[alttab]

I'm a Seattle transplant from the east coast and I work for a big scary tech company and I haven't had any of these problems. The main difference between east and west coast culture is on the east coast the biggest opener is "so what do you do?" which in west coast culture translates to "i don't care who you are."

Which is why getting and talking about hobbies is a better choice. Who is most likely to screw this up? East coast or mid-western kids coming to work at Microsoft and Amazon.

A better opener for new-comers to Seattle is: "So what is your favorite brunch place?" or "what do you like to do on the weekends? I like going to Bainbridge", etc.

What you do matters way, way less initially.