I surround myself with people who work in user experience. Quite naturally, when I finished graduate school, I moved to a neighborhood in San Francisco where most of my friends lived (and where my first job was located). Of course, that also meant that I never left. I am in my bubble—always meeting people who are buying apartments, doing their own startup, and taking cabs regularly.

Occasionally, I meet people who are outside the bubble. At first, it’s a surprise—why haven’t I met them before? am I that ignorant? They spend differently. Their lifestyles differ so much from mine where the primary goal is can I pay the rent this month?

Today, for the first time in a long time, I biked from a dinner alone. Because everyone lived in a cheaper neighborhood. I live in the Mission—where one fellow dinner attendee said, “The Facebook IPO has made it expensive to live there.”

It’s true. I am part of that phenomenon. I am the person that people seek when they visit here—requesting a place to stay or a place to pre-party. My neighborhood is constantly featured in hipster movies, because this is the quintessential hipster area although most hipsters cannot live here. When a new friend visits, it’s the questions of wow you have so much space while I am puzzled because it always seemed a bit cramped.

I am only comparing myself to my immediate peers. I just don’t know how lucky I am.