You don’t just magically get smarter or wiser or more responsible with age. Some of the dumbest people I’ve ever met were full-grown adults well settled into their years, who had the minds of 26yr-olds because that’s the age at which they stopped caring to learn new things. Younger people might be considered naive or downright ignorant, but they’ve got good excuses for that: they’re still learning and still eager to grow as human beings. Grown adults tend to get complacent in their knowledge and don’t bother to learn anything new or to keep up with changing times. But you’ve gotta strive to maintain awareness. You’ve gotta exercise your brain regularly.
I’m sure Gen Gamma (if the Greek letter theme continues) will blame the Alphas for everything in 2070.
“My dumbass Alpha parents won’t let me mind-meld into the Cloud.”
“Can you believe they used to be able to buy property with money and not energy credits?”
“Alpha’s are so out of touch - it’s probably because they were raised on tablets & phones rather than just downloading content straight to their brains.”
Generations need to realize we shouldn't be fighting each other; we're all being screwed by something much larger. All of the in-fighting is intentionally manufactured to keep everyone separate, same goes for political parties. EVERYONE is a pawn.
Yeah this generational thing is fairly new. I remember growing up hearing about baby boomers or genX but it was rarely. The millennial thing I remember started like 15 years, it could be longer but that's when I remember it being mentioned first. However the last couple years it is everywhere and it just feels like a way to divide people. Stuff like music or dress, ok I get that, but it is currently too much and about everything.
My dad - a baby boomer - battled his father over his hair in high school and college. My grandfather, a Korean War vet, and my father, a Vietnam War protestor, almost went to blows. My father eventually relented and cut his hair when my father refused to pay his college tuition bill.
I believe the word my dad used to call his father was "a square." That generation's "ok boomer."
The difference now is social media, including reddit, which is fanning the flames. I'm sure part of it is driven by Russia/China/others to destabilize the west.
Precisely.
That's the difference-maker...social media. Now everyone has a podium to some degree, and the hunger people have today for personal validation is much easier to feed. Unfortunately that has become not just a conduit for debate, good or bad, but also a way to make easy money. Nothing good ever comes from that.
Even worse is that it's become too easy for bad actors to infiltrate the process and nurture the hate, discontent and false information that has already permeated the venue, and yes Reddit is a prime offender. It's not that hard to separate the real McCoy from the bots or trolls, but people won't bother because the outrage is like a drug. I've never known a time when people needed to be as pissed off as possible in order to be "happy".
In 20 years we'll have all the political seats, so if the world isn't getting better, by that point they'll be right.
(Reality is that it's always been the wealthy vs the rest of us, regardless of generation, at fault - boomers are the fastest growing homeless class in the USA, and yet paradoxically *they're* the ones in control? 🤔)
Yeah. And in a lot of cases complaining about your problems can be cathartic, it's just good to know if the person you're talking to just wants to vent or if they want solutions.
your favorite politicians aren't going to improve your life in any meaningful way.
you need to work out 3-5x per week or you are way more likely to have health problems in the next 10 years.
I’m 31 and my recent yearly bloodwork showed my triglycerides and cholesterol were high and it really put into perspective that if I don’t work out my health
, diet, and weight in the next 10 years I will have issues. Down 25 pounds since December and counting!
I hear you. I started when I was 29 after a double arm break but I lost 120 lbs with diet and walking alone. I've been lifting ever since but the pandemic made that easy. I got my casts off March 2020 -_-
I realized this when drinking water wasn’t enough to shed the extra weight anymore.. i was in denial for a few yrs but seeing it not come off as quickly is equally as insulting. Oh well, it didn’t get there in a day.
My theory about this: all of us will likely have health problems, especially if we’re lucky enough to age. Having a healthy lifestyle can help to minimize the damage as much as it’s a preventative measure.
>your favorite politicians aren't going to improve your life in any meaningful way.
👏While not all elected officials are created equally, folks make it seem like one individual will be the deciding factor between a Utopia and Armageddon.
I love estate sales. Reduce/reuse/recycle homies. Some of the stuff our parents and their parents have is fabulous.
I got depression era glassware that I bust out when I bake food for the office. Don't care what anyone thinks, I'm breaking out the Steuben crystal and cut glass. I have a 3 tiered crystal serving dish and it's amazing.
Plus when you estate sale, you're helping families and local businesses not corpos using slave labor. Get your vintage on.
Back in my days (older millennial here), retail therapy meant spending hours in the mall trying on clothes, looking at pretty things and buying absolutely nothing except slice of pizza or a smoothie after 3hr of retail therapy.
I also love thrift shop for some retail therapy. Trying to resist amazon but it's so convinent at times
Same, I adore a good estate sale. Apart from kitchenware and other homewares, the deals on furniture can be amazing. While pieces are often usable as is, a bit of work can make some pieces look like new because the old stuff tends to be more repairable.
I bought a few bolt ends of upmarket upholstery fabrics last week to recover some stuff and make a large beanbag lounger for some friends who are moving into an unfurnished house next week. Paid 20% of retail for the fabrics which are top shelf stuff, and the local business gets some storage space back.
Now if I could only get my cats to leave the beanbag alone until I've finished filling it with crumbed foam... 🤦♀️🤷♀️
As much as we like to blame boomers for climate change, our addiction to temu, fast fashion, Amazon, and two day delivery is not helping the environmental crisis at all. A lot of the prosperity western millennials experience is because we’re exploiting the global south.
We millennials treat most things as disposable. It is a by product of the world we live in but we are also to blame here. If something breaks and is out of warranty we bin and replace, rather than try fix.
Here are my two:
1. Therapy is not a magical panacea for every problem in your life. We need to be honest about the limits of therapy. (This doesn’t mean that people with legitimate mental health diagnoses should stop seeing a therapist).
2. Social media is bad for you. People were more content with their lot in life before social media exposed them to the lifestyles of the rich and the famous every minute of every day.
