Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Oh...braying neighbors

Don't let assholes ruin your life

Who the #%*@ parked in my spot??!?!
Who the #%*@ parked in my spot??!?!

Dear Hipster:

Ugh. My neighbors on Nextdoor are such pricks sometimes. I’m obviously not going to say where I live, but it suffices to say that any issue related to parking or pets (among other things) kicks half a dozen smug know-it-alls into gear at the slightest provocation. I don’t mind all the watching out that goes on (even if the “crime watch” element seems a bit alarmist to me), but some of the things that people generally rant about include me by implication, at least indirectly. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before someone is getting all up in my business. Like, what if my dog barks in the night and my neighbors gripe openly about it? Am I okay to just tell them to politely fuck off?

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Anonymous

The interwebs runneth over with germane, friendly blogs, and thoughtful fluff about not letting assholes ruin your life. I refer you to any of those for the necessary pick-me-up when, faced with the onslaught of human assholery, you would retreat into a misanthropic world where nothing means anything and everybody sucks. The hipster thing to do is quite obviously this: rise above the tide of petulance through ironic detachment.

But, your observation strikes at my hipster heart, which believes technology, opportunity, and increased social consciousness will buoy us toward brighter tomorrows filled with kind, cooperative people. Now, look at me, I’ve gone and labeled a bunch of people “assholes” because they care too much about the parking situation in their neighborhoods.

Don’t get me wrong, the people who would throw a fit over shit that bothers only them — those people are total assholes. But their biggest flaw is thinking they know what’s good for everyone else, and what do we do with people like that all over the world? We elect them to public office and promote them to supervisory roles in sinister corporations.

Being a responsible hipster in the 21st Century may be 98 percent pour-over coffee, skinny jeans, and Apple products; but it’s at least marginally founded on owning your shit. Maybe a hipster buys fair-trade coffee beans because, without harming anyone, it furthers his idea of what is right. Contrast that with someone trying to force his narrow ideas of right and wrong on everyone around him, and I think you’ll see why ranting about unleashed dogs in your neighborhood is not very hipster.

The fact that we hipsters find the latter position extraordinarily distasteful explains in large part why hipsters (and the “youth” in general) aren’t rushing out to join community planning groups. I think, Anonymous, you would probably agree that hipster notions of community revolve around shared interests (e.g., fermentation clubs, homebrew contests, and monthly ironic karaoke sessions), rather than making sure nobody in the neighborhood tries to paint his house an “ugly” color.

Does this go way beyond the scope of your question? You bet it does! I really don’t think there’s an “answer” for you in there, so I’ve tried to provide some perspective. Maybe it helps you to know that there are about a thousand things in the world more important than whether Fluffles the syphilitic chihuahua howls at the ambulance, even if some people consider that tantamount to war crimes.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Next Article

2024’s Best Bitcoin & Crypto Casinos – Play BTC Casino Games Online

Best Bitcoin Casinos (2024): Top 10 Crypto Casino Sites for BIG Payouts
Who the #%*@ parked in my spot??!?!
Who the #%*@ parked in my spot??!?!

Dear Hipster:

Ugh. My neighbors on Nextdoor are such pricks sometimes. I’m obviously not going to say where I live, but it suffices to say that any issue related to parking or pets (among other things) kicks half a dozen smug know-it-alls into gear at the slightest provocation. I don’t mind all the watching out that goes on (even if the “crime watch” element seems a bit alarmist to me), but some of the things that people generally rant about include me by implication, at least indirectly. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before someone is getting all up in my business. Like, what if my dog barks in the night and my neighbors gripe openly about it? Am I okay to just tell them to politely fuck off?

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Anonymous

The interwebs runneth over with germane, friendly blogs, and thoughtful fluff about not letting assholes ruin your life. I refer you to any of those for the necessary pick-me-up when, faced with the onslaught of human assholery, you would retreat into a misanthropic world where nothing means anything and everybody sucks. The hipster thing to do is quite obviously this: rise above the tide of petulance through ironic detachment.

But, your observation strikes at my hipster heart, which believes technology, opportunity, and increased social consciousness will buoy us toward brighter tomorrows filled with kind, cooperative people. Now, look at me, I’ve gone and labeled a bunch of people “assholes” because they care too much about the parking situation in their neighborhoods.

Don’t get me wrong, the people who would throw a fit over shit that bothers only them — those people are total assholes. But their biggest flaw is thinking they know what’s good for everyone else, and what do we do with people like that all over the world? We elect them to public office and promote them to supervisory roles in sinister corporations.

Being a responsible hipster in the 21st Century may be 98 percent pour-over coffee, skinny jeans, and Apple products; but it’s at least marginally founded on owning your shit. Maybe a hipster buys fair-trade coffee beans because, without harming anyone, it furthers his idea of what is right. Contrast that with someone trying to force his narrow ideas of right and wrong on everyone around him, and I think you’ll see why ranting about unleashed dogs in your neighborhood is not very hipster.

The fact that we hipsters find the latter position extraordinarily distasteful explains in large part why hipsters (and the “youth” in general) aren’t rushing out to join community planning groups. I think, Anonymous, you would probably agree that hipster notions of community revolve around shared interests (e.g., fermentation clubs, homebrew contests, and monthly ironic karaoke sessions), rather than making sure nobody in the neighborhood tries to paint his house an “ugly” color.

Does this go way beyond the scope of your question? You bet it does! I really don’t think there’s an “answer” for you in there, so I’ve tried to provide some perspective. Maybe it helps you to know that there are about a thousand things in the world more important than whether Fluffles the syphilitic chihuahua howls at the ambulance, even if some people consider that tantamount to war crimes.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.