On Becoming a Yuppie

Recently, an acquaintance left a comment on an old post here on The Churning branding me a yuppie. In fact, his exact words were "yuppie scum." I get the reference. Retro punk is cool I guess. But it does seem kind of dated, like saying "keep on truckin" or "tune in, turn on, and drop out."

The term "yuppie" is a callback to an early 80's insult. Initially, the word brought with it connotations of polo matches, country clubs, and expensive German cars. It quickly expanded to include those within its true definition - as a nickname for Young Urban Professional. Any city dweller in his or her 20's and 30's with a little extra money to throw around ended up sliding face first into the yuppie category. I suppose that's where I am now, and because of that I don't take umbrage.

As a kid, I thought yuppies really were scum. I saw stereotypes of these former frat boys in movies like Bachelor Party (Tom Hanks' nemesis) or One Crazy Summer (John Cusack's nemesis) and bought into the hype. Those characters, of course, were complete assholes. The low-income downtrodden good guy is somehow expected to compete with a complete douchebag who was lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family. (That lucky douchbag later became a serial killer in American Psycho.)

I grew up as an outsider. I didn't have many friends, and the small group of friends I did have understood the value of a mohawk or dreadlocks. They realized the importance of a major skateboarding injury. They knew that playing punk rock in front of a crowd filled with moshing 20-somethings was a pretty big achievement for a group of 15-year-olds. So inevitably, I felt far removed from the things that defined yuppiedom.

Nowadays things are a bit different. I still hate radio pop. I still skate and fall frequently. I still play indie rock. But I was also lucky enough to survive college (I was never in a frat). I've gotten married, and bought a house in the city. And after years of struggle, I finally have a job that doesn't completely suck. And you know what? I don't feel guilty. Fuck it.

I'm not saying that I'm trying to reclaim the term yuppie. I'm not proud and I'm not looking for a label. But if you think I'm a yuppie, I'm not going to fight it. I am relatively young. I do live in the city. And I do have a job. Young Urban Professional? Perhaps.

So why the fuck am I writing this? Why do I care? Truth is - I don't really know. Maybe it's because I don't tend to hang out with yuppies. My friends are the same types of people I've always hung out with. People with interests similar to mine - like live music and dive bars. People who tend to "hate yuppies."

If my friends think I'm a yuppie, then they obviously accept it for what it is. They could find other friends if they wanted to. Seems to me I somehow escaped the label in their eyes. So I guess it bothers me when an acquaintance makes an assumption about me. Because I suspect I'm not what he thinks I am.

You can read the actual exchange here if you're interested.