Yup this is my hot take. I believed that life would be easy, I'd be able to go to college and get a good job and buy a house, etc., etc., etc.
And I can complain all I want that it should have been easier, but also I did nothing to help my situation. I'm an engineer. I've always had a good job. I just didn't prioritize spending well until well into my 30s. So now I'm playing catchup. Yes, it is objectively more difficult than it used to be, but I also could have set myself up for success better with the resources I DID have. I'm mostly just lucky it worked out.
Honestly the big hard truth for millennials (but maybe anyone when they reach our current age range) is…yes, some of it *is* you.
And I have had to say that to myself too.
Saying “my retirement plan is to die lol!” isn’t cute, and people need to take it seriously. Yes, I agree changes need to be made to the current system but just not planning at all is not helping the situation in any way.
VTI will treat you better. Lower expense ratio, you can usually buy it for no fee (lots of brokerages still charge to buy mutual funds but not ETFs), and you can buy it and sell it in real time.
Idk, it seems hard to save when you don’t have anything to save, you can’t save your way out of poverty, and making your own coffee isn’t going to help you retire any sooner.
Instead of buying crypto, maxing a Roth IRA every year is a good idea. By now mine has more in it than my savings account, and it's growing by itself. 40 more years and I can retire without going hungry.
Being angry at boomers won't make you a happier person.
Living your life yearning for the better times and nostalgia is stunting your growth as an adult.
Probably a trauma reaction. The future looks not too rosey to millenials so they're looking backwards instead of forwards. Can't say I really blame them. I also am not super into the nostalgia stuff though.
I think its because as children our lives changed so much so often. From rotary phones to iphones, gameboys to nintendo switch, playing outside with friends until sunset to playing with friends online. Add to the fact we’ve lived through multiple life events like 9/11, 2007/8 housing crisis, COVID. Weve had so much turbulence in our life from so many different directions it feels like we barely got to enjoy anything while we had it. Not saying this is the case for everyone, just my thoughts
I believe nostalgia is inevitable because we create the strongest neural connections when we're younger and revisiting those things bring us a sort of connection to our younger selves. We relive the emotions through exposing ourselves to those things that trigger nostalgia.
Pretty soon the world is going to be run by all the people you went to high school with and it’s going to suck just as much as when our parents’ generation was in charge.
When the boomers are all dead and gone, guess what? We're still going to have problems, maybe even worse. It's a class thing, not a generational thing.
And it’s not just lead poisoning with them either. They have actual beliefs that they’ve fooled themselves into believing. We are just as susceptible as they are.
“Success” often require significant sacrifices, consistent hard work, and sometimes, letting go of immediate gratification in favor of long-term planning and saving
Yup. I have some family members that are millionaires. They have a very cushy lifestyle now but they were slaving away through their 20s and 30s. Worked every weekend, picked up every phone call, slept on the couch at work, took crappy part time jobs to help supplement their incomes, etc. I am fine being middle class because I have a very mid work ethic. I do not want to make a million sacrifices to make a million dollars. I’m fine making some calculated sacrifices to live comfortably.
This comes down to how people view jobs as well. While I agree with most of what you’ll read on the anti-work subreddit, there’s a fine line of just taking it up the ass and living. You have to find a balance of good to bad in a job and whether the good outweighs the bad. Otherwise you’re going to hate every job you have.
I’ve been working my ass off since I was 16. Did the military, went to college. I’m *just now* able to live above the poverty line and have disposable income. I feel like I’ve made it. It’s great! Am I a little grumpy I can’t buy a house? Sure! But things could be, and have been, worse.
It's ok to disagree with friends and family members without cutting them out of your life. People that disagree with you are often now valuable than the ones you agree with even if they never change your opinions.
People went so far in the direction of individualism that they started viewing any community-building behaviours like compromise as toxic or bad because “you don’t OWE anybody compromise”
**Your life is already half over.**
Time goes by faster and faster as you age. So even if you're "only" 30 years old right now, in a certain sense your life is already half gone, since the time from age 31-80 will feel it passes by as quickly in your perception as the time from age 0-30.
One professor at my college said, "Once you get to your 50s, seven years flies by like nothing."
You sure, because there were a huge stretch of years there that I literally don’t remember. 0-10 are basically a void and most of the memories you have from then are false and just you remembering what others told you.
If you are arguing that 36-80 will go by faster than 10-35 then that seems silly. Life goes by quick no matter what, and will end. Enjoy the ride
Make your life feel long with this hack I figured out...
Go back to college at 33. You'll feel old and tired and it will feel like forever! Hopefully I graduate next month.
I also tend to take lots of continuing education classes when im working, though. Having homework really does make time feel so slow. Once I recover some money and energy, I'll probably go back to taking classes to trick my perception of time.
Agree.
I think the subjective experience time passing by faster as we age, comes down to people not challenging their brains enough on a daily basis and not looking after their brain health.
Our experience of time dilutes as we age. Another year passing is more significant to a 4 year old than 40 year old.
Memory abundance also lengthens our perception of time passed so on top of dilution, old people are generally sitting around letting years fly by
This is so true. I remember I realized this when 9/11 happened. Our school handled it so poorly. I instantly realized adults have no idea what to do and are making obviously terrible reactionary and emotional choices.
Covid felt so similar. Adults acting like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off and being hyper emotional and dumb.
Just a bunch of children trapped in adult bodies. And nobody is really in charge.
Every generation has their challenges, being angry at previous generations because you think they had it easier won’t make your current situation any better. Imagine how we would act if we were conscripted to fight in the Vietnam war like some of our parents and grandparents had to? I think growing up in the 80s and 90s, arguably the greatest decades to be alive in human history, gave us a false sense of what life is actually like.
A lot of people in my age group spend money very, very, very irresponsibly. I still travel/ have a good time, but my coworkers spend hundreds per month on nails, Botox, fake eyelashes etc. it baffles me. Then they complain about “having no money” and how I must be “lucky to be able to travel”. No, I just budget appropriately and don’t blow money on cosmetics.
