A Death in the Family, and Annoying Hipsters

They really, really annoyed me tonight.

On Tuesday evenings I get out of work ... *just* as some of the most annoying hipsters make their way to my Bedford L train stop. These are the super-loud, gray skinny-jean-clad, hammered-on-a-weeknight, beer-at-the-East-River-Boardwalk kind of hipsters. Many of them are from out of town, and the ones that aren't don't live in the neighborhood. Needless to say, it makes my walk home less than pleasant, especially since I am stone-cold sober and yearning for nothing but my couch.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've had my fair share of inebriation on a weeknight (I work in the news business, after all! Bar outings on off-hours are a rite of passage). But tonight...I just...wasn't in the mood.

This past week, I got one of those phone calls you *think* you can prepare for, but once it rolls around, you're never really ready for it. My grandfather - my mom's dad, who was my last surviving grandparent - died suddenly from a one-two punch of pneumonia and weak vascular system. He was the grandpa who was the World War Two hero, who won a Bronze Star, yet never talked about it. He was the grandpa who taught me the guitar and always put my first name in quotes on my birthday and Christmas cards. He was the guy who was a dapper dresser well into his 90s, and worked two jobs to provide for his family. Sadly, he was also the hard-headed Italian who didn't believe that women should get much of an education (with all of the great things about my grandfather that I remember fondly, it's important not to forget the flaws, either).

So, as I passed the skinny revelry of the hipster crowd, I wondered what Pasquale Guidice would think about all of this. He did, after all, grow up in my neighborhood, and still remembered all the distinctive landmarks nearly 100 years later. But a lot has changed in a century.

Father Cook, a family friend who delivered the sermon during my grandpa's funeral, was in awe of his service to his country at a young age, and proudly called him a member of the "Greatest Generation." Father Cook mentioned that my grandfather was relatively modest about his service, and spent his Postwar years working hard, preserving his integrity and realizing that he was a part of a larger community - the "greater good." Part of my impatience with the hipster crowd is just that - I'm not sure many of them would do what my grandfather's generation did. I'm not sure they'd voluntarily sign up for military service, as the world was crumbling around them. I doubt that many of them would be modest about what they *have* accomplished, and would keep their complaints about the hard times in perspective. But then again...would I? Do I? Is it a symptom of my generation? Do we *expect* too much? Do we take things for granted?

And, most importantly, do we forget that integrity and honesty are the two most important traits to uphold? Do we lose sight of the "greater good?"

In my more cynical moments, I tend to think so. I've met a handful people over the years, hipster and otherwise, who are shallow. Devoid of honor. Selfish. Manipulative. Hurtful. And yes, even amoral. I'm not perfect by any means, but there are a lot of marginal people out there in the world.

But, then again, there are those people who have hearts of gold. Ones who always check up on others. Ones who are always thinking about others. Ones who reached out to folks they didn't even know after Sandy. People who are just trying to work hard and provide for their families.

Will we ever be the next "Greatest Generation?" Honestly...probably not. But if we just stick to the important stuff, we might be a close second.

Rest peacefully and soundly, Poppi. And hipsters...just, walk a little faster, will ya?