Making my way from Seattle to what I guess is known as the grays Harbor (The Coast) We passed through Aberdeen. I gotta be honest this place doesn't leave much of an impression. There IS a Walmart AND a Safeway so you can get groceries if you live here, major plus. But once the novelty of big box marts goes away you will find a gray rundown town.
I didn't pay much attention to this place when I passed through here for the first time. It was just one more place I had to get through to get to my camping space.
I knew the biggest and best fact about this place. Which is, it's the birth place of Kurt Cobain. I mean if you look at this town for about as long as 5 seconds, the a thought along the lines of, "of course this is where Kurt Cobain lead singer of the hit band Nirvana is from. The welcome to Aberdeen sign has the words "Come As You Are" Written on the bottom. Which is a reference to the hit song "Come As You Are" by the very famous band Nirvana who of course is from Aberdeen Washington.
Come Wearing Business Casual
I've lived in the Seattle area going on 4 years and let me tell you Seattle does take a lot of credit for Kurt and Nirvana. I think it's really easy to see Seattle as a grimy liberal fever dream because of it's horrific homelessness and general lawlessness. However, what Seattle truly is the house that Amazon built. Amazon and many other large companies moved in and kicked all the nonconformists out. Creating a city of shinny futurist buildings and packed the streets with suits and tech bros of every verity. Really easy to see that the rest were left behind and were subsequently priced out or forced out. I don't think Kurt Cobain writer of the chart topping album "Nevermind" would approve...
As a Friend, As a Known Enemy.
Cobain said the meaning of "Come As You Are" is purposely confusing. The lyrics purposely contradict each other. The great contradiction of Aberdeen is living here and also making a living. There is a dark shadow over this town both literarily and figuratively. It seems your only options for making a true living is either working in lumber yards or on a fishing boat both careers that ironically need to be done outside of Aberdeen. "The choice is yours don't be late." If you don't want to do this back breaking work you pretty much only have food service or retail. The latter is disappearing all across the country and of course this place is no exception.
What am I trying to say with this post? I'm not sure honestly. I don't know what it's like living in Aberdeen. I didn't ask anyone about their feeling regarding the town. I truly have no idea what's it's like to be a resident here. What I can say is that this small town like every other town is a window in to seeing what is truly happening in the US right now. We seem to be moving so fast that anyone or any place that can't keep up will be left behind. It's scary to think that maybe even I could turn into an Aberdeen one day and there isn't a soul on earth that could save me.
I hope people enjoy living here. I hope people can live out there dreams in this community. I hope kids grow up here and experience events that will shape their lives forever. I will be taking a closer look at this town the next time I'm in the area maybe even have a few conversations.
If you live in Aberdeen and found your way to this post please let me know what it's like. Is there anything about the town that people passing throw would miss? What made you decide on living here in the first place? What made you stay?
Anyway I give Aberdeen a resounding 10-10 !
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