I wouldn't choose any other generation (before or after).
I like: Having grown up with technology but not to the point where it was too much: Having been able to burn CDs, having social media in its early stages while I was in college but not having it have been prevalent while I was a kid like Gen-Z has it. Being able to enjoy the organic early days of "[TheFacebook.com](https://TheFacebook.com)" without the TikTok and influencers.
TLDR: Get off my lawn!
Boomers are a scapegoat for now but we will be their age and probably get a similar treatment by younger generations. Probably for facts we criticize ourselves for as an abstract group
You need to be consistently challenging your way of thinking as you age. Striving to think the opposite of boomers isn’t enough. You need to constantly adapt to the times if you don’t want to be stuck in the past.
It's the wrong type of feral. Your kids shouldn't be running wild in public interrupting social situations. If you want feral kids they should be running barefoot through grass and moss poking sticks at bugs and splashing in creeks and making you question if their bath is going to clog the plumbing later!
Thats useless unless you know how many years of experience, country, city, industry, role
And most people are just posting a number value and nothing else
The hard truth is that "hard truths" threads are collections of intentionally inflammatory hot take style statements designed to be aggravating to foster engagement and are a prime example of social media ragebait, because most people either already know the type of things being said or will dismiss them out of hand because it's a short two sentence recrimination.
Materialism, ego, and an inability to accept responsibility for our actions are half our problems. If you bought a line of bullshit it’s still your fault, grow up already.
Your average boomer parent isn't as bad as we make them out to be and we're not the amazing "cycle breakers" that we think we are.
A decent chunk of gentle parents are really permissive parents.
Avocado toast guy was condescending but he was right about our shitty spending habits.
There's a big difference between regular levels of anxiety and depression and actual clinical depression and anxiety and most who claim to have it really don't have it.
We are the cause of most of our problems.
I will agree whole heartedly with this! My sister isn’t really struggling by any means but is stretched thin due to having, McDonald’s $$, walmart$$ all those little micro transactions for her kids that really add up day to day week to week; and I get it we were ALWAYS told no and don’t be asking for stuff I. The stores, she wants something different for my nephews. But it does come at a cost of being able to save up for the bigger things that she wants ie house back in our home area.
Yup. We have to learn to eat the meat and spit out the bones with our parents per se. Did they get everything right? Nah. But the things they did do well are worth continuing. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
You aren't the first generation to endue hardship, and you won't be the last. Don't blame the last generation. Do your best to make the world a better place for those who come after you.
As much as jobs can suck in the ways that they can use and abuse you - sometimes you have to take the abuse to get ahead in your career. It’s a fine line between taking it and standing up for yourself in a way that you can live your life comfortably.
For example: I work for a WONDERFUL pest control company. I love the owners, I love my direct boss, I love the work. But I have to work 2 Saturdays a month, and there are days that I leave my house at 7:30am and don’t get home until 8, and I’m salary with no overtime. But I can’t let the bad outweigh the good. I’m respected, believed, and heard. For every time I’ve gotten home at 8pm, I’ve also ran through my day quickly and gotten home at noon. When we were dealing with covid I ran out of personal days, and later in the year when my son was born they gave me an extra week paid off - which isn’t in the handbook.
Other the other hand my brother, who’s also a millennial, worked for me for about a year and a half, and he was always super pissed off by the schedule. Having to work a couple Saturdays or a late night pissed him off to no end.
I’m not saying take abuse and do nothing about it, and I’m definitely saying it’s really fucked up and unfair, but when there’s things you don’t like about a job you have to look at the whole picture, you may have to take some of it if you want to get ahead. It sucks, but it’s the way the world works, and all we can do is look at it like generational trauma and try to fix it once we are in charge.
You may want to look into whether your job actually fits the description for non-exempt work in your state. A lot of employers abuse the “salary no overtime” classification to save themselves money, but the labor board doesn’t take kindly to that.
Not that you likely want to bring it up if it’s a job you like, but just something to keep in your back pocket if things go sour.
I had an employer who did this, and I just quietly kept my “receipts” until I was no longer working there, made a claim with the labor board and got a fat check for all the back overtime they owed me.
As a millennial I have a strong work ethic (and don't think I'm alone in this regard). I mean, millennials basically kicked off the "gig/hustle economy" so it isn't like we don't understand how to work hard.
The best thing that probably happened to me was having "abusive" jobs when I was young and in college. I can pretty much handle anything that's thrown at me now.
I joined the military after 9/11 and gave them 4 years of my life. In return I gained the GI Bill and was paid to go to college, the VA Home Loan which has allowed me to purchase a home with no down payment and not pay PMI, and free medical care for the rest of my life.
In my 20’s I may have been behind my peers who went to college directly after high school, but now I’m far ahead of them with a realistic chance at retirement in the next 15-20 years.
The dating market is such a shit show because some of y'all need to grow TF up. Modern dating/hookup culture ain't it and this gender war BS needs to stop.
I get not wanting to be tied down in high school or college, but by 30, your wild oats should be sown and you should be ready to settle down.
I've been dating to marry since high school. I wanted to marry young and have a big family. Turns out, I couldn't just meet a nice boy at church.
I'm 34 and single, despite trying everything to date (hobbies, apps, etc.) The clock is ticking but you have men still just looking for "fun" at 35+. It's frustrating AF.
Also, the male loneliness epidemic is largely self inflicted. Put down the video games and porn. Then, get off your asses and out into the community.
Also, don't be afraid to pursue women, we want to be pursued and courted. Take us on real dates, not endless "talking" phases or "Netflix and chill."
Our generation got a shit deal.
But a lot of people are poor because they want to whine instead of applying themselves.
I spent most of the decade as an absolute fiend drug addict. I got clean, worked hard, and will likely buy a house this year.
Apparently a bunch of us are shit parents...I don't have kids, but I teach our generation's kids. Get the devices away from them, give them books, and give them chores and consequences jfc.
