SULLYING THE GARDEN by Steve Nadis
Every summer, the show-offs of my town open their gardens for gawkers to visit, document, and emulate. Many yards in my block are part of the “Secret Gardens of Cambridge” tour, save for our yard which has never made the cut. (Not for want of trying, but asphalt gardens just don’t seem to cut it around here.) Someone grafitti-ized a sign advertising the tour by writing “FOR YUPPIE SCUM.” I don’t know about you, but I find the term “yuppie scum” pejorative. And when the prefix “die” is attached to it, the whole expression sounds almost hostile. Which is a shame since I consider the garden tour a quaint tradition–and a rather innocent one at that. On the plus side, it takes a lot of riffraff off the streets and puts them in my neighbors’ yards where they belong. (For the record: I’m no “yuppie.” I’d like to be, and have even take up some of the affectations, but I just can’t afford it.)
Posted by
at
01:29:33
Just ’stumbled’ across your blog…Congratulations!!! For sometime now I’ve been trying to find one that is actually…how should I put it…interesting(mine was included on the search lol)??? And you’ve done it…THANK YOU!!!
Wish I had the time to read all your posts now, as I’m having a great time…Thanks!!!
Hi Ana — Thank you for the comment, which is one of the nicest I’ve ever received! It’s true a few friends have told me they enjoy my blog, but they’re my friends &, of course, you can’t trust what your friends say. But a complete stranger, from somewhere across the blogosphere–well, what’s the percentage in lying? So thanks again for your kind remarks, which really made my day (although I didn’t find out about them until tonite, but now, with the benefit of hindsight, I’d have to say the day wasn’t half bad).
Are yuppies no longer young? Are they just people who were young at one time?
Bad news, Snake–you’re a yuppie. Or I guess a "muppie"–Middle-aged Urban Professional. Ya see, there’s nothing in the label that says anything about income level. It only refers to a) being young (or middle-aged, in your case; b) living in an urban environment, for which Cambridge certainly qualifies; and c) being a professional.
Now, in the olden days, being a professional meant lawyer, doctor or CEO. Now it means anyone with a college education who is not working behind a cash register. So that would be you. Plus, living in Cambridge, having a slightly upscale life (compared to my trailer-trash relatives in the midwest, who are regularly referred to in CNN polls as "average Americans"), and, worst of all, being a LIBERAL, you are most definitely a poster-child for muppie-ness.
Sorry. I know the truth hurts. But better you find out from me than a from a CNN poll. Hope I didn’t ruin your Monday.
Well, I guess I’d better face up to the truth. I may be too old to be a yuppie (as you suggest, LRR-U), and too poor as well, but according to Hoyle (or in the case gatemouth), a yuppie I am. Ouch! I’ve been deluding myself for decades. This could cause a long process of self-examination and reflection that nobody out there is going to want to witness. Gatemouth, you just may have created a monster…