Those who follow my ramblings understand my place in the Mustached-American community as chief operating officer of the American Mustache Institute. And it goes without saying that one of the key drivers of the Mustached American experience in recent years has been the skinny jean and lower nose foliage-clad American hipster species.
Thus, I was pleased to see an endeavor this week launched by ESPN's bare-lipped yet humorous (in an Andy Kaufman-esque way) Kenny Mayne, who has launched an initiative to educate hipsters about taxes at HipsterTaxCrisis.com.
According to Mayne and his research team, some 81 percent of American hipsters believe paying taxes has become "too mainstream" and more than half of hipsters think scarves should be counted as deductible expenses. Serious business indeed.
"Hipsters are in trouble -- there's a tax crisis and they need our help," said Mayne, who told me he is actually a former hipster with music taste that is so obscure that a term has not yet been developed to describe it. "Clearly, growing organic arugula on a fire escape does not enable you to take a farm tax credit. But hipsters also need recognition for the contributions we've made to the fabric of this great nation."
Not only will Mayne work to educate hipsters in non-ironic ways, but on April 1 in Seattle the campaign will hold The Irony Games -- with free PBR and awards for "Best In Scarf" and "Best in Skinny Jeans" -- where the first ever "Hipster of the Year" will be named in an effort to elevate hipsters to what Mayne believes is their proper place in American society.
Apparently Mayne has a heart beyond hipsters as well -- each time an element at HipsterTaxCrisis.com is shared through social media with the hashtag #HipsterTax, he's roped in tax giant H&R Block to make a charitable contribution to Covenant House, which serves homeless youth nationally.
Added Mayne, who felt his presence at the April 1 Irony Games in Seattle would be too cliché and thus he'll be in Bristol raking leaves on ESPN's campus:
We're going to crown this important title -- we're talking Oscar-worthy -- on some much-deserving hipster. And hopefully our hipster attendees will understand that most baristas -- even ones from local, fair-trade coffee shops -- are not registered tax professionals.
Ironically, we must applaud Mayne. Ironically.