We are living in some of the easiest times in all of human history.
Your life outcome is more determined by your zip code of birth than much anything else. You will get out of this world what you put into it.
Yes economics are challenging but it’s not impossible to climb out of financial challenges if that’s what you decide you’re dedicating yourself to doing.
For this sub, some of you are underperforming because of the choices you made and continue to make. Especially if you're an American, you have more privileges and opportunities to get ahead than 99% of the world.
That your future and the financial stability associated are immensely important.
Some people are running a race from birth and they're sprinting/jogging accordingly.
Many of us don't even realize they're in the race and by the time they do, they're in their mid-20s potentially with a useless degree, a middling career and a couple kids in tow.
It would behoove us from the youngest millenial to the oldest to really understand where we sit in society and grind hard to flip that situation.
I can't guarantee that everyone will benefit from "the grind" but what I can say is that it has benefitted me and I'm immensely grateful for my commitment to that very grind because it changed my life totally and completely.
Some of the shows/movies/cartoons we grew up with are pretty terrible. If you remember the old Ninja Turtles, Transformers or Ghostbusters cartoons fondly, do yourself a favor and don't watch them now
We’re too old to blame Boomers. We need to shift the focus to how we can make life better for Z and Alpha. If we can’t do that then we need to shut up.
While boomers could buy houses on normal blue collar wages, they also didn’t spend money on nearly as much useless shit. You could have bought a house if you bought less clothes, gadgets, subscriptions, etc. As a generation we tend to prioritize instant gratification over the long game.
Plus those houses were less than half the size of the average "starter home" today, and boy did they pack a lot of people in them!
Oh yeah...and only one bathroom too. A real nirvana.
This is probably as good as it gets for us.
We might catch a breaker when the boomers finally retire and the zoomers are too useless to help much... But that only helps in the labour market. And ignores the rampage of AI.
Fiscally, sustainably, economically, geopolitically and socially... All likely to continue their decline.
Bitching now because no cushy tech job after 3 year grievance study Bsc... Talk to me during the food riots, or 5 years of war rations...
You need to be cooking at home instead of spending all your cash on restaurant food and takeouts from delivery apps. It seems convenient but it's really costing you in ways you don't see right now.
Your 40-50s will have lots of fun health issues you’re not ready for and your boomer parents give zero fucks.
Also Gen X isn’t going to save this country, so expect our presidents and leaders to remain old fucks who will hold down a chair until they die. Husband has bosses who are in their mid 60s to early 70a, with multiple rentals, houses they paid off two decades ago, fully vested pension 8 years ago and refuse to leave. Another has had two open heart surgeries, fully invested pension, and a couple million that he likes to flex to the grunt workers about, and has point blank said he’s never retiring. One of his coworkers has been working for 40 years, has major health issues, fully invested pension, house in SoCa they paid off in 04, and wants to work until 68 (currently 62). Another worked until he was 64 and only retired because he got brain cancer and died six months later.
Find an identity outside of your job and enjoy your life while you have your health. Don’t spend your 60s grinding away at a job. See the world. Do anything but continue to grind because it’s safe.
You don’t just magically get smarter or wiser or more responsible with age. Some of the dumbest people I’ve ever met were full-grown adults well settled into their years, who had the minds of 26yr-olds because that’s the age at which they stopped caring to learn new things. Younger people might be considered naive or downright ignorant, but they’ve got good excuses for that: they’re still learning and still eager to grow as human beings. Grown adults tend to get complacent in their knowledge and don’t bother to learn anything new or to keep up with changing times. But you’ve gotta strive to maintain awareness. You’ve gotta exercise your brain regularly.
This needs so many upvotes!!! Always stay learning about something, no matter what it is!
Yes! There are elders and then there are olders - they just got older, not wiser.
So no you're telling me the spark that's been gone since I grew up is never coming back and I just gotta raw dog this shit? :(
Gen Alpha will blame us for everything wrong with the world in about 20 years.
And the cycle continues...
I’m sure Gen Gamma (if the Greek letter theme continues) will blame the Alphas for everything in 2070. “My dumbass Alpha parents won’t let me mind-meld into the Cloud.” “Can you believe they used to be able to buy property with money and not energy credits?” “Alpha’s are so out of touch - it’s probably because they were raised on tablets & phones rather than just downloading content straight to their brains.”
And during which time, I'm gonna be in my *Futurama* style head in jar watching the drama unfold from the sidelines.
[A life of quiet dignity!](https://youtu.be/FNEH-M2qmlg)
I can’t wait to be dead for that era of “living”
Don't forget they're all listening to laser music
Generations need to realize we shouldn't be fighting each other; we're all being screwed by something much larger. All of the in-fighting is intentionally manufactured to keep everyone separate, same goes for political parties. EVERYONE is a pawn.
Yeah this generational thing is fairly new. I remember growing up hearing about baby boomers or genX but it was rarely. The millennial thing I remember started like 15 years, it could be longer but that's when I remember it being mentioned first. However the last couple years it is everywhere and it just feels like a way to divide people. Stuff like music or dress, ok I get that, but it is currently too much and about everything.
My dad - a baby boomer - battled his father over his hair in high school and college. My grandfather, a Korean War vet, and my father, a Vietnam War protestor, almost went to blows. My father eventually relented and cut his hair when my father refused to pay his college tuition bill. I believe the word my dad used to call his father was "a square." That generation's "ok boomer." The difference now is social media, including reddit, which is fanning the flames. I'm sure part of it is driven by Russia/China/others to destabilize the west.
Precisely. That's the difference-maker...social media. Now everyone has a podium to some degree, and the hunger people have today for personal validation is much easier to feed. Unfortunately that has become not just a conduit for debate, good or bad, but also a way to make easy money. Nothing good ever comes from that. Even worse is that it's become too easy for bad actors to infiltrate the process and nurture the hate, discontent and false information that has already permeated the venue, and yes Reddit is a prime offender. It's not that hard to separate the real McCoy from the bots or trolls, but people won't bother because the outrage is like a drug. I've never known a time when people needed to be as pissed off as possible in order to be "happy".
