A Definition of My Generation

For those of you who are so impressed with my opinions and activities, you probably aren't part of my generation. I have defined the hipster scene in Madison, but to take it one step further, I think it is time to define my generation in a stereo-type so that you will no longer be so blown away by a lot of my beliefs. Some of you are giving me way too much credit.

Don't you know that our generation is the anti-globalization, liberal, Obama voting, pro-choice, New York Times reading, sustainable cooking, red wine drinking, farmers market going, NPR listening and world traveling era? This makes me no different than my peers. Sorry friends. I know some of you like to think we are different.

I know that Madison always appealed to me because that's pretty much all we have around the down town area. Liberals. Non-chain shoppers. Pretend intellects. People who actually put under "interests" on facebook that they love listening to NPR. I used to avoid this. Until, I started to twitter, and I realized that if you put that you are sipping coffee and listening to NPR, you may spark a good conversation which leads to a nice networking meeting. I now fall victim to this.

Madison believes in almost everything I believe in. Driving to the grocery today, three cars in a row had either the "Coexist," "Sustainable Organic," and/or the "Co-op" stickers on them. Visiting here, I used to say to myself, "This is why I need to live here. People who follow my religion." Now, it's like, "Preaching to the choir, people."

If you are living in a different kind of town, or even an urban area that is slightly "behind" this movement, I can understand why you think that I am a founder who is leading the way. But between attending a liberal arts college and living in this progressive city, I am simply a dime a dozen.

Stop patting me on the back and realize that this is the generation of the late 20s and early 30s. Right? We all love updating our facebook status to let all of our 567 closest friends know that we cooked an awesome organic, sustainable, gluten-free, vegan meal. On the same note, we love to update our status to let all of our friends know that we biked through the arboretum, or are traveling back from Mumbai.

Unfortunately, we aren't as special as we think we are. But I think we are a pretty awesome generation. And I wouldn't want it to be any different. Because even pretend intellects are interesting to talk with.