World of Spokes

passive aggressive and proud of it

This town is filled with passive aggressive folks. I've always felt the least admirable quality of this city is the people who live in it. Don't get me wrong, compared to most big cities or california, the people here are great. But, folks like to go through life believing they have no emotions and put off an air of superiority if you show any. Now, I fly off the handle at just about any given thing, so I get especially irate when these turds ignore even my most valid complaint. Granted 95% of the things I get mad about are not worth getting mad over, but to straight up ignore how someone is feeling is just unacceptable to me. To most people though, its completely acceptable to ignore something, if it does not fit into their tunnel vision of what their world should be like. For a city that supposed to be open minded and free thinking, this kind of attitude sure comes off as one sided. Not only that, but when they do get mad, they will not come right out and say so. No, many folks would rather take it out on your property or talk about you behind your back. Again, not very forward thinking if you ask me.

This rift in thinking has lead to my exclusion in the cycling community and the design world. The design world is filled with passive aggressives, so I've become accostume to this behavior from them. Unfortunately, the design community is so small, I feel that I have burned many bridges with in a short amount of time, because of my aggressive nature. For the most part I have accepted my role as an outsider, in my line of work it sets me apart from the pack.

I think at some level everyone wants to be accepted, though. Coming to portland, I figured this would be a great opportunity to become a part of a community with like minded ideals. My thinking that I would come to portland and get involved with bike centric people like myself, now seems a bit idealistic. What really happened, once I arrived, was that I realize that people are the same every where you go. Our relationships are defined not by the opinions we have but by the character we posses. Just because someone enjoys cycling, doesn't mean I'm going to instantly get along with them. The way in which we deal with day to day situations means more to me, than whether you ride your bike everyday. Really, no matter where you go the percentage of people you get along with versus those you don't , won't really change.

So long as you stay true to your ideals, it doesn't really matter who you hang out with. I rarely go out with cyclist or even designers for that matter. I like to think of my friends as a various cross section from all facets of life. Some times the only common thread my relationships hold is the ability to understand that we disagree and have different opinions. Without this constant challenge to my views, I think my world would narrow much like those who I complain about.