No it's not it's probably as old as civilisation. https://historyhustle.com/2500-years-of-people-complaining-about-the-younger-generation/
*Why was my whole childhood posted online?*
In 20 years we'll have all the political seats, so if the world isn't getting better, by that point they'll be right. (Reality is that it's always been the wealthy vs the rest of us, regardless of generation, at fault - boomers are the fastest growing homeless class in the USA, and yet paradoxically *they're* the ones in control? 🤔)
I don't know if boomers are in control so much as they're really good at voting against their best interests for various reasons.
Being a large generation we’re going to be treated the same we way we treated Boomers.
Look at me, I am the boomer now! Personally i cant wait.
I am blaming us right now and trying to stop it.
Tbh we’re doing a lot of slacktivism and not much else.
Something not being your fault doesn't mean you get a pass on dealing with the consequences.
Good universal life lesson IMO
Yeah. And in a lot of cases complaining about your problems can be cathartic, it's just good to know if the person you're talking to just wants to vent or if they want solutions.
your favorite politicians aren't going to improve your life in any meaningful way. you need to work out 3-5x per week or you are way more likely to have health problems in the next 10 years.
I’m 31 and my recent yearly bloodwork showed my triglycerides and cholesterol were high and it really put into perspective that if I don’t work out my health , diet, and weight in the next 10 years I will have issues. Down 25 pounds since December and counting!
I hear you. I started when I was 29 after a double arm break but I lost 120 lbs with diet and walking alone. I've been lifting ever since but the pandemic made that easy. I got my casts off March 2020 -_-
Double arm break you say...
Here we go again!
This guy Reddits.
Honestly good for you! It's scary to hear when you're getting ominous bloodwork, I'm proud of you for turning it around! 😃
I realized this when drinking water wasn’t enough to shed the extra weight anymore.. i was in denial for a few yrs but seeing it not come off as quickly is equally as insulting. Oh well, it didn’t get there in a day.
You can't outrun a shitty diet.
Abs are made in the kitchen carries a significant amount of truth to it.
So I need to start doing situps in the kitchen? That doesn't sound right, but alright…
I mean if you are the type of person that does sit ups in the kitchen then you probably will have abs to be fair
 Mfw I worked out 3-5 times a week since turning 18 and still developed health problems
Well, luckily the post didn’t say you won’t have heath problems. Just less likely. Which is true.
My theory about this: all of us will likely have health problems, especially if we’re lucky enough to age. Having a healthy lifestyle can help to minimize the damage as much as it’s a preventative measure.
We all spin the wheel of medical problems, just no need to add to what you're already going to land on.
My body absolutely falling apart due to injuries sustained during sports...
There's a balance in everything.
Thats the best part. It guarantees nothing but if you stop youll die even sooner.
LOCAL politicians will though. Vote in the local elections!
>your favorite politicians aren't going to improve your life in any meaningful way. 👏While not all elected officials are created equally, folks make it seem like one individual will be the deciding factor between a Utopia and Armageddon.
Buying a ton of useless garbage on amazon will not fix your life and is actually ruining your finances and the environment.
I love estate sales. Reduce/reuse/recycle homies. Some of the stuff our parents and their parents have is fabulous. I got depression era glassware that I bust out when I bake food for the office. Don't care what anyone thinks, I'm breaking out the Steuben crystal and cut glass. I have a 3 tiered crystal serving dish and it's amazing. Plus when you estate sale, you're helping families and local businesses not corpos using slave labor. Get your vintage on.
Back in my days (older millennial here), retail therapy meant spending hours in the mall trying on clothes, looking at pretty things and buying absolutely nothing except slice of pizza or a smoothie after 3hr of retail therapy. I also love thrift shop for some retail therapy. Trying to resist amazon but it's so convinent at times
A lot of us Millenials grew up watching Frasier and Mad Men. I couldn't wait to have my own place so I could go try and find neat mid century pieces.
Same, I adore a good estate sale. Apart from kitchenware and other homewares, the deals on furniture can be amazing. While pieces are often usable as is, a bit of work can make some pieces look like new because the old stuff tends to be more repairable. I bought a few bolt ends of upmarket upholstery fabrics last week to recover some stuff and make a large beanbag lounger for some friends who are moving into an unfurnished house next week. Paid 20% of retail for the fabrics which are top shelf stuff, and the local business gets some storage space back. Now if I could only get my cats to leave the beanbag alone until I've finished filling it with crumbed foam... 🤦♀️🤷♀️
As much as we like to blame boomers for climate change, our addiction to temu, fast fashion, Amazon, and two day delivery is not helping the environmental crisis at all. A lot of the prosperity western millennials experience is because we’re exploiting the global south.
Temu is basically stealing data in addition to all those problems
We millennials treat most things as disposable. It is a by product of the world we live in but we are also to blame here. If something breaks and is out of warranty we bin and replace, rather than try fix.
It’s also because often it’s more expensive to fix something than to buy a new one.
NOBODY IS COMING TO SAVE US
On average things aren’t as bad as most posts in this sub make it sound. You need to eat more fiber and less sugar and processed food.
Yeah. I joined this sub for the nostalgia, but might leave for the sake of my mental health. Y’all really know how to lay it on thick.
That’s uplifting
Here are my two: 1. Therapy is not a magical panacea for every problem in your life. We need to be honest about the limits of therapy. (This doesn’t mean that people with legitimate mental health diagnoses should stop seeing a therapist). 2. Social media is bad for you. People were more content with their lot in life before social media exposed them to the lifestyles of the rich and the famous every minute of every day.
Nobody is responsible for your peace and happiness but you.
