My pursuit of Yuppie-dom

Remember those "Pat the Bunny" books you read when you were a little kid? A friend gave my mom a "Pat the Yuppie" book, as a joke of course, but I was fascinated. You could pat the Yuppie's exposed brick walls, pat the Yuppie's fresh homemade pasta (it was really just a rubber band) etc. My mom explained to me what a Yuppie was and I thought it sounded fabulous. A young urban professional. A seed was planted that day.

If you look up Yuppie on Wikipedia this is what you find:
Yuppie, an acronym for "Young Urban Professional", a term often used pejoratively with connotations of selfishness, materialism, and superficiality. Originally the term held some positive meaning, but quickly led to backlash against those that self-identified with the term.

It's unfortunate that the term "Yuppie" is now associated with such derogatory traits, but for the sake of my blog we'll be purists for a moment and go back to the golden age of the 80s, before Patrick Bateman, the infamous American Psycho, tainted the Yuppie class forever.

My little pink cotton-candy Yuppie dream growing up was simple and not selfish or materialistic in the least. Included in this dream was a successful career I enjoyed, a nice home and nice things. It seemed to me that Yuppies were only pursuing the American Dream and living up to the best of their potential. What is superficial about owning high tech gadgets and not living in a dumpy apartment?

Unfortunately, as I delved deeper into the understanding of the Yuppie lifestlye I've found that I simply do not fit the mold. Not only did I choose a profession that requires me to put in a little bit more hard time working my way up the ladder to achieve solid "urban professional" staus; but I also rebel against some of the common traits listed for Yuppies on Wikipedia:

1. Expensive car such as BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Porsche, etc
-I love my jeep and will probably still be driving it when I'm 50. As a choice. I love the sun. And running over curbs and other small objects.


2. An expensive condo, townhouse or apartment in a "trendy" building or neighborhood.
-Although I live in a trendy neighborhood you must be a millionaire or movie star to afford a small cottage in the area. Unless, of course, you're a crack shore who has been there for 40 years. Funny how they live side-by-side like that. I love Venice.


3. Manicures, hair streaking, etc
-I have no patience for someone else do do my nails. I prefer to do them myself and do a better job. I believe most Yuppies would cringe at the thought.


4. Hobbies or activities that are genearly not embraced by rural or suburban people.
-Perhaps they're referring to the Opera? Symphonies? No and negative.


5. Membership at exclusive gyms
-It's really all I can do to get to Gold's once a month.


6. Elitism, even from those with humble beginnings
-I believe this trait should be thrown out since it is obviously thrown in as a negative reflection of those who gave Yuppies a bad name and shows the author's bias. Elitism is not a Yuppie quality, it is a Snob's quality. Paris Hilton is an elitist and not a Young Urban Professional.


Further researching "Yuppie" I came across a whole slew of cute spin-offs for our generation: Dinks, Yindies, Yupsters, etc; all striving to define the next cultural phenomenon. As for me, I've decided to abandon my stale dream of achieving an out dated and ill-suited acronym. After all, the best things in live are usually undefinable.