I'm white and I like stuff.

Just over a year ago, fellow Canadian Christian Lander started a blog about the stuff white people like. Apparently, the blog, co-authored by Lander’s friend Myles Valentin, came about after Valentin teased Lander about watching HBO’s The Wire. Today Jeff Jarvis, author of What Would Google Do? and new media guru, tweeted that he didn’t like The Wire (actually said that he didn’t think The Wire was so damned genius). Shortly after Jeff’s original tweet it was brought to his attention that The Wire was #85 on the list of Stuff that White People Like. But how can that be? Jeff is white and says he doesn’t like it. I’m white and I loved the show... thought it was brilliant, especially the five minute scene/conversation using nothing but the word “f#@*”.

(Just so we're clear, it wasn't five straight minutes of gratuitous F-bomb use. It was a brilliant interchange between two of the show's main actors, Dominic West and Wendell Pierce, communicating non-verbally as they deconstructed the scene of a crime. Every so often, the strategic placement of the F-bomb was meant to speak volumes, as if the word itself was the revelation that would lead them to the killer. This scene showed the depth and versatility of a word, the mere use of which had our mouths washed-out with soap when we were young.)

Now Jeff isn’t just any Joe Schmoe on the street raving on about his opinions; as far as television and entertainment goes, he’s paid his dues and earned his right to be a critic. People flip channels based on his printed word. He created and was founding editor of Entertainment Weekly and was a TV critic for TV Guide and People among a slew of other journalistic endeavors.

Jeff's original tweet and the response about the blog of stuff that white people liked got me thinking about what else was on this list and how many I agreed with…in the end will I turn out to be nothing more than a stereotype?

To be fair, Stuff White People Like is a satirical examination of the interests of the stereotypical affluent, socially-conscious, anti-corporate white North American hipster who typically hold a degree in liberal arts. In other words it’s the yuppie culture of the new millennium.

The list consists of 125 things white people like. I like 76 out of the 100 listed. Or maybe it’s that I’m only 60% white – perhaps I should dig out that family tree. The stand-outs for me include:

• Coffee - Who doesn't like coffee? Especially when you have to dip into your child's education savings plan for your next fix.
• Free health care - Thank you Tommy Douglas.
• Facebook - aka 'how I found the people I went to kindergarten with'
• The Wire - I could go on and on and on...
• Arrested Development - dysfunctional families at their best
• Dogs - I like dogs of all kinds but I'm somewhat particular to Jack Russells and my little Emmy Jane (see photo on main page)
• Living near water - Heck, our lotto commercials have even focused on being able to afford 'cottages' on the water
• Apologies - This may be more particular to Canadians as we seem to apologize constantly and for everything. I bumped into a rack at the store last week and I caught myself saying "I'm sorry" to a piece of metal that later gave me a bruise. Apologizing seems to be second nature for us.
• David Sedaris - Buy his stuff, read his stuff, listen to audio books and then go see him read his stuff!! C’mon go buy it all, you know you want to.
• Farmer's Markets - I even search out farmer's markets when I travel
• Micorbreweries - mmmmm....beer...flavorful, unique beer...
• Musical Comedians - If a stand-up camedian picks up a guitar, good chance I'll be laughing by the time he is done. There is something about joking about a serious topic in a catchy little ditty that seems alright and that we aren't just plain poking fun at someone or something. Maybe I like it more because I don't feel I have to apologies as much for insulting anyone because it just doesn't seem as mean when put to music.

While I haven’t personally experienced all of the items on the list nor do I agree with all of them but, I have to say that if one were watching today’s white North American culture from afar, many of these would seem to fit. Does every white person like every item of ‘stuff’? Of course not. There are some very broad generalizations in Lander’s observations but it is worth a chuckle or two while looking at ourselves in the mirror.

It should also be noted that Lander’s little blog inspired by viewing habits of The Wire has seen more that 60 million hits and turned out to be a very successful book that reportedly landed him a $300,000 advance from the publisher. So maybe he isn’t that wrong in his observations. Perhaps it isn’t that we are all cut from the same cloth, but that we come from the same factory. And yes, as I’m sure Lander (or Nickolas Sparks, Steven King, Dan Brown, John Grisham, etc) will attest to over and over again, white people do like getting book deals (#92).