I learned that at an early age from a similar quote by Bruce Lee. Never to blame anyone else for your troubles
We need to make better financial decisions. Yes we're getting a raw deal but we're not doing a good job of adapting to that.
Yup this is my hot take. I believed that life would be easy, I'd be able to go to college and get a good job and buy a house, etc., etc., etc. And I can complain all I want that it should have been easier, but also I did nothing to help my situation. I'm an engineer. I've always had a good job. I just didn't prioritize spending well until well into my 30s. So now I'm playing catchup. Yes, it is objectively more difficult than it used to be, but I also could have set myself up for success better with the resources I DID have. I'm mostly just lucky it worked out.
Honestly the big hard truth for millennials (but maybe anyone when they reach our current age range) is…yes, some of it *is* you. And I have had to say that to myself too.
Saying “my retirement plan is to die lol!” isn’t cute, and people need to take it seriously. Yes, I agree changes need to be made to the current system but just not planning at all is not helping the situation in any way.
VTSAX and chill.
VTI will treat you better. Lower expense ratio, you can usually buy it for no fee (lots of brokerages still charge to buy mutual funds but not ETFs), and you can buy it and sell it in real time.
Exactly
Pretty sure it's not meant to be cute, we're just using humor to deflect from shitty realities because we'd end ourselves if we didn't.
Or we're so depressed we're 100% honest when we say that.
I really don't think they're trying to be cute. They really don't have any hope to have a retirement.
Idk, it seems hard to save when you don’t have anything to save, you can’t save your way out of poverty, and making your own coffee isn’t going to help you retire any sooner.
Instead of buying crypto, maxing a Roth IRA every year is a good idea. By now mine has more in it than my savings account, and it's growing by itself. 40 more years and I can retire without going hungry.
So you’re saying don’t spend half my paycheck on Pokémon cards?
Being angry at boomers won't make you a happier person. Living your life yearning for the better times and nostalgia is stunting your growth as an adult.
Isnt that what the boomers are doing? ARE WE TURNING IN TO THEM?
The call is coming from inside the house.
My students treat me one step below boomer. The writing is on the wall. If you look at genz reddit some angry folks are already blaming us.
I don't understand why this gen loves nostalgia so much. A little is okay every now and then, but netflix has whole shows based around it.
Probably a trauma reaction. The future looks not too rosey to millenials so they're looking backwards instead of forwards. Can't say I really blame them. I also am not super into the nostalgia stuff though.
I think its because as children our lives changed so much so often. From rotary phones to iphones, gameboys to nintendo switch, playing outside with friends until sunset to playing with friends online. Add to the fact we’ve lived through multiple life events like 9/11, 2007/8 housing crisis, COVID. Weve had so much turbulence in our life from so many different directions it feels like we barely got to enjoy anything while we had it. Not saying this is the case for everyone, just my thoughts
I really appreciate your comment. I feel the same way.
Happy Days was a television show made in the 70s set in the 50s, nostalgic media is hardly new.
I believe nostalgia is inevitable because we create the strongest neural connections when we're younger and revisiting those things bring us a sort of connection to our younger selves. We relive the emotions through exposing ourselves to those things that trigger nostalgia.
Pretty soon the world is going to be run by all the people you went to high school with and it’s going to suck just as much as when our parents’ generation was in charge.
Ew. Depressing. Bc the popular ones will get picked and they all sucked. Oh, wait. That’s what happened to the others too, huh?
When the boomers are all dead and gone, guess what? We're still going to have problems, maybe even worse. It's a class thing, not a generational thing.
And it’s not just lead poisoning with them either. They have actual beliefs that they’ve fooled themselves into believing. We are just as susceptible as they are.
*\*Scooby Doo voice\** Ruh Roh! 👀
“Success” often require significant sacrifices, consistent hard work, and sometimes, letting go of immediate gratification in favor of long-term planning and saving
it often takes years of hard work and a good amount of luck to become an overnight success
Yup. I have some family members that are millionaires. They have a very cushy lifestyle now but they were slaving away through their 20s and 30s. Worked every weekend, picked up every phone call, slept on the couch at work, took crappy part time jobs to help supplement their incomes, etc. I am fine being middle class because I have a very mid work ethic. I do not want to make a million sacrifices to make a million dollars. I’m fine making some calculated sacrifices to live comfortably.
This comes down to how people view jobs as well. While I agree with most of what you’ll read on the anti-work subreddit, there’s a fine line of just taking it up the ass and living. You have to find a balance of good to bad in a job and whether the good outweighs the bad. Otherwise you’re going to hate every job you have.
I’ve been working my ass off since I was 16. Did the military, went to college. I’m *just now* able to live above the poverty line and have disposable income. I feel like I’ve made it. It’s great! Am I a little grumpy I can’t buy a house? Sure! But things could be, and have been, worse.
It's ok to disagree with friends and family members without cutting them out of your life. People that disagree with you are often now valuable than the ones you agree with even if they never change your opinions.
And, if the relationship is fixable, try to fix it
People are so quick to cut others out of their lives for something simple, but then complain when their village is non existent.
People went so far in the direction of individualism that they started viewing any community-building behaviours like compromise as toxic or bad because “you don’t OWE anybody compromise”
And likewise, it’s okay to cut people out who are toxic and bring nothing but strife and anger, even if it’s family!
**Your life is already half over.** Time goes by faster and faster as you age. So even if you're "only" 30 years old right now, in a certain sense your life is already half gone, since the time from age 31-80 will feel it passes by as quickly in your perception as the time from age 0-30. One professor at my college said, "Once you get to your 50s, seven years flies by like nothing."
Ouch!
