Are we Grups?

[StevenRocks]

An article in New York magazine got me to thinking

He owns eleven pairs of sneakers, hasn't worn anything but jeans in a year, and won't shut up about the latest Death Cab for Cutie CD. But he is no kid. He is among the ascendant breed of grown-up who has redefined adulthood as we once knew it and killed off the generation gap.

http://newyorkmetro.com/news/features/16529/

Do some of us fit in to this category? I think I do. Thoughts?

 

[Get Smart]

damn, that article nailed me to a 'T', along with most of my friends

I can't relate to 90% of guys my age (mid 30s) and still spend vast amounts of time going to gigs, playing in a band, and overall just being completely awesome 24/7 and the only time I wear a suit is when I go out socially.

It's good to see that a lot of geezers have taken all those old punk rock cliches of "I dont wanna grow up" "I'm gonna stay young til i die" "go to college be a man what's the ******* deal, it's not how old I am it's how old I feel" to heart and are living that **** every day. Keep the faith muthafuckas

 

[Saucemaster]

I'm 27, so I'm not sure if I *can* be a Grup yet, but I do know that the article made me very uncomfortable, which probably means that, yeah, I am one.

 

[denimdestroyedmylife]

I love that Star Trek episode. Grup sounds rather disparaging, like "Skatedad" and "Metrosexual". May I never be classified as such.

 

[Spencer Young]

That article is amazing. Thanks for posting it!

 

[Rye GB]

That article is ....probably a life defining wake up call for me. I am without question a 30 going on 31 year old "GRUP"... should I be proud?........................HELL YEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

[dusty]

Holy CRAP that article was five times longer than it should have been.

 

[Bradford]

F---ing' great article!

Describes exactly my generation and what is important...

PASSION - that's the key!

 

[DocHolliday]

Always interesting to read articles that claim the world has changed and it will be this way forever. ("It's not about a fad but about a phenomenon that looks to be permanent.") Be interesting to look back on this story in 20, 30 years. Curious, too, to contrast it with all those articles proclaiming that "adulthood is back."

Beyond that, this article strikes me as novel mostly because of the discussed demographic. Is a 35-year-old wearing a Death Cab T-shirt at an emo show really all that different from a baby boomer wearing a Springsteen shirt at a Stones show 20 years ago? Or that same baby boomer (possibly wearing the same Springsteen shirt) going to see the geriatric Stones today? Both defy the strawman notion that getting older means wearing old people clothes and playing Scrabble all day.

That said, I liked reading the article. My favorite part:
So now, for many people"”many grown-up people"”the uniform of choice is rock tees and sneakers and artfully destroyed denim. Of course, when you're 40, with a regular paycheck, yet still want to resemble a rock star who resembles a garage mechanic, well, what's a guy to do? Status symbols still have their uses, especially in the world of clothes. And this is where the $200 ripped jeans come in. Or $450. Or $600. You want the tattered jeans, but you also want the world to know, I can afford the very best in tattered jeans.

 

[skalogre]

Interesting article, I don't know if it described me though. Yes, I am almost thirty and (both my wife and I) can act pretty nutty. But clothing/style-wise... I like my suits damn it! Wish I could wear them more often and my "designer" jeans and shirts less often. Ok, so I would drive back from Phoenix at 5 in the morning after a VNV Nation show

And I do grumble about the 18-19 year olds that think that Marilyn Manson is "goth" and dark and all these "heavy metal" kiddies that think that these wimpy pop-metal Korn ripoff bands are hard... Pah! Listen to some Merzbow, Napalm Death or Optimum Wound Profile you wussies! Err, I guess that may also qualify me as a Grup.

And I own things that could conceivably be called "toys" P.s. just realised that my wife is probably that too - probably more than I (example - probably a dozen different pairs of Converse). Of course I did not grow up in the USA so I do not have the same cultural references anyway.

 

[mbc]

Put on some tassle loafers and start listening to Brahms already. Damn.

 

[skalogre]

Originally Posted by mbc

Put on some tassle loafers and start listening to Brahms already. Damn.

Loafers! EWWWWWWWWW!
lol

 

[shoreman1782]

I wonder if this writer hangs out with Katherine Wheelock.

If you're 35 and go to any of the concerts this article namedrops, you're going to feel old.

 

[StevenRocks]

I don't like being categorized, but I see where the author is coming from. It is kind of like the Boomer fixation with youth, but the divide between generations is smaller, making this trend its own thing.

 

[globetrotter]

didn't quite fit me, but I can understand the attraction. The article was good - I know a lot of people who live like that.