Oregonians apparently love their alone time.
That’s the conclusion, anyway, of a study from the website Solitaire Bliss, which as far as I can tell after one game of solitaire is a website where one can go to play solitaire, blissfully alone. According to them, Oregon is the seventh “most introverted,” coming in behind places like Vermont and Montana but ahead of our nemesis, Washington.
And what of it, Solitaire Bliss? Are the results of this study supposed to make us feel bad? Because doesn’t appreciating and enjoying time by ourselves make us probably slightly better than people from the 43 other states below us who are too scared of their own inner monologue or the stares of others to appreciate things like going to the movies alone or eating, by oneself, at a restaurant?
Solitaire Bliss said it analyzed data from the Census Bureau’s American Time Use Survey to discover what people liked to do alone, and together, in every state.
Oregonians, it turns out, really like reading alone.
In that classic solo activity, we ranked third in the nation. Of course, this begs the question, left unanswered by Solitaire Bliss, are there states where people are really into reading together? Are we talking about something like a fifth-grade read-a-thon, everyone in that same room in PJs with pillows and blankets? Or would it be like adults reading aloud to each other?
Sadly, as mentioned, that is unanswered.
Oregonians, the study said, also excel at enjoying entertainment alone. In this, we ranked fourth. And that just makes sense. Why limit yourself only to entertainment options that your friends want to shell out money for? I know a lot of people who would happily go to a concert by themselves and I myself once spent a glorious day in Disney California Adventure completely alone in a massive crowd.
Here’s what I think this study really means: Oregonians are confident. They know what they like and what they want to do and they do it, even if (and sometimes because) it means doing it alone.
— Lizzy Acker
503-221-8052; lacker@oregonian.com; @lizzzyacker
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