The Oddities of Washington

As many of you know a few months ago I took a new job that required me to move to Washington state. One of the first things I noticed when I moved out to Washington was the complete and total lack of "southern" anything. Now many of you will say "well duh", you don't live in the south anymore. This is true.

I have lived in the south most of my life, and after being in the south for that long you get used to certain things. The corner stare that has been there forever, and everyone remembers your name. Not that I would ever eat them, but you get used to grits beings served on every breakfast menu. Speaking of breakfast lets not forget
Bo-jangles biscuits. Rednecks, and Rednecks being proud to be called Rednecks. Southern hospitality. The Bible Belt. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is, out here those things that I am used to are just not present.

Now that does not mean that Washington is "normal". Hardly, but I am having an interesting time getting used to Washington's oddities.

Today I was in a repair shop getting my truck looked at. At first all seemed normal. A normal auto repair shop, with mechanics in blue uniforms, the smell of engine oil, and the sound of air powered tools. The radio played loudly in the corner, and after a few minutes the song "I heard it through the grapevine" started to play. Without warning or any signal that I could see every mechanic in hearing distance of the radio started to sing along with the radio. None of them stopped what they were doing. They just started to sing. Some sang with passion and volume, and some just sang quietly to themselves.

I must confess it took me off guard. The singing continued for the rest of the time I was there, and the songs includes works by The Beach Boys, and selected works from the movie Grease.

Now this is only one example of Washington Oddities, but I am happy to report that I am not the only person to have noticed this. One of my coworkers, Lisa, writes about a recent trip she took to Lacey Washington.

I dont want to write about every oddity I have seen out here, because I think I will spread some of them out for future posts.