Hip to Be a Hipster

The Willamette Week, a free weekly that covers Portland news, politics, food, and culture, has admonished Groupon with one local business owner even writing a letter to the editor who insisted, "The Groupon invasion certainly ruined the atmosphere for them. I had no idea I would be putting these wonderful, valued, everyday customers on the line for this mass gaggle of Beaverton-Lake O, Lexus-driving, retired at 40 and have an assload of money but love to get a deal ex-money managers and soccer moms."

I am offended that a restauranteur in Portland thinks everyone in the 'burbs has a gaggle of money and a Lexus. I could only hope and dream. Getting a deal is probably the reason some have money, but getting a deal is also a part of being frugal and a reflection of the times we live in.

Portland, it seems, is trying to cultivate and package an image that is causing different reactions in different groups of people; the "difference-ness" it once welcomed with open arms was now only being welcomed if you fit the mold or the image it has cultivated. Being different is no longer good; it seems being the same is becoming the norm in Portland and that is a shame.

Because if you're not a hipster, you might as well drive home in your Lexus to your McMansion to a suburb with a name with more than two syllables.

I am not a Portland native. Heck, I am not even a West Coast native. However, this being my second (and permanent) tenure in the Portland area, I admit the growing I-am-too-hip hipster attitude is starting to make Portlanders seem, well, a bit obnoxious. When I moved to the Portland area in 2000, I was recruited by a major tech firm in the suburbs.

At the time, I was 24 years old...a newly-minted M.S.-degree carrying gal who never traveled west of Pennsylvania; never ate sushi; and never even flew on a plane.

When I came to this area, it opened my eyes to a wonderful world of experiences, places, and, most importantly, people. What I loved about Portland is you could be yourself and that was perfectly OK. Cars, while wasteful, weren't completely derided by cyclists and drivers didn't hate cyclists. The 'burbs were a place to live outside Portland and the city of Portland was a place to live if you worked in Portland or wanted to live close to city life (and all it has to offer).

Flash-forward to summer 2008 (when I moved back)...

I noticed something "off" about Portland; its hipster population that was charming now seemed obnoxious; I was at a bar one night and criticized by a hipster because I didn't know if it was a seat-yourself-kind-of-place so I politely asked the bartender. The one-PBR-drinking couple (yes, they were sharing a can) laughed at me and said something I care not to repeat. Meanwhile, my date and I proceeded to politely drink several drinks (thus giving the bar more money) while the couple clung to their single can of PBR. Apparently, being nice, racking-up a good-sized bar tab, and handsomely tipping the bartender is a bad thing when your establishment only wants patrons who look and drink cool.

If you don't eat organic, shop at Whole Foods, ride a bike, and live in Portland, itself, you shouldn't be in Portland. And that is a shame...

Sadly, Portland claims it wants to stay weird (an ironic statement, considering the iconic "Keep Portland weird" catchphrase was copped from Austin) when, in reality, it's all starting to look the same. I won't leave this city I love; I just want the city I fell in love with to come back.