Hip 2 B Cool?

There are a lot of “hipsters” in my small town. There are a lot of artistic/talented people and then there are people who are just “bar rats” who hang out with artistic/talented people. T hese are the people who run the coffee shops and the local hang outs, the bar tenders, the artists with their paintings on display at the coffee shop, the musicians who play down at the “Irish” pub.

The other day I heard this chick in the movie store say something like, “I found out so-and-so’s daughter runs with the same crowd I do”, and I couldn’t help but think, “What constitutes ‘the same crowd’”, which then made me wonder, “Is it really all that ‘hip to be cool’?”

I wouldn’t dare call myself a “hipster”. I don’t really even hang out much. The only people I’ve hung out with are a couple of professors (who I love and appreciate) and their friends who seem to be associated with the hipper crowd. It’s been a really long time since I’ve really just hung out in town all night, but when I did I’d often find myself talking to the people sitting alone at the bar. These were the people who talked to me about things they thought about life and the way they felt about things. They were so not cool. That’s usually why they were sitting there alone. So I have to wonder, isn’t life too short to be cool? Is life about being popular or about making real connections with people? I choose the latter.

Viva la dork!