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

Cool, Costco summer is here!

It’s all about those long days.

Where the cool kids go to beat the heat.
Where the cool kids go to beat the heat.

Dear Hipster:

Summer is here! And it’s not canceled this year! I’d say it’s time to celebrate, but do I even need to say it? I would imagine almost everybody is super stoked to have a nice, normal summer... but I have to wonder if there are people out there who aren’t excited about the summer. If anyone could be a summer-hater, I would expect it would be some hipster who is doing it just to be contrary. Is that a thing?

— Kristen

Sponsored
Sponsored

Dear Hipster:

Happy Solstice, hipster! What’s the best part of summer?

— Desiree

I will level with you here. I love summer, so I’m a little biased. That’s not to say I hate winter, spring, or even fall (which always gets a bad rap for chasing summer away). Those are all great seasons for various reasons, but summer is and always will be the king, because none of the other seasons can hold a candle to summer in terms of making memories. It’s all about those long days. The long days hold the promise of music festivals, yard parties, and feeling like you actually want to do something other than curl up in a ball and mope when you get off work at 5:30 pm.

As you suspected, a small contingent of people insist on hating summer. They usually provide some variation on the following two reasons: the heat and the tourists (people who live in temperate climates usually also mention bugs, which is totally legit, as anyone who has ever been bitten by a mosquito knows).

The heat is simply a non-issue. First off, being hot is an excuse to slack off, which is awesome, whereas when you get cold, you need to work harder to keep yourself warm, which is totally not cool. Sure, maybe once long ago in a dark age of technological desperation (maybe we could call it “the ’80s”), air conditioners were expensive, unreliable, and eager to torch the ozone layer by spewing R12 into the atmosphere at the slightest provocation. But today, you can get a cheap, effective, and relatively environmentally friendly AC unit at the local Costco for a couple hundred bones. If you can’t afford that, all you need are halfway decent scrounging skills and you can probably get one for next to nothing from somebody who just picked up a new Costco unit.

Although I see the point in complaining about tourists — people who descend on anywhere worth visiting (and plenty of places not worth visiting) come summertime with their selfie sticks out — you have to look at the other half of the equation. If tourists stress you out, mock them when they aren’t looking, and when they are looking, relieve them of the money they came to spend. If that doesn’t harmonize the cosmic indignity of tourist season for you, rest assured you will get yours the next time you’re touristing somewhere.

Next time somebody tells you he hates summer, casually but firmly present these two irrefutable arguments. If this summer-hater finds something else to gripe about after hearing your rock solid defense of the summer season, it’s a fairly safe bet he’s just doing it to be a contrary hipster. Respect his life choices, and make a mental note to withhold his invitation from your Cuatro de Julio party.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village
Next Article

East San Diego County has only one bike lane

So you can get out of town – from Santee to Tierrasanta
Where the cool kids go to beat the heat.
Where the cool kids go to beat the heat.

Dear Hipster:

Summer is here! And it’s not canceled this year! I’d say it’s time to celebrate, but do I even need to say it? I would imagine almost everybody is super stoked to have a nice, normal summer... but I have to wonder if there are people out there who aren’t excited about the summer. If anyone could be a summer-hater, I would expect it would be some hipster who is doing it just to be contrary. Is that a thing?

— Kristen

Sponsored
Sponsored

Dear Hipster:

Happy Solstice, hipster! What’s the best part of summer?

— Desiree

I will level with you here. I love summer, so I’m a little biased. That’s not to say I hate winter, spring, or even fall (which always gets a bad rap for chasing summer away). Those are all great seasons for various reasons, but summer is and always will be the king, because none of the other seasons can hold a candle to summer in terms of making memories. It’s all about those long days. The long days hold the promise of music festivals, yard parties, and feeling like you actually want to do something other than curl up in a ball and mope when you get off work at 5:30 pm.

As you suspected, a small contingent of people insist on hating summer. They usually provide some variation on the following two reasons: the heat and the tourists (people who live in temperate climates usually also mention bugs, which is totally legit, as anyone who has ever been bitten by a mosquito knows).

The heat is simply a non-issue. First off, being hot is an excuse to slack off, which is awesome, whereas when you get cold, you need to work harder to keep yourself warm, which is totally not cool. Sure, maybe once long ago in a dark age of technological desperation (maybe we could call it “the ’80s”), air conditioners were expensive, unreliable, and eager to torch the ozone layer by spewing R12 into the atmosphere at the slightest provocation. But today, you can get a cheap, effective, and relatively environmentally friendly AC unit at the local Costco for a couple hundred bones. If you can’t afford that, all you need are halfway decent scrounging skills and you can probably get one for next to nothing from somebody who just picked up a new Costco unit.

Although I see the point in complaining about tourists — people who descend on anywhere worth visiting (and plenty of places not worth visiting) come summertime with their selfie sticks out — you have to look at the other half of the equation. If tourists stress you out, mock them when they aren’t looking, and when they are looking, relieve them of the money they came to spend. If that doesn’t harmonize the cosmic indignity of tourist season for you, rest assured you will get yours the next time you’re touristing somewhere.

Next time somebody tells you he hates summer, casually but firmly present these two irrefutable arguments. If this summer-hater finds something else to gripe about after hearing your rock solid defense of the summer season, it’s a fairly safe bet he’s just doing it to be a contrary hipster. Respect his life choices, and make a mental note to withhold his invitation from your Cuatro de Julio party.

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

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
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