INVASION OF THE SNOBS!!

(Note to the reader: please read the NYTimes article below so you know what this rant is all about.)

Thats right... Invasion of the Snobs, or shall I say its the Colonization of the snobs? Either one gets the point across. About a week or so ago, my mom sent me this article via email. I was at work and in between classes when I read it. Afterwards I was almost shaking with anger and tears were threatening to spill. I was definitely NOT in the mood to teach, but I did. I have so many bones to pick about this article I scarcely know where to start. If you, the reader, is from Vashon, or from another small town that became snobbified, you might know how I feel.

Growing up Vashon it was my childhood haven, then as a teen it became my prison, and now its the place I return to see my parents and feel nostalgic. Nevertheless, its always been my home. As a child I always remember it being quirky and small and everyone knew everyone else. People were nice and helpful, and I dont think I knew anyone who considered themselves rich. At least I was never aware of it. Hell, weve been members of the country club since before I was born, and my family is nowhere near rich. It was a place people met and swam in the pool, played golf and enjoyed the summer. There were probably some snobby ones, but not a significant amount.

Then as I got older, I started running into more and more tourists. A girl at the pool walking around as if she owned the place, told me that she was just here for the summer. "We just have a summer home here. We dont like being here in the winter." Well, excuse me if my home isnt good enough in the winter for your tastes.

Then one day as I was on the ferry coming home from Seattle, some tourists asked me if I lived there. "Yes, of course." I replied.

"So, you grew up here? I mean, did you go to school in Seattle, or are there any schools here?"

"Uh, yeah there are schools here. K-12."

"Oh I see. And is there running water and electricity too?"

"Of course there is....(looking at them as if theyre nuts)"

What I wanted to say but didnt have the guts to is "What the h#$% is wrong with you? Do I look like civilised? Do I look like I live somewhere that pumps its own water and uses lanterns and candles??" Jeeeez... idiots. From there it only got worse. They started invading the Strawberry Festival. More and more people walked around ohhhing and ahhhing as if it was a f'n different planet. Come on people! "Go away!", I want to tell them. "Get out of our home, you werent invited! Youre ruining the spirit!" I started not recognising anyone. It became so crowded no one could move, and even the locals had to park a mile away at least to find a spot! The reason this makes me so mad is because the Island has lost its charm, its specialness. The more outsiders that come and buy up our waterfront with their f'n second summer homes, the more the Island dies!

The reason people like it is becuase its small and quirky and special. But it dies a little bit more with every rich snob that buys an over-priced property. Formerly made up of hippies, artists and naturalists (like in my childhood), its now rapidly becoming the Beverly Hills of Seattle! Just as an example: We bought our house in 1990 for around $100,000 and are still paying it off little by little. It was built sometime in the late 60's which means it has lime green, bright burnt orange, mustard yellow and brown carpet. That color theme dominated the house when we bought it. It also needed many repairs over the years. It looks much different now(and a hell of a lot better) after my mom put so much work into it. Its now a very nice house, but nowhere near mansion-like. Its about 5 mins from the north end ferry which is a prime spot to be for commuters. Anwyay, the ridiculous thing is that she could most likely sell it for way more than its really worth (maybe $400,000 and possibly a lot more by the time she does decide to sell it). I mean, should she ever decide to, good for her, but the fact is that its not worth that much. NONE of the houses on the island are!! There are some pure shit houses (as in waay smaller than ours and not as nice) that are selling for $400-500,000. It just angers me so much that we're literally being pushed out because the rich people are driving the prices of everything up! It hurts me so much to see them USING my home, my childhood, as a prime vacation resort and exotic getaway spot!

Its not only that that pisses me off about this article but the fact that this very stupid lady (resisting the urge to cuss, here) only interviewed the people who had moved there in the past year or 2 and who bought million dollar homes! What do they know?!!! Theyre not islanders! Its not a fair representation of Vashon and its what the rest of the States who read the NYTimes is going to think about us!!!!

By the way Ms. Linda Baker (who Id give anything to strangle), I liked the shitty restaurants of the past. I LOVED the Dairy Queen that was owned by an Island family! The Hardware Store was ACTUALLY a hardware store until a couple years ago when Island Hardware decided to mow down a few acres of forest and build a Home Depot-sized store (way too big for Vashon) and put them out of business. That store had been there since the beginning of the century and had a lot of history behind it. And now, its just a f'n restaurant.. great! And the Green Ginger will never have the feeling and charm of the long gone but never forgotten Happy Garden chinese restaurant of my youth.

Also, the forrest of unique trees on the island are called madrona, NOT madronio. If youre going to write an article about the culture and life on the island or at least include that stuff in your Real Estate article, get your facts straight and interview REAL ISLANDERS! Not the million dollar snobs.

Im sorry this is such an inarticulate rant, and Im sorry its so long. But, I cant stand to see Vashon die like this. We've fought for sooo long to keep this from happening. We voted against building a bridge multiple times!! We've tried to stay isolated to protect the island culture. As irritating as the isolation was as a teen, Im glad it was like that. I guess you never realize how special something is or how much you love it until it dies, is taken away, is colonized or whatever. Change is inevitable, I know, but that doesnt make it suck any less!

I just want to cry...