The Great Divide We Have To Earn Our Coolness Us Vs. Them Musings By Reporter

Putting aside for a moment the fact that thousands of people who claim to be Seattleites actually reside in soulless suburbs closer to shopping malls than to the Space Needle, one thing cannot be denied.

Saying “I live in Seattle” has social cachet across the country.

But there’s something to be said for not being tempted to embrace delusions about what a ZIP code implies about your personality.

In Seattle, it’s possible to coast along on the fallacy that merely living in a chic city says something meaningful about individual worth.

In Spokane, the merit system is in effect. If you want people elsewhere to think you’re important or hip - an admittedly dubious goal - you’ve got to earn it.

The interesting thing about Spokane’s famous inferiority complex is that we have no one to blame but ourselves.

That’s because it’s the people living here who are the real experts at putting down this remarkably livable city. Face it. There’s no Spokane-basher like a local grump who imagines his life is diminished because he doesn’t live in a certain so-called major league city.

Sure, there are easily amused sorts in Seattle who poke fun at Spokane. But for the most part, West Siders simply don’t care about the Lilac City.

So it would seem that what we have here is a clear case of civic-image suicide. And you know what? That’s not an altogether bad thing.

Boosters might disagree. But compared to smug, self-congratulatory trend-a-holism, an unpretentious, no-nonsense culture imbued with a sense of self-effacement can seem appealing.

Just don’t let a home-grown Spokane-basher hear you say that. , DataTimes