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

Scratchy Goodwill rag, or Egyptian cotton from Bed Bath and Beyond?

You don’t need a Tempurpedic mattress to sleep at night

Wisdom. Be attentive.
Wisdom. Be attentive.

Dear Hipster:

I’ve recently moved into San Diego, and into my first apartment post-college that’s really mine. At least, it’s mine and my roommate’s because there’s no way I could afford a 1BR spot for myself. It’s straight up too expensive. I work as a barista (hence the anonymous message, as I don’t want my regulars to identify me), and I earn what I actually thought would be pretty good money, considering the relatively high minimum wage in California. As I adjust to the high cost of living a normal life, I have to say, my mind is completely boggled. How can so many hipsters hold down stereotypically “hipster” jobs (like mine!), yet still freely enjoy hipster extravagances like craft beer, $8 avocado toast, Polaroid photography, designer beard tonics, and vinyl records?

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Broke Bro in North Park

How indeed does the average hipster, working a grueling 32-hour barista’s workweek, manage to afford all that Pliny the Younger to wash down grass-fed organic burgers? Because this question presents such fertile ground for hipster exposition, I have decided the manifold solution to this problem demands more than even I can accomplish in a single week. Last week, I dimly recall waxing irate over the pricing-out of hipsters from their traditional urban environments. I also advised cash-strapped hipsters to externalize the costs of a hipster lifestyle by achieving insider status within some section of the local hipster economy. This week, we’re looking at the negative implications of the choice to lead a hipster lifestyle.

Step Two: Forego Non-Hipster Luxuries

Popular wisdom stereotypes hipsters as a bunch of trust fund babies living out extended bohemian gap years before eventually selling out and working at their dads’ hedge funds. False. Notwithstanding the basic inaccuracy of the trust fund baby trope per se, your garden variety hipsters are more likely found in the image of the ironic pastafarian than the hedonistic trustafarian.

Don’t drive a car, even if only because it’s so damn satisfying to live in smug superiority over people whose lives revolve around battling their neighbors for parking because their garages remain filled with vitally important boxes of stuff they haven’t touched in over a decade.

Even moderately luxurious home goods are overrated. You don’t need a Tempurpedic mattress to sleep at night. Fluffy towels are for the weak. Think of how many more single-origin lattes you can afford if you’re willing to dry off with a scratchy rag from the G.W. instead of high-pile Egyptian cotton from Bed Bath and Beyond. You simply don’t catch hipsters reclining on Roche Bobois sofas. It’s not done, I say. It’s. Simply. Not. Done.

Cable TV? No. Just no.

Designer clothes? Only if they show up second-hand, and even then only ironically.

This actually reveals a fundamental difference between the hipster mindset and the typical American perspective. Where too many people (even people who can’t afford it) put their efforts into acquiring nice things they don’t need, hipsters demand their necessaries meet a much higher standard, and, to facilitate this, they forego many ordinary luxuries. As far as I can tell, this is a much smarter way to go about one’s life generally, hipster or not, and maybe non-hipsters could take a page from the unwritten hipster handbook here.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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

The danger of San Diego's hoarders

The $1 million Flash Comics #1
Wisdom. Be attentive.
Wisdom. Be attentive.

Dear Hipster:

I’ve recently moved into San Diego, and into my first apartment post-college that’s really mine. At least, it’s mine and my roommate’s because there’s no way I could afford a 1BR spot for myself. It’s straight up too expensive. I work as a barista (hence the anonymous message, as I don’t want my regulars to identify me), and I earn what I actually thought would be pretty good money, considering the relatively high minimum wage in California. As I adjust to the high cost of living a normal life, I have to say, my mind is completely boggled. How can so many hipsters hold down stereotypically “hipster” jobs (like mine!), yet still freely enjoy hipster extravagances like craft beer, $8 avocado toast, Polaroid photography, designer beard tonics, and vinyl records?

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Broke Bro in North Park

How indeed does the average hipster, working a grueling 32-hour barista’s workweek, manage to afford all that Pliny the Younger to wash down grass-fed organic burgers? Because this question presents such fertile ground for hipster exposition, I have decided the manifold solution to this problem demands more than even I can accomplish in a single week. Last week, I dimly recall waxing irate over the pricing-out of hipsters from their traditional urban environments. I also advised cash-strapped hipsters to externalize the costs of a hipster lifestyle by achieving insider status within some section of the local hipster economy. This week, we’re looking at the negative implications of the choice to lead a hipster lifestyle.

Step Two: Forego Non-Hipster Luxuries

Popular wisdom stereotypes hipsters as a bunch of trust fund babies living out extended bohemian gap years before eventually selling out and working at their dads’ hedge funds. False. Notwithstanding the basic inaccuracy of the trust fund baby trope per se, your garden variety hipsters are more likely found in the image of the ironic pastafarian than the hedonistic trustafarian.

Don’t drive a car, even if only because it’s so damn satisfying to live in smug superiority over people whose lives revolve around battling their neighbors for parking because their garages remain filled with vitally important boxes of stuff they haven’t touched in over a decade.

Even moderately luxurious home goods are overrated. You don’t need a Tempurpedic mattress to sleep at night. Fluffy towels are for the weak. Think of how many more single-origin lattes you can afford if you’re willing to dry off with a scratchy rag from the G.W. instead of high-pile Egyptian cotton from Bed Bath and Beyond. You simply don’t catch hipsters reclining on Roche Bobois sofas. It’s not done, I say. It’s. Simply. Not. Done.

Cable TV? No. Just no.

Designer clothes? Only if they show up second-hand, and even then only ironically.

This actually reveals a fundamental difference between the hipster mindset and the typical American perspective. Where too many people (even people who can’t afford it) put their efforts into acquiring nice things they don’t need, hipsters demand their necessaries meet a much higher standard, and, to facilitate this, they forego many ordinary luxuries. As far as I can tell, this is a much smarter way to go about one’s life generally, hipster or not, and maybe non-hipsters could take a page from the unwritten hipster handbook here.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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

Haunted Trail of Balboa Park, ZZ Top, Gem Diego Show

Events October 31-November 2, 2024
Next Article

Extended family dynamics

Many of our neighbors live in the house they grew up in
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.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader