Coolhunter's Paradise: Memorial Union!

After reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Coolhunt”, I went on my own coolhunt today. I picked a public space where I figured all the cool people would hang out, and which was sort of close to home since it is frigid out! So where else to pick other than the Memorial Union, and in particular, hanging out at the Rathskeller. After all, “The key to coolhunting...is to look for cool people first and cool things later” (Gladwell 10). Going at 11am on a Wednesday probably didn’t make for the ideal coolhunting conditions, but I made some observations nonetheless.

As seen in the picture, I spent some time just casually observing the DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) game near the Rathskeller because I figured anyone that can play the game well would be cool. Unfortunately only one person, in a group of 3 others played the game, but I do think they were cool. They came into the room and acted as if they owned it, not caring what others thought. The DDR player played the game in a fashion where he seemed to be in complete control and moved his feet faster than I can think. He wore a hat sideways, which screamed rebellious and individual to me, and though I do not know cool well, I’m pretty sure his clothes were cool too.

One of the common things that I saw that may be a description of cool is Ugg Boots. Though I hear often of people making fun of these boots, doing so might even enhance the cool factor since it shows rebellion by wearers from what others think. I am not sure exactly the story behind these boots, but from my knowledge they became popular on the east coast first. I can speculate that some cool people who were the innovators, which slowly brought about the early adopters before the majority joined in, must have worn the boots. However, even after sweeping one coast, it slowly crept west where I do not feel they are as popular. My speculation leads me to think that what is cool east may not be cool in the Midwest, so the innovative Midwest people may not be wearing them here. Thus it may linger on but until the innovators start to wear them, they may never explode in this region. Yet, I still think that they are rebellious here now, making them cool. In many ways, they are no longer rebellious on the east coast, so maybe they are not actually cool there anymore, but cool here now. So maybe instead the innovators are wearing them now and before long everyone will be.

In the end, I feel that what I figured as cool, may or may not be cool at all. Ultimately, I do not feel as though I am cool and that if DeeDee or Baysie saw me, they would just keep on looking. According to Gladwell’s third rule of cool, it says “that it can only be observed by those who are themselves cool” (Gladwell 11). Gladwell is talking about cool here, and since I do not think I would be considered cool, it would be impossible for me to accurately observe it. Yet, to make it more complicated, the first rule of cool is “that it cannot accurately be observed at all” (Gladwell 12). This is because once you observe cool, it has already changed into something else so that cool is never really observable. Therefore it takes a cool person to properly coolhunt to find the cool people and see what they are wearing. I tried my best and I think I spotted some cool people, but how can I know they really were cool if I cannot observe it myself?!