Why do you need to be acknowledged by strangers?

But we are better.

seeking approval from assholes...how pathetic!

I was gonna comment about this post but I don't care.

Who cares what the entitled shit bags of this town think. The only reason they look down their noses is because most are secretly in hoc up to their bungholes in poor and yet over-priced clothing choices, high rents and mortgages, excessive car payments, insurance and parking fees, and trying to live the "Macys Christmas Card Commercial" life to be honest enough with themselves that they are miserable and probably one paycheck away from being in their own cardboard condo in some alley too. I say "don't worry, be happy" and work to make positive changes where you can and be blunt and honest when you cant. Admittedly, I lash out in scribe because, like you, I bust my hump day in and day out for the clueless and whereas I used to be upwardly mobile, now I keep falling farther and farther behind in this town due to unbridled greed. A night out and the income to support it wasnt regular, but often, now I cant remember the last time I went out for a simple drink with friends or hit the symphony or a play. But even when I was in a better financial state, I treated my fellow man with respect and helped every chance I could and I still do. Now, when I lash out in scribe, its not just for me, but for everyone who actually works in this city and doesnt just warm a chair with their hemorrhoids each day for an over bloated salary so they can ruthlessly screw everyone because of race, religion, age, educational or financial status - those people are big-talkers and little-doers. Its the waiters, baristas, laborers, hotel housekeepers, hospital orderlies, and administrative professionals and the like who may not want a million dollars, but may just want to live a secure life of having a roof over their heads, food in their kitchen, and a little extra to save for retirement, for the holidays, or just go out for dinner with a loved one every once in a while without having to break the bank doing it that you need to really focus on. Dont worry about the unhappy looking down their noses at you, because they dont even see you for their own issues and that makes me feel sorry for them. You should just put on a smile, say "Merry Christmas" and keep on smiling! And if you're smart, find another state that doesnt force you to live like you're a contestant on an episode of "Survivor"!

Sounds like you have a self imagine problem you're projecting onto others inaction. People do not need to engage you or acknowledge your existence. In fact doing so can initiate unwanted interaction. Some people take a smile as simply a smile saying have a good day and leave it at that. Others see it as an invitation to interact on a deeper and potential unwanted level. Relax and enjoy your anonymity.

@5 That was a lot of typing.

Wow, It sounds like this "caring what other people think" is exhausting. I think I will take a little brake from that.

Move along. Nothing to see here.

#5 you need a nap and some scotch

Was this your first bus ride?

I find people in Seattle far more talkative than I'm comfortable with. I guess people are all different.

One thing I know for sure, no one is obliged to make themselves uncomfortable to make you comfortable.

What happened? I don't get it.

People rolled their eyes because you were on a bus?

Did you leave out the part about how you were going to a Nazi Skullfuck concert and wearing their t-shirt? Something is missing here.

Nobody cares about you enough to bother rolling their eyes every time you're on the same bus as them, I swear.

What @13 said. People don't roll their eyes at you on the bus for no reason. In fact, most do everything they can to ignore you, so you must have been doing something pretty distracting...

If it's not what @13 and @15 said, it's just the same ol' Seattle chill.

I'm trying to imagine the contents of this week's rejected I, Anonymous letters, that were each even duller than this, the pick of the litter.

Mrph? Is it possible you're mistaking eye rolls for avoiding eye contact? I am not a big fan of talking to/getting overly friendly with people I don't know (and yup, I'm a lifelong PNW'er so I'll own the stereotype), so usually a quick acknowledgement and look-away is about all I do unless you're someone who needs help. I can't say I've actively rolled my eyes at anyone for attending a concert, taking a bus, or doing both together. You might be mistaking disdain for socially awkward.

Rule #1 of bus riding: Never, ever talk to anyone.
Rule #2 of bus riding: Know where the fuck you are going.
Rule #3 of bus riding: Do not break Rule #1 while breaking Rule #2.

There is no Rule that requires anyone to give a shit about you, or where you are going. We are all someone going somewhere.

I WISH I COULD ROLL MY EYES

Weak ass out of towners always want someone all up in their business.

If you wanted someone to pay attention to you, you should've moved to LA or NY instead.

"I took the bus to a concert and I got so many eye rolls and dirty looks"

It's Seattle, half the people there probably also took a bus to get there.

Get over yourself, nobody cares.

I can guarantee I dress odder than you on public transportation and haven't gotten any such stinkeye.

@13 & @15 pretty much nailed this. I ride public transport all the time, we're more concerned about getting home or not missing our connection than whatever imagined drama you think is going on. The SINGLE exception, you were disruptive to the point of aggressively invading other people's space. That will definitely earn you an eye roll from me.

