I have recently moved to East London from West London, and was, somewhat naively, hoping that I may like my new neighbourhood more than my old.
Westside, I used to get really
annoyed at all the Chelsea girls who would act as if someone had cut off their
left arm if served the wrong flavour ice cream in the overpriced gelatto stalls
lining the Kings Road. And the American trust fund kids, who used to brag about
their internships, holidays and shopping habits on the top deck of the busses.
And the amount of furs and flashy cars about. All these things grated on my
nerves and acted as constant reminders of the absurd inequality in this world,
and in particular the disparity between people living in London.
But now, living East side, I find that the hipster crowd is just
as annoying. Take today, where I walked into a typical overpriced
interior shop, selling handmade funky cards, lamps, vintage boxes and other hipster paraphernalia.
The main reason I went in there was the attraction of three cats, sleeping on
pillows at the counter. I love cats. I eagerly reached out to pet one, when my
eyes fell upon a note saying ‘please don’t pet the cats’. Surprised, I asked
the lady behind the counter about the reason for this antisocial policy. 'It’s’
just a busy day for them’, she said. 'With animals, you have to be really careful
when you keep them in public places, that they don’t get stressed out'. I was
tempted to ask her why she then didn’t keep them away from public places, but
restricted myself to asking if there was a particular reason for them being in
the shop. 'Ambience', she said, pronounced in a French accent. She most certainly
wasn’t French. Annoyed by this somewhat ridiculous
installation, I walked outside, only to bump into a hipster guy, say in his only
twenties, carrying a tiny hipster dog (never know the breed, but that one that
looks like a tiny pit-bull terrier that everyone has. Is it a pit-bull
terrier?) which he was busy wrapping up in a scarf. A pretty hipster girl
spotted him from across the street, ran up to him, cooing ‘can I say hi, he’s
just the cutest! ‘. Then I passed an overpriced barrisa coffee stand serviced by a tattooed, bearded hat-wearing 20something, just to put the last nail in coffin burying my fantasy that people East side are less cliche than West side.
Now all this may sound like I just don’t like people very
much. But, not just as a defence of my own character, I would say that is not
the case. What I find so annoying is the extreme pretence of both population
groups, the preoccupation with making a certain impression on your
surroundings, instead of just being alive, instead of trying to do something
that actually amounts to anything real. Instead of trying to help other people.
I guess that both types share this characteristic, which is fundamentally a result
of material excess. Only people who have more than enough time
and money on their hands, and can't think of better ways to spend it than on themselves, can devote this much energy to postcards, cats, ice cream
flavours and furs.
So I guess what essentially gets to me about both population
groups is that their behaviour and preoccupation with appearances is that it is
yet another example of the immense inequality of London as a city. Go to
Alperton, go to Harrow, go to Leytonstone, and you will see people just going
about the business of living, just trying to get through each day. Standing at
the bus stops in whatever decent clothes they have been able to put together,
shopping in the local market for the lowest price they can find, getting from A
to B as fast as possible, not worrying about whether this is on a fixie bike or
in a Porsche. Pretentious and well-off
people are essentially the same, whether they dress up their riches in
overpriced vintage or Gucci.
