Hip Old Lady

  Today, a 19 year old boy made my day, but not the way that you're imagining. 

  There's nothing like going back to college to make you feel old and out of touch. I find this to be especially true in my gen-ed classes at Palomar, where I feel I am surrounded by unlined faces of kids just out of high school. They are usually trying to look bored and cool, with haircuts and clothes I don't understand: their hair is so giant it seems to be leaping off their head, while their clothes cling to their bodies.

  I'm in a speech class with a boyfriend/girlfriend pair of these hipster kids, and even though I've got to be almost a decade older than they are, I'm always sort of hoping that I'm cool enough that they won't notice how old I am. Today, I walked into the classroom, with my giant backpack advertising my nerdiness, and the hipster boy asked me where I got my jeans.  I hesitated for a moment, thinking it might be a trap...was I wearing bell bottoms, or jeans so high-waisted they gave me a "mom butt"? 

  "At the Levi's store in downtown San Diego," I replied suspiciously.

  "I've been looking everywhere for those skinny Levi's," he told me, smiling. "I see the straight-legged ones everywhere, but it's hard to find the skinny ones."

  "Yeah," I answered lamely. "The Levi's store is pretty awesome."

  So, I spent the rest of the day, strutting around in my skinny jeans, feeling young and stylish. Now I'm considering a pointy haircut and some dark eye makeup. But my boyfriend just scoffed, "since when do hipsters have pointy haircuts?" He says I'm describing goths! I guess I'll just stick to the subculture I know: Nerd.