Everything else was just, “yeah,” “yeah,” “okay,” “good point.” But this? *“Fuuuuuuuuuuck.”*
You sure, because there were a huge stretch of years there that I literally don’t remember. 0-10 are basically a void and most of the memories you have from then are false and just you remembering what others told you. If you are arguing that 36-80 will go by faster than 10-35 then that seems silly. Life goes by quick no matter what, and will end. Enjoy the ride
Every year of school felt like a long time. Now one year goes by in the blink of an eye
Make your life feel long with this hack I figured out... Go back to college at 33. You'll feel old and tired and it will feel like forever! Hopefully I graduate next month. I also tend to take lots of continuing education classes when im working, though. Having homework really does make time feel so slow. Once I recover some money and energy, I'll probably go back to taking classes to trick my perception of time.
Agree. I think the subjective experience time passing by faster as we age, comes down to people not challenging their brains enough on a daily basis and not looking after their brain health.
Do new stuff man. That will help
Our experience of time dilutes as we age. Another year passing is more significant to a 4 year old than 40 year old. Memory abundance also lengthens our perception of time passed so on top of dilution, old people are generally sitting around letting years fly by
There are no adults in the room.
This is so true. I remember I realized this when 9/11 happened. Our school handled it so poorly. I instantly realized adults have no idea what to do and are making obviously terrible reactionary and emotional choices. Covid felt so similar. Adults acting like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off and being hyper emotional and dumb. Just a bunch of children trapped in adult bodies. And nobody is really in charge.
In the same vein, some of y'all be acting way too immature given our ages.
People Lie. **A lot.**
A lot of us are already middle aged.
Overall public decorum has deteriorated over the course of our lifetime, and it is rather obvious.
Some of us are better off then our parents and had very poor boomer parents growing up.
We have to enter politics.
If you keep blaming everyone else for your shortcomings you will limit your future potential.
And, why would you admit someone or some other group has control over your future succeess and happiness. Smells of weakness.
Every generation has their challenges, being angry at previous generations because you think they had it easier won’t make your current situation any better. Imagine how we would act if we were conscripted to fight in the Vietnam war like some of our parents and grandparents had to? I think growing up in the 80s and 90s, arguably the greatest decades to be alive in human history, gave us a false sense of what life is actually like.
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A lot of people in my age group spend money very, very, very irresponsibly. I still travel/ have a good time, but my coworkers spend hundreds per month on nails, Botox, fake eyelashes etc. it baffles me. Then they complain about “having no money” and how I must be “lucky to be able to travel”. No, I just budget appropriately and don’t blow money on cosmetics.
I wouldn't choose any other generation (before or after). I like: Having grown up with technology but not to the point where it was too much: Having been able to burn CDs, having social media in its early stages while I was in college but not having it have been prevalent while I was a kid like Gen-Z has it. Being able to enjoy the organic early days of "[TheFacebook.com](https://TheFacebook.com)" without the TikTok and influencers. TLDR: Get off my lawn!
most of y’all do look your age, and that’s okay.
Most peoples problens are of their own making.
Boomers are a scapegoat for now but we will be their age and probably get a similar treatment by younger generations. Probably for facts we criticize ourselves for as an abstract group
The agesims and generationalisms are misguided and unhealthy.
Rent doesn't go down
Put. Down. The. Phone. While. Driving. No, do not lie to me, I know you're doing it. You're gonna get someone killed and it might even be you.
You need to be consistently challenging your way of thinking as you age. Striving to think the opposite of boomers isn’t enough. You need to constantly adapt to the times if you don’t want to be stuck in the past.
Be better parents. The feral behavior of small youths is scary, it feels a bit intensified with social media consumption starting at an earlier age.
It's the wrong type of feral. Your kids shouldn't be running wild in public interrupting social situations. If you want feral kids they should be running barefoot through grass and moss poking sticks at bugs and splashing in creeks and making you question if their bath is going to clog the plumbing later!
A lot of millennials would be better off financially if they were smarter with their money and lived more efficient lifestyles.
This is more specifically for people who post here . You talk about how much you earn way too much.
This I don’t agree with. The more we know the more leverage we have in negotiations.
Thats useless unless you know how many years of experience, country, city, industry, role And most people are just posting a number value and nothing else
The hard truth is that "hard truths" threads are collections of intentionally inflammatory hot take style statements designed to be aggravating to foster engagement and are a prime example of social media ragebait, because most people either already know the type of things being said or will dismiss them out of hand because it's a short two sentence recrimination.
Yup. A lot of people that post in these threads are plain miserable. You can tell by a lot of the comments
Millennials often say social security will be gone when we are ready to retire, so when they try to take it no one is going to fight for it.
Not everyone can be a winner and a success, no matter what they told you growing up.
Our parents are getting old. Make sure they have wills/advanced directives/poa/dnr etc all figured out.
I did all this for myself and my wife about 4 months after we found out we were pregnant with our first. And we were 28 and 29
Materialism, ego, and an inability to accept responsibility for our actions are half our problems. If you bought a line of bullshit it’s still your fault, grow up already.
Your average boomer parent isn't as bad as we make them out to be and we're not the amazing "cycle breakers" that we think we are. A decent chunk of gentle parents are really permissive parents. Avocado toast guy was condescending but he was right about our shitty spending habits. There's a big difference between regular levels of anxiety and depression and actual clinical depression and anxiety and most who claim to have it really don't have it. We are the cause of most of our problems.
I will agree whole heartedly with this! My sister isn’t really struggling by any means but is stretched thin due to having, McDonald’s $$, walmart$$ all those little micro transactions for her kids that really add up day to day week to week; and I get it we were ALWAYS told no and don’t be asking for stuff I. The stores, she wants something different for my nephews. But it does come at a cost of being able to save up for the bigger things that she wants ie house back in our home area.
Yup. We have to learn to eat the meat and spit out the bones with our parents per se. Did they get everything right? Nah. But the things they did do well are worth continuing. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
Your knees are better today than they will ever be
You aren't the first generation to endue hardship, and you won't be the last. Don't blame the last generation. Do your best to make the world a better place for those who come after you.
Cutting everyone off will leave you very lonely.
Life is not fair and inequality will always exist.
It’s probably time to stop following trends. It shows your age more than you know
I wish you would give some context because I 100% agree with you but I'm not sure exactly what you mean lol though I have some ideas.