#27, why bring white privilege into it? That's dumb and there's no reason to be a dick. He/she said they were from a small town so it's probably more of a culture thing. Anonymous, it's not like the bus is full of "fancy folk", I ride it every day. I don't like to talk to people because it's my "me time" (which is kind of sad), but seriously, I just like to check out mentally until I get to work. Also if I had to wait a long time for the bus, or run for the bus, or smell a stank on the bus, or deal with obnoxious riders, I will be cranky. I still don't get whether you thought people on the bus were looking down on you or people at the concert were? Either way, I would brush it off. I moved here from a small town also, and I think sometimes it's a perception issue. Anyway, good luck in Seattle, not all of us are assholes.

Were you wearing candy bracelets and fairy wings or some shit? Why would you get eye rolls on the bus on your way to a concert?

@5,the content of a person's character is there to see in their interactions with waitstaff, service folk, etc. I wish I'd known about this simple asshole detector before I married one.

How did you notice - honestly everyone's face is buried in a phone.

Please learn the definition of passive aggressive behavior. Rolling ones eyes is not an example.

I Anon, since you have "a lot of really amazing friends," you're already
miles ahead of the trivial snots who try to curdle others with their fisheye.
Believe me, they don't have amazing friends. Their disdain gives off a
terrible gas which makes them smell bad. They are unworthy. Ignore them.
Concentrate on your life: films, concerts, good food, books, and your great
friends. Keep warm, and happy holidays!

Looking for love in all the wrong places. More fruitful to not worry what strangers think. Once you achieve that you'll be free. The world is not going to change to align with your preferences.

Move to Tacoma. A long time ago (in a Seattle not very far away), I listened to all my cooler-than-thou friends diss Tacoma as a redneck backwater. Of course, back then (early 1990's), Tacoma WAS sort of a backwater. So was Olympia. But that was then. This is 2016 and Tacoma is a pretty nice place to live. The rents are still decent, the public transportation is getting better and best of all, there's not a lot of that stupid "freeze out" crap that one experiences up in the Seattle area. In fact, where I live (low-income housing), some woman moved here from Seattle last summer and all she's done since she moved here is complain about how redneck and backward Tacoma is. SHE, of course, is a pretentious piece of shit who has no reason to act the way she does, seeing as she is living in H.U.D. housing...anyway, she is not liked here and is trying to move back to Seattle. Tacoma isn't as progressive as Seattle is and my wife and I don't feel completely free to hold hands in public sometimes but in general, Tacoma is much more mellow and friendly than snotty Seattle.

Also, who cares what people think of you? Fuck 'em! I have enough self-esteem that I don't give a flying fuck if someone looks askance at me. They don't like me? Oh, well. Their loss.

#5: Please, for the love of whatever you hold dear, learn to use PUNCTUATION. I laughed when you described yourself as a scribe. Is punctuation too pretentious for your scribe mindset?

Letter Writer: Fuck you. Eat shit and die. There's the attention you need.

the two times in the last 20 years i rode the bus I had to shield my young son from some asshole that was hacking his TB germs all over the place and the other time, some homeless fuck farted on a full bus and forced me to walk the 1/2 mile to my office. maybe you did something like that to gain the eye rolls..

Next I won't roll my eyes about the bone through your nose, instead I will ask what animal it came from, if it hurts, and what is the meaning of this profound expressiveness..then you can roll your eyes at me. sorry for the miscue, must be a seattle thing.

Anon is bitching that people don't like to talk to Strange Randos on public transportation? Is that it? Sorry, Anon, but you probably come off as some creepy Nice Guy™. At least that's why I gave stink eye to people trying to chat me up on the bus / subway.

Book + Headphones = Don't Fucking Want To Socialize

Even if NONE of this stuff were true....even if you were the least creepy, most openly friendly human wearing the ONE concert T that no one could hate--you're still in Seattle. And whether YOU (or anyone else cough*Tacoma*cough) find it acceptable or not, we ARE a largely aloof bunch. But we DO have friends. So we do come out of our shells. You just haven't figured it out yet and whether you continue to try is supremely irrelevant to us. This is culture shock. Its natural. But the key is not to change us. Its to find a way in. Good luck. Especially if this is how you're starting--desperate and needy are really abhorred, here....

@10 (re @5): Or MALT LIQUOR and COCAINE (sorry, I couldn't resist borrowing Arthur Zifferelli's big line from many I, Anons ago)?
ANON, I ride the bus a lot, too, where I live (outside of Seattle) and agree with @28's and @31's comments. While I'm not buried in a phone, I usually am among those zoning out unless engaged in conversation with someone I know on the bus.

As someone who moved from a big city to a small town, I experienced a sort of inverse of this culture shock. People kept approaching me to just say howdy and have a blessed day. I was terrified at first, thinking I was being approached by some street-harassing scrub looking to get his dick wet, some panhandler who wanted cash ("for gas"), some weirdo who just had to preach his drug/ mental illness induced revelation. But no, they were just friendly. It was fucking strange. I nearly had a heart attack the first few times because in the city I saw much more of the former.