Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The quasi-divine, vaguely porklike glory of the McRib

Recreate all the fast food delicacies you’re too afraid to go out and buy

Challenge Accepted?
Challenge Accepted?

Dear Hipster:

I think it is patently unfair for you to invoke the quasi-divine, vaguely porklike glory of the McRib during these trying times. Did you not think we had it bad enough being forced to remain inside our homes while spring springs all around us, so you had to add a bitter reminder that I can’t have a socially distant McRib right now now matter how bad I might want one? Shame on you.

— Devon

Sponsored
Sponsored

Ah, yes, the cult of the McRib. It’s one of those weird things that make no sense, but in a good way (unlike people hoarding needless amounts of toilet paper). You have two options:

(1) You could go to Germany, where the McRib is available whenever you want; or

(2) You could be like this one, god-tier hipster over at Serious Eats who reverse engineered the McRib in his spare time.

I am 99.9 percent sure nobody’s going to Germany right now, so the second option seems like a much more appropriate reaction to me — and it will dovetail nicely with your present social distancing obligations. In fact, this is a prime opportunity for enterprising, furloughed hipsters to recreate in-home versions of fast-food cult classics.

Did you know German McDonald’s also sells a thing called a “Big Rösti,” which is a kind of bacon burger that also includes a variety of hash brown and some sort of mysterious, cheesy sauce? I bet you could make that and blog about it. I challenge you, hipster shut-ins, to recreate all the fast food delicacies you’re too afraid to go out and buy, or are prevented from buying altogether by market and geographical forces. Send your creations to [email protected] if you wish for some form of acknowledgement.

Dear Hipster:

A year ago, heck, a few months ago, the world seemed rosy. Overnight, it seems like all we can think about is hoarding toilet paper; washing our hands; and staring raptly at the daily news, waiting to see how things will get worse. I don’t know about you, but I’m having a hard time finding anything funny these days as humanity faces the greatest, most potentially life-changing global epidemic in a hundred years. All the little things that once seemed super important, like getting out on the town with friends, seem so... trivial to me now. I cannot fathom how the hipster economy, which is a market of mostly vices and excess when you get right down to it, can survive such times. Is this (potentially) the end of hipster as we know it?

— Cheryl K.

If the rise of toilet-paper hoarding memes tells us anything about humanity, it’s that the only thing more powerful than an apocalypse-inducing superbug is the ability of people to find the absurd, snarky, hipster joke lurking in the dark heart of the apocalypse. The first step in the long process of coping with social upheaval is laughing about it, and the hipsters of the world have long had that particular skill on lock. Hipster irony may not keep you safe from viruses, but it goes a long way towards preserving your sanity when everything and everyone starts looking totally bonkers. The hipster mind is an essential part of the human condition, and, in the face of adversity, it will exert itself in new ways.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Big kited bluefin on the Red Rooster III

Lake fishing heating up as the weather cools
Next Article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”
Challenge Accepted?
Challenge Accepted?

Dear Hipster:

I think it is patently unfair for you to invoke the quasi-divine, vaguely porklike glory of the McRib during these trying times. Did you not think we had it bad enough being forced to remain inside our homes while spring springs all around us, so you had to add a bitter reminder that I can’t have a socially distant McRib right now now matter how bad I might want one? Shame on you.

— Devon

Sponsored
Sponsored

Ah, yes, the cult of the McRib. It’s one of those weird things that make no sense, but in a good way (unlike people hoarding needless amounts of toilet paper). You have two options:

(1) You could go to Germany, where the McRib is available whenever you want; or

(2) You could be like this one, god-tier hipster over at Serious Eats who reverse engineered the McRib in his spare time.

I am 99.9 percent sure nobody’s going to Germany right now, so the second option seems like a much more appropriate reaction to me — and it will dovetail nicely with your present social distancing obligations. In fact, this is a prime opportunity for enterprising, furloughed hipsters to recreate in-home versions of fast-food cult classics.

Did you know German McDonald’s also sells a thing called a “Big Rösti,” which is a kind of bacon burger that also includes a variety of hash brown and some sort of mysterious, cheesy sauce? I bet you could make that and blog about it. I challenge you, hipster shut-ins, to recreate all the fast food delicacies you’re too afraid to go out and buy, or are prevented from buying altogether by market and geographical forces. Send your creations to [email protected] if you wish for some form of acknowledgement.

Dear Hipster:

A year ago, heck, a few months ago, the world seemed rosy. Overnight, it seems like all we can think about is hoarding toilet paper; washing our hands; and staring raptly at the daily news, waiting to see how things will get worse. I don’t know about you, but I’m having a hard time finding anything funny these days as humanity faces the greatest, most potentially life-changing global epidemic in a hundred years. All the little things that once seemed super important, like getting out on the town with friends, seem so... trivial to me now. I cannot fathom how the hipster economy, which is a market of mostly vices and excess when you get right down to it, can survive such times. Is this (potentially) the end of hipster as we know it?

— Cheryl K.

If the rise of toilet-paper hoarding memes tells us anything about humanity, it’s that the only thing more powerful than an apocalypse-inducing superbug is the ability of people to find the absurd, snarky, hipster joke lurking in the dark heart of the apocalypse. The first step in the long process of coping with social upheaval is laughing about it, and the hipsters of the world have long had that particular skill on lock. Hipster irony may not keep you safe from viruses, but it goes a long way towards preserving your sanity when everything and everyone starts looking totally bonkers. The hipster mind is an essential part of the human condition, and, in the face of adversity, it will exert itself in new ways.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Memories of bonfires amid the pits off Palm

Before it was Ocean View Hills, it was party central
Next Article

3 Tips for Creating a Cozy and Inviting Living Room in San Diego

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader