"there's no pill for assholes" that was my 'ah ha' moment with my therapist this week. I'd been seeing her for a while, and I asked if there was a pill I could take to help with everything that's going on in the world.

I can't tell you what a relief that was to hear. Portland wasn't exactly the most welcoming town before the pandemic, it's always seemed a bit insular and cliquish by nature. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people exclaim proto-xenophobic rhetoric about Californians coming in and "ruining our culture." There are entire political gangs dedicated to proudly bullying certain public officials. I don't appreciated it when people use the word tribal pejoratively so let's just say we are but clannish.

Face it Portland. A lot of you are assholes. I'm not saying you haven't done the nice thing here or there for those you consider your in-group. But the majority of you quickdraw your phone to call the cops the moment you see someone you 'feel' doesn't belong.

You all are a walking set of double-think contradictions. Even our liberals are illiberal. We have a fierce militancy about how and why people should think about things and refuse to even consider our neighbors perspectives.

I don't mean to rag on you all. I just hope there is someone out there who might be feeling down reads this and realizes the bullshit they are going through might not be their fault. In fact, its most likely because Portland is full of assholes.