BostonNOW Ran my Pub Review

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

I've been submitting to the local BostonNOW paper these last few months and they ran my little review of Sligo Pub in this morning's edition. Here's the original submission, before the editors censored my gritty description of the townies:

Get Your Dive On: Sligo Pub

You’ll either love Sligo or you’ll hate it. It’s somewhat creepy that this old-school bar exists in the middle of Davis Square, arguably the most yuppie place on earth, and perhaps that’s why it seems like such a refuge. This is not a hip rockabilly pretending-to-be-a-dive-bar, it’s the real deal. You’ll find a handful of aging townies drinking themselves to death between their insulin shots, and they’ll get the first service from the bartend, but they’ve earned it. If you want to go in solo, frontload the juke with Johnny Cash, and sigh into your three buck beer on a Monday afternoon, I highly recommend Sligo Pub, 237 Elm Street in Davis Square.

Comments

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

"Davis Square, arguably the most yuppie place on earth"

Excuse me? Do you have any idea what a yuppie is? Go take a walk in Wellesley or Weston, and don't you dare call Davis Square full of yuppies.

[ron_newman]

the "u" in Yuppie stands for "urban". Nothing urban is found in Wellesley or Weston.

[antimony.livejournal.com]

I always heard it spelled out as young upwardly-mobile professionals.

But, then again, I'm from the part of the midwest where being yuppie means suburban, not urban, because white flight has hit so badly that young hipsters wouldn't set foot in what is actually considered the "city", and they stick to the inner-ring suburbs.

[ron_newman]

What part of the midwest? (Can't be Columbus, where my family lives, or Chicago.)

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

The y-u-p in yuppie stands for Young Urban Professionals... that's the vibe in the square the last five years I've been living around here. Surprised that you'd disagree. We do have some Tufts students and a handful of artists, but it's pretty Yup.

[kalliejenn2.livejournal.com]

i don't know - i've always thought of yuppies as being sort of stuck up, having enough wealth to send even their dogs to daycare, involved in only their own lives - not really the way i think of the residents of davis square.

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

I would consider that persona to apply to the upper class, but I suppose it's all a matter of perspective. I would definitely think most Americans would label Davis Square yuppie, while Newton and Wellesley would be upper class neighborhoods. For instance, the upper class don't live in apartments.

[ravenword.livejournal.com]

According to these professional market researchers (http://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp), Davis Square (well, 02144) is full of "American Dreamers," "Young Digerati," "Bohemian Mix," "Urban Achievers," and "Urban Elders." Make of the bizarre lifestyle descriptions found therein what you will.

[nuns.livejournal.com]

'Yuppies' can also be "Young Upwardly-Mobile Professionals", and either way it is usually associated with people in their thirties, not college-aged people.

[ron_newman]

Lots of folks in Davis are in their 30s and 40s -- I think they substantially outnumber the college crowd.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

IAWTC. My first foray into Davis Square was at the tender age of 16 in 1991. It was nothing but crackwhores and tumbleweed. Great for parking though!

I won't say I was introduced to Sligo Pub way back then...or Tir na NOg (RIP) because that would have been illegal. But...

I've watched the face of the Sligo change dramatically since I became a regular (legally). I haven't even set foot inside in 3 years though. I was very close to the daytime manager there for many years - to the point where he became a bit of a dysfunctional surrogate to me. After he passed, I saw no more need to go in. Too many college kids at that point anyway.

[komos.livejournal.com]

Davis Square IS full of yuppies.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Sad to say, I agree with the etymology above. I've spent a lot of time biking in Wellesley and Weston, and I teach a lot of kids who live there, and I wouldn't call those folks yuppies -- just really rich. "Yuppie" != "rich".

I was pretty disturbed the day I realized I'm a yuppie. But...well...I'm 29, I live in Somerville, and I'm a teacher. 3 for 3, eh?

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

It's not really a bad thing. Having clawed my way up the socio economic ladder to middle class, I'm pretty damn proud to be yuppie, so whatever.

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

Whatever dude. First time I ever heard someone proud to be a yuppie.

You'll be more disturbed . . .

[avjudge]

You'll be more disturbed when you realize (as I just did last winter) that you're not a yuppie, but - what - a mauppie? Midde-Age Urban Professional :-(

Anne

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

You calm down with your "don't you dare" threats. She can call Davis Square full of green weasels if she wants. She has just as much right to an opinion as anyone else.

-Moderator, an aging yuppie in Davis Square

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I thought it was a bit much, it's mostly a self-deprecating comment to begin with. Deep breaths, people! lol

[ifotismeni]

oh man, i live in davis and am TOTALLY a yuppie, as are all my neighbors and many of my friends. what davis do you live in?

[ifotismeni]

... ha ha?

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Davis, CA (http://www.city.davis.ca.us/)? I spent the first 18 years of my life. It was full of Yuppies before there was a word for them.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

The term Yuppie was coined in the early 1980's during the Regan administration. It was shortly thereafter that all the punk rawkers of the day started wearing "Die Yuppie Scum" t-shirts. I remember asking my mom what a yuppie was when I was about 10 (1985) and then pining for one of those shirts.

It was a warped childhood.

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

I agree with jspazzer's definition. Yuppies need to be wealthy, drive Volvos, and spend lots of money on expensive stuff. This from the American Heritage dictionary:
yuppie: A young city or suburban resident with a well-paid professional job and an affluent, materialistic lifestyle.

This from Merriam-Webster:

yuppie: a young college-educated adult who is employed in a well-paying profession and who lives and works in or near a large city

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

...and that's.... Davis Square... am I right?