstores too. This, seemingly, must be the single biggest industry in the city (after specialty coffee retail, of course.) For the most part, we did the tourist thing while we were there. Alki beach, Pike Place Market, the original Starbucks. We skipped the Space Needle. We took in a Sonics game. We skipped all the museums (I'm sure they are fabulous.) We got very drunk. (Long live the Maharaja!) We were fiendishly lost many, many times. I renamed a cat. He was large and had very long, grey fur. His name was Oliver, but he'll always be 'Lord Grey' to me. I sent random text messages to random people detailing the activities of Lord Grey, sans context, of course. No one ever replied. We met a lot of good people, some of whom became good friends. They will visit soon, I hope. Tell me when this blog is updated email: