Them Is Just Us Viewed From A Distance

When I arrived in Seattle 18 years ago
today, the plan was to return to NYC and
resume the lease on Sarah's loft in Brooklyn
once she finished her 2-year grad program,
but when the time came we felt too connected
to leave, so here we are, feeling lucky to have
found a permanent home on Capitol Hill.
There is much lamentation about how Seattle
is changing, but so are you, so stop complain-
ing. It's true the cost of living is out of control
and needs to be stabilized ASAP by policies
(e.g., rent control, taxes on speculation, etc.)
that ensure housing affordability before all
the artists and other working class folk get
pushed out for good, but instead of kvetching
about how all the "newcomers" just don't get
the culture here I propose we "old-timers" do
more to welcome and integrate them instead
of collapsing into our deteriorating cliques.
To that end I'm scheming to start a series of
potluck picnics and a Newcomers Ball where
Seattleites old and new can get to know one
another to build community. Divide and rule
is the oldest trick in the book. If we are to
weather the coming cataclysms we need
to start practicing radical inclusiveness.