Back when I was a young Boeing engineer Seattle was a modest place with (apologies to Winston Churchill) much to be modest about. They were always comparing themselves with the real city to the south, San Francisco. Seattleites knew they were more wet than cool.
So in a classic case of psychosexual compensation, Seattleites did the equivalent of buying the city a Porsche. They built a big phallus called the “Space Needle.”
Ever since, everything Seattle does is designed to show San Francisco and the world that Seattle is big.
I’d like to say this is a tale of two cities, but it’s a tale of many. Continue reading