Are you a hippie or a yuppie?  It is an age old question, well atleast the age of the past 40 years or so.  Many people view these as two distinct and incompatible categories. I now want to throw a wrench in the commonly accepted view that "you're either one or the other".  I disagree with this idea completely.  Thus, I recently coined the term for a third category.  The Huppie.  I've always dreamed of inventing a term that ended up becoming a pop culture phenomenon, like "ginormous" or "banana hammock".  So if you identify with the huppie concept, speak up!

I think a Venn Diagram might explain it best:

As you can see, yuppies and hippies are not mutually exclusive.  One can have attributes of both groupings.  How do I know this you ask?  Well, I happen to be a huppie.  I will explain by relating common descriptions of both categories to a list of my character traits.

I am part hippie because:

-I embrace life to the fullest
-I promote peace, love and happiness, and stick up for what I believe in
-I have a strong sense of extroversion, gentleness, and humility
-I am very social and can tend to be a push-over
-I love to interact with others, even complete strangers
-And my idealism probably comes off as sickening to realists or yuppies

but I am not all hippie because:

-I don't tend to be an intuitive rather than a logical thinker
-I would have qualms about hitchhiking across the country just to meet some interesting people (in an ideal world I would love to do this but need to be concerned about paying back college loans!)
-Personal hygene is important to me

I am part yuppie because:

-I'm an ambitious young adult
-I am working towards a professional career and an affluent lifestyle
-I tend to compensate for insecurities by trying to improve my outward appearance
-I am a bit more scientific than spiritual
-And I probably come off as square to hippies

but I am not all yuppie because:

-I don't  flaunt success, nor am I attracted to people who do
-I am not emotionally reserved
-I am not a groveller

Here is the deal.  To summarize, I believe that being classified as a yuppie is lifestyle-focused.  What you look like on the outside.  What car you drive, what neighborhood you live in, how you dress, generally your appearance.

Conversely, being classified as a hippie is state-of-mind focused.  What your world views are, how you would invision a brighter future, how connected you feel to the whole of humanity, generally your substance.

I feel like a hippie at heart wrapped up in a yuppie society.  But how can one differentiate one over the other?  Yes, I have that anti-establishment mentality associated with the hippie culture, but I'm also a product of the establishment and can never fully break away from what I've been preconditioned to conform to on an unconscious level since birth.

This list was in no way meant to be exhaustive (or even correct).  I am half-kidding here, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.