Of Cliques and Hipsters

Check it:

Look at this F***** Hipster via Gawker

Hilarious blog. It's not that I actually hate hipsters. I just find their fake irony and pretension irritating. I also feel like they all try way, way too hard. The way they dress especially fascinates me. Hipster boys who wear too-tight jeans (dude I don't need nor want to see your package) and the hipster girls wearing well, crap like the crap you see above. It's either granny gear or purposefully mismatched clothes that also ends up looking like... crap. Oh and why do all those hipster boys proudly display their chest hair? (Actually not just hipsters do that). Trust me when I say no one wants to see that mess. And while I like my indie music as much as a hipster (did I really just say that?) there's some just god-awful music out there that's supposed to be all "artsy" and "intellectual" or whatever but just sounds like CRAP. If you have to struggle through a song in order to "get" it, it's probably not a good song.

Also, I used to be kind of a music snob like a lot of hipsters are, but now I'm like "who cares?" My iTunes is chock full of music I should probably be embarrassed about (Britney Spears, Fergie, Lady Gaga, The friggin' Pussycat Dolls--I can't help it, "Buttons" is a good dance song) but I could care less what people think about my taste in music. I like what I like. I guess I also just don't get the whole clique thing. Like dressing a certain way, listening to the same music, whatever superficial "rules" one must observe in order to belong to a clique--I don't get it.

It's not that I think cliques are bad, I just never felt like I could ever conform to the rigid rules one must observe in order to belong to them. Maybe I shunned them in part because I could never truly belong to one--there was always something that prevented me from fully belonging. That's not to say that I live a solitary existence, I have plenty of friends but I'd call us a group, not a clique. We're all different people with different tastes and styles. I'm not sure what our identifying marker would be--that we're all basically good people? Which sounds arrogant perhaps, but I grew up with the most moral parents ever who instilled in me a strong moral fiber. The older I get, the more impatient I become with people who turn out to not be as "good" as I thought they were. And by "good," all I mean is decent people who usually observe the Golden Rule. People who are honest and trustworthy.

And the older I get the more I realize that my naive assumption that most people are good people is really, really wrong. I'm not looking to befriend saints (aren't we all sinners?) because I'm definitely not perfect myself, but I consider myself a person who treats others well. I may not like you, but I won't backstab you, try to screw you over, or spread fake rumors about you.

On the other hand, I've met some of the kindest people in Korea. Random strangers who will give you thier umbrella when it's pouring rain because you don't have one. Seated grandmothers on the bus who offer to hold your bag for you while you stand. My host mom offering to sneak me into the hospital using her daughter's insurance card when I was sick (I declined the offer) so I wouldn't have to pay as much. I've found that, for the most part, when you ask a Korean for help or for directions, they'll give you much more than you bargained for. But in a good way--they'll tell you exactly the best route to get there, or the best place to go to or whatever you're seeking.

I'm not sure how I started with hipsters and ended up here, but in short, I dislike hipsters, have lost most of my faith in humanity but do appreciate the lengths Koreans will go to in order to help you.

Does this mean I've become more cynical or less?