Queen Street

There's something about Queen Street West that just irks me.  I can't quite figure out what it is.  Great shopping, fabulous food and old architecture give it its character..  a character which I, and many others, appreciate.  When I first set foot on this strange land as someone who had only been in Toronto for a month, I was dazzled.  However, this dazzlement teetered off into an unenthusiastic "oh wow" somewhere along the way.  Anyway though, there's this attitude there that I just don't enjoy.  It's not so much the people roaming the streets that give this off, but the people who work along the street that seem to radiate this "reluctantly hip" vibe.  They love Queen Street, they love that they're there all the time, and they love what it means for their.. I don't know status?  social status?  Whatever, but whenever someone threatens the luxury and brilliance of that status that's really only an illusion, they're insulted for being criticized as too "Queen Street."  They fancy themselves as the reluctant hero of some worn out fable, but really they love the position they're put in working on Queen St. everyday.  They love how differently they dress, think, act, drink, and they especially love that when they go down to Queen St, it's not different at all, they're all the same.

It's just like the heaps of Torontonian hipsters (well most of the Queen Streeters actually are hipsters) that seem to be multiplying and taking over the city, or at the very least U of T.  They absolutely relish the thought of being so offbeat and different, but in reality THEY ARE ALL THE SAME.  I can't stand the idea that rebellion is so "in" when rebellion implies GOING AGAINST EVERYONE ELSE.  In this time, right now among the 'young adult' generation, it is more rebellious to conform than not to.  I am indeed implying that now conformity equals rebellion and vice versa.  James Dean is spinning in his grave.  I am so sick of people trying so hard.  And among the people who try the hardest is the Queen Street bunch.  I cannot stand feeling belittled by these people who are unintelligent, boozed up all the time and can't even add(!) just because my makeup isn't always perfect or because I don't dress a certain way.  Fuck them.  (Perhaps it is clear now that I actually work on Queen Street as well and am not exactly relishing the location or job as much as I would have hoped).  The "them" in the above mentioned curse only applies to those I work with and not those who I don't know.   Still though, I can't really imagine that I would get along any better with any of those other people.  I mean... a store called "So Hip It Hurts?"  Really??  I get that it's supposed to be ironic in some way, but that makes it even worse.  I don't know..  This has turned into a rant, but I just don't understand why people flock so mindlessly into becoming one of these hipsters thinking that it is the answer to all of their problems.  And who are they flocking from anyway?  We're not in high school anymore... are the average masses of people really so bad that they need to join a regulated sub-culture in order to feel rebellious and accepted all at the same time?

The other part of me just thinks.. "Okay fine, who cares?  Let them look ridiculous and stand on values that aren't at all valuable."  All I can do is not be that way and be happy as a result.