Seattle's social freeze
Where'd You Go BernadetteSeattle's social freeze is the name given to the idea that Seattle is one of the hardest cities in which to make friends. Elgin Branch considers it as a possible explanation for Bernadette Fox's difficulty fitting in, while questioning whether it can account for her lasting resentment of the city.
Meaning and Local Reputation
People describe Seattle as a particularly difficult place to make friends and refer to that perceived social barrier as the Seattle freeze. Elgin reports that he has not experienced it himself, though coworkers say it is real and speculate that it may have something to do with the region's Scandinavian ancestry. The explanation is presented as local hearsay, not as an established cause.
Bernadette's Experience and Elgin's View
Elgin says he encouraged Bernadette to make friends, but his efforts prompted her to say that she had tried and that nobody liked her. He allows that it may initially have been difficult for her to fit into Seattle. Yet after eighteen years, he regards her continuing hatred of the entire city as irrational. The concept therefore names a possible social obstacle in Bernadette's experience, while Elgin's account also exposes the limits of that explanation: it cannot, by itself, resolve the growing distance between her account of exclusion and his interpretation of her resentment.
