I think she's trolling you but not for the normal reasons.

She makes some valid points about the hipster culture appropriating other cultures to make them seem cool, hip and relevant because they found something "new". To quote Solomon, there is nothing new under the sun.

There is a bit of anger in her voice that says "how dare you eat tater tots as haute cuisine!" She denounces capitalism and yet, based on her CV, capitalism is what got her where she is; a good paying job in the very Bay Area place she castigates.

"July Westhale is a poet and essayist living in Oakland, CA. She is the author of Trailer Trash (winner of the 2016 Kore Press Book Award), The Cavalcade (Finishing Line Press), and Occasionally Accurate Science (Nomadic Press). Her poems are published in numerous journals, magazines, and anthologies.

A small town California native, her work deals primarily with broken landscapes, and the intersections between personal narrative and collective consciousness. She writes extensively about class and trauma, in both her poetry and her prose.

Her nonfiction has appeared in the Huffington Post, Autostraddle, and The Establishment, and has been nominated for Best American Essays. She is indebted to the Vermont Studio Center, the Tom and Evelyn Newbury Grant, the Raveel Grant, Dickinson House, Sewanee, and the Lambda Literary Foundation for their generous support of her work.

She is currently at work on a second children’s book about coping with difficult political landscapes, and a graphic novel about queer femme friendships.

When she’s not writing, she teaches Creative Writing, History, and English at Cogswell College. In addition, she works in reproductive health as an educator and patient advocate.

She has an MFA in Poetry from Lesley University."

Pretty sure she hasn't been back to live in Blythe (and I've been to Blythe, it is pretty much as she's described it!). I'll bet she ran away from that lifestyle as quick as she could based on her above CV.

She's also "The author has chosen not to show responses on this story. You can still respond by clicking the response bubble." I clicked on the response bubble. Nothing.

Sounds like she wants to stir you up but not engage in conversation about the issue. Pretty ironic coming from an essayist.

If you want to downsize and live in a tiny house because it makes you feel better about yourself, knock yourself out (mainly on the low ceiling when you get up out of bed!) If you want to pay $20 for a tater tot casserole at some trendy boutique, go right ahead. I'll make mine for $3 at home and feed the leftovers to the dogs. I ain't proud. And, for the record, I'm not poor, white trash either. I happen to like tater tot casserole.

My wife doesn't which is why I have to feed the leftovers to the dogs.

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