HIPSTERS

By Johanne James

Good day, my friends.

Hipsters.
Well, when I was a child, or should I say when I was younger, Hipsters meant trousers that you wore on your hips, but this has now morphed into something else of which I’m not sure of. Is it now these trendy people with beards and jackets to match or maybe I’ve got the description wrong, again? Isn’t it funny how the meaning of words can change from one generation to another, to mean something totally different from what you originally understood? I can’t keep up, so will someone out there please tell me what the new version actually means? No? Okay! Well, how I understand it is that trends come and go and you only have to wait a generation or two for them to re-emerge for you to then say, “I remember this when I was your age”.

Me, I’m not trendy at all.
In fact, I’m the least trendy person you’ll ever meet and so say all of us. I wear what I feel comfortable in and more often than not keep my ideas to myself and do not follow the latest trends. So what does it mean to be a Hipster? Someone who is politically, socially aware and environmentally friendly and let’s throw in the Vegan for good measure. Or is it purely a fashion statement? Someone who is outside the cultural mainstream and does not conform? My sister once described me as a Bohemian, so thank you for the analysis sis, I am forever in your debt. But putting all that aside, what does it mean to live outside (what is considered) the norm and follow your conscience and not be a lemming and jump off the metaphorical cliff into the world of conformity? What does it mean to have a belief system that works for you that is also outside popular thinking? I suppose I have always been that way for I never did play the game for as far back as I can remember. I followed my conscience, for my parents wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer. Hell no, that was never going to happen to this little Bohemian! So for all of you dedicated Hipsters out there, I shall await for the latest trend to come along for you to follow and for it to become fashionable. I wonder what turn of phrase shall emerge from the past for us older ones to recognize and say, “I remember that when I was your age”, but it meant something totally different back then.

Thanks for listening, or not as the case may be.

Johanne James