The Slice: Feeling nostalgic about Spokane bashing

I’m worried about Spokane’s young people.

We all keep hearing about how this city’s reputation among 20-somethings has improved. And how staying here is no longer assumed to be an admission of failure or lack of ambition.

Sometimes it has something to do with a desire to be able to afford the rent.

So anyway, that’s all good. Non-criminal young people staying in Spokane is a welcome trend. And it’s hard not to feel optimistic about this city’s prospects with this vibrant new generation of difference-makers sticking around.

And yet.

How will these creative, innovative stay-homers cope with the loss of what was once a classic source of satisfaction for local young people? You know, leaving. Or, more to the point, complaining about Spokane.

Now there is no age limitation to grousing about Spokane. Older residents are some of our finest crab-apple moaners. Years of experience has given them a well-honed knack for griping about this city’s real and imagined shortcomings.

But our youths have always complained about Spokane with a genuine verve, a certain flair. It was almost inspiring to hear some of the more florid “I’m outta here” rants.

It could get quite animated and, frankly, entertaining.

Some kids would get so torqued off about Spokane having nothing to offer beyond bowling leagues that it almost seemed as if they could no longer bear the idea of being in the same city with their clueless parents.

You knew the complainers were deriving true satisfaction from their dissing of boring, stuck-in-the-past Spokane here in the Ingrown Empire.

Hey, we’ve all been young. This is pretty normal.

Moreover, the fair-minded among us had to admit the young adults had a point with some of their beefs.

But here is what has me worried. Griping about Spokane was such an accepted rite of passage for so long, what will replace it if this “Spokane doesn’t suck” mindset really gets traction?

Perhaps young people could shift their ire from geography to generations. You know, blame baby boomers and Gen Xers for everything.

The good old Spokane bashing option will always be there, when needed.

This date in Slice history (1997): Carrie Webbenhurst wonders: If the Riverfront Park marmots went on strike, what would be their demands? What would their picket signs say?

Today’s Slice question: What Inland Northwest resident lives nearest to the Canadian border?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Those who recognize the expression “Zeptember” did not always have gray hair.