Excerpt from my first trip ever to Seattle:
Arrived at 8pm. Showered, got dressed and asked the taxi driver to take me to wherever is cool on a Friday night. He drops me off in this area where there are a bunch of bars/clubs all within blocks of each other. Apparently, if you buy a $12 cover, it gets you into 12 clubs. So I go to one of them but it’s still early so I spend some time chatting with the bouncer about the city, telling him that I’m thinking about moving here. He tells me that the best thing about seattle is how nice and diverse the people are. I need to eat so he directs me to a pub around the corner that is supposed to have awesome food. I go to that pub (McCoy’s) and it’s a quaint little place that commemorates firemen. The only space in the bar is at the counter so I sit next to an old man who stares at me. Finally, he declares that he wants to buy me a drink and won’t take no for an answer. So I’m ordering my food and he’s talking to me about what he does, etc. He’s really nice and a little bit crazy, like someone’s eccentric uncle, even going to the lengths of taking out his dentures to show them to me. I’m listening to him talk about his life and he’s decided that he shall call me Rosebud and then later, he decides that my name will be Sunshine. And I’m apparently the nicest person he’s ever met. At some point, some guy pressed up against the bar between us to order a drink and the old man tapped him on the shoulder and said, “You need to say excuse me to the Lady.” The guy was confused and I said, “No, it’s not a problem.” But the old man tells the guy he’s got to apologize for invading my personal space or he’ll break his legs. So things are a little tense and the guy moves away and the old man finally gets up and goes home. He wasn’t a bad guy, just lonely, I think.