Me, the Burgeoning Yuppie

In an effort to pen my first blog post, stop procrastinating and beating myself up for fear of poor grammar and spelling, I'll begin by explaining myself, in the position of becoming a full fledged yuppie. After leaving the hot mess that is Washington, D.C., moving to an unfamiliar area here, in Brooklyn, I have decided I can no longer deny my obsession with yuppies. I'll have to admit that I might (by some standards) fall somewhere between the yuppie/hipster demographic, but could easily locate myself as an upwardly mobile, middle class, college-educated, white woman. Washington, D.C., as I knew it growing up in the rapidly changing neighborhood of Mt. Pleasant, was full of the career budding, resume boosting hypocrites. As I grew into my teens, I noticed the coffee shop trend: outrageously priced, sugar loaded, caffeine drinks served at fast-paced, loud shops where folks (yuppies) sat around all day, supposedly working from their laptops. My first reaction, even as a young (non-working) teenage girl, was: "don't these people have jobs?" That was when I was informed of the new WiFi technology offered next to your steaming tall non-fat (two-pump) hazelnut mocha latte.

So, before WiFi, and even before the appropriation of yoga as a way to stay thin, yuppies filled the converted lofts and row houses of our urban centers and "up and coming" neighborhoods. It was in the 80's that they began to park their Beemers (BMWs) and Mercedes on the streets instead of the garages of their suburban parents , inhabit coffeeshops and upscale restaurants, and stroll designer carriages with pampered children through parks: the start of shameless gentrification. Shameless because these were the folks who were young, wealthy, and driven to accumulate more wealth. These yuppies also wanted to show it off and set themselves apart from the previous generation of hippies.

According to a 1986 survey by Louis Harris and Associates, 73% of Americans believed that yuppies were primarily intent on making more money; 81% of yuppies agreed that they were. Also, 72% of the public believed that yuppies were more concerned with their own needs than with the needs of others; the same percentage of yuppies agreed. Additionally, 70% of those surveyed thought yuppies bought flashy cars and clothes in order to set themselves apart from others; 81% of yuppies said this was so.

And so, this blog will continue to dissect the social demographic of our contemporary yuppie brothers and sisters, and when and why they choose or refuse to call themselves a yuppie.