Grappling with Griping

I had nothing to say and I decided, "Today there will be no discussion of anything." Then I had sparked for me a particular annoyance of mine, which I have come into greater understanding of in just the last few weeks.

I dislike the use and embracing of the terms "hippie," "patchouli," and "incense" in a way to describe a person or place. Being exposed to places like Eugene, Oregon and Santa Cruz, California these words are ubiquitous.

The voice is typically from that of an "outsider" who needs to differentiate themselves from a subculture that they do not understand. Sometimes the outsider becomes an adopter of these words, an embraces their own perception of that community. This is an even more troubling issue. Now the bastardized version of what that outside felt the terms meant has come to fruition and actually exists for others to emulate.

But my gripe is not with those being described. My gripe is with the describer. Mainly, the unoriginality of the terms. The mass generalization that groups many together. The result of these generalizations in my experience has been that the describer is wrong. While they may have an idea of a town as being liberal, or a bastion for aging 60's and 70's radicals, these people actually exist only as a small population.

So when a town, a region, or a hangout is generalized by an outsider, unwilling to examine the people and place further, or with a closer eye there is a schism created which only leads to more of the same.