“How have you never heard of—” I swear every time I bring up music in a group, those words immediately crawl out from between a hipster’s clenched teeth. I can feel the inflation of their ego, only fueled by the excitement of knowing something I don’t. The blinding light of their hipster-ism screams into my eyes as I catch sight of their ray-ban wayfarers, skinny jeans, and what looks like my grandfather’s shirt from Good Will. They form their hands into fists and ask the sky dramatically, “How could you not have heard of Arcade Fire? I knew them in, like, 1998.” No matter how dramatically they cry out to the heavens, I am shocked at how eagerly they name-drop indie bands and relish in their knowledge of obscure music groups.

Even after playing violin for three years (that’s a entirely different stereotype) I have never been into music. And, while I can readily agree on its importance to life and how much of an impact it can make on my day, it has never been something I actively spend time searching. I’m happy to leave the music to my sister to put safely on mixed CDs from time to time. Hipsters, however, look for any chance to exploit this gap in my knowledge.

This common example of hipster behavior easily makes them the most annoying stereotype on any college campus. Hipsters form an elite caste within the college life that dedicates itself solely to bragging about unknown music, Wes Anderson films, and vintage clothing—from Forever 21. Their lives seem devoted to the minute and silly details of pop culture and always being ahead of the curb. When someone finds out about a band for the first time and hopes to find someone else to share this enthusiasm with, hipsters are there to comfort them in the fact they are at least three weeks behind everyone else on this.

The hipster is a bully and an elitist without the right to be either. When someone discovers something new, others should congratulate him or her on becoming part of the inner sanctum of people who know about it— or just be happy their favorite band is gaining popularity.

I say all this, and truly mean it, but I couldn’t define the hipster any better but by example. I have hipster friends and though that may seem paradoxical in nature, they are some of the nicest people I have met. While hipsters are as snarky and self-absorbed as I’ve said before, they also have great taste. Perhaps the reason they’re so defensive about their music or style is because it truly is paramount to their individualism or maybe it’s an inborn reflex to claim, “I’ve been there first!” The negative connotation of hipsters is more prevalent and well known but if I were to truly define a hipster in both their negatives and positives I would at least have to concede they have knack for finding the diamonds-in-the-rough.

Hipsters are pioneers or museum curators, they relish in the fine details what the rest of us “mainstream kids” are too busy to see. In that way, the hipster is someone who takes pride (perhaps too much at times) in being aware and acknowledging the overlooked bits of history or discovering something in its formative stages—even if it may seem obscure.