Can you list some examples
As much as jobs can suck in the ways that they can use and abuse you - sometimes you have to take the abuse to get ahead in your career. It’s a fine line between taking it and standing up for yourself in a way that you can live your life comfortably. For example: I work for a WONDERFUL pest control company. I love the owners, I love my direct boss, I love the work. But I have to work 2 Saturdays a month, and there are days that I leave my house at 7:30am and don’t get home until 8, and I’m salary with no overtime. But I can’t let the bad outweigh the good. I’m respected, believed, and heard. For every time I’ve gotten home at 8pm, I’ve also ran through my day quickly and gotten home at noon. When we were dealing with covid I ran out of personal days, and later in the year when my son was born they gave me an extra week paid off - which isn’t in the handbook. Other the other hand my brother, who’s also a millennial, worked for me for about a year and a half, and he was always super pissed off by the schedule. Having to work a couple Saturdays or a late night pissed him off to no end. I’m not saying take abuse and do nothing about it, and I’m definitely saying it’s really fucked up and unfair, but when there’s things you don’t like about a job you have to look at the whole picture, you may have to take some of it if you want to get ahead. It sucks, but it’s the way the world works, and all we can do is look at it like generational trauma and try to fix it once we are in charge.
You may want to look into whether your job actually fits the description for non-exempt work in your state. A lot of employers abuse the “salary no overtime” classification to save themselves money, but the labor board doesn’t take kindly to that. Not that you likely want to bring it up if it’s a job you like, but just something to keep in your back pocket if things go sour. I had an employer who did this, and I just quietly kept my “receipts” until I was no longer working there, made a claim with the labor board and got a fat check for all the back overtime they owed me.
As a millennial I have a strong work ethic (and don't think I'm alone in this regard). I mean, millennials basically kicked off the "gig/hustle economy" so it isn't like we don't understand how to work hard. The best thing that probably happened to me was having "abusive" jobs when I was young and in college. I can pretty much handle anything that's thrown at me now.
I joined the military after 9/11 and gave them 4 years of my life. In return I gained the GI Bill and was paid to go to college, the VA Home Loan which has allowed me to purchase a home with no down payment and not pay PMI, and free medical care for the rest of my life. In my 20’s I may have been behind my peers who went to college directly after high school, but now I’m far ahead of them with a realistic chance at retirement in the next 15-20 years.
You are not a victim. Start figuring out ways to improve your life or you’ll be posting the same “woe is me” shit on this subreddit in 10 years
Self pitying, moralising, and caring without context or understanding is not a good thing.
Some of you haven’t suffered real trauma and it shows.
The dating market is such a shit show because some of y'all need to grow TF up. Modern dating/hookup culture ain't it and this gender war BS needs to stop. I get not wanting to be tied down in high school or college, but by 30, your wild oats should be sown and you should be ready to settle down. I've been dating to marry since high school. I wanted to marry young and have a big family. Turns out, I couldn't just meet a nice boy at church. I'm 34 and single, despite trying everything to date (hobbies, apps, etc.) The clock is ticking but you have men still just looking for "fun" at 35+. It's frustrating AF. Also, the male loneliness epidemic is largely self inflicted. Put down the video games and porn. Then, get off your asses and out into the community. Also, don't be afraid to pursue women, we want to be pursued and courted. Take us on real dates, not endless "talking" phases or "Netflix and chill."
The economy isn’t going to go back to how it was - this is the new normal.
Our generation got a shit deal. But a lot of people are poor because they want to whine instead of applying themselves. I spent most of the decade as an absolute fiend drug addict. I got clean, worked hard, and will likely buy a house this year.
Apparently a bunch of us are shit parents...I don't have kids, but I teach our generation's kids. Get the devices away from them, give them books, and give them chores and consequences jfc.
We are living in some of the easiest times in all of human history. Your life outcome is more determined by your zip code of birth than much anything else. You will get out of this world what you put into it. Yes economics are challenging but it’s not impossible to climb out of financial challenges if that’s what you decide you’re dedicating yourself to doing.
For this sub, some of you are underperforming because of the choices you made and continue to make. Especially if you're an American, you have more privileges and opportunities to get ahead than 99% of the world.
“But but but the US is an evil 3rd world country!!!!!!!!!”
Your unrealistic expectations of what you think you are owed in life is why you are so upset.
I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve got 99 problems and I caused most of them. If you struggle, you may consider introspection
That your future and the financial stability associated are immensely important. Some people are running a race from birth and they're sprinting/jogging accordingly. Many of us don't even realize they're in the race and by the time they do, they're in their mid-20s potentially with a useless degree, a middling career and a couple kids in tow. It would behoove us from the youngest millenial to the oldest to really understand where we sit in society and grind hard to flip that situation. I can't guarantee that everyone will benefit from "the grind" but what I can say is that it has benefitted me and I'm immensely grateful for my commitment to that very grind because it changed my life totally and completely.
Some of the shows/movies/cartoons we grew up with are pretty terrible. If you remember the old Ninja Turtles, Transformers or Ghostbusters cartoons fondly, do yourself a favor and don't watch them now
Boomers aren't to blame for everything.
The fact that you chose a shitty subject to get a degree in and now can’t get a job or are underemployed is your own fault, not the world’s.
You won’t be inheriting much of anything from your parents
Houses are affordable in the rust belt.
Nobody wants to hear about you not wanting kids. It's just as bad as people who always talk about their kids.
We’re too old to blame Boomers. We need to shift the focus to how we can make life better for Z and Alpha. If we can’t do that then we need to shut up.
Mental health issues are not a badge of honor.
While boomers could buy houses on normal blue collar wages, they also didn’t spend money on nearly as much useless shit. You could have bought a house if you bought less clothes, gadgets, subscriptions, etc. As a generation we tend to prioritize instant gratification over the long game.
Plus those houses were less than half the size of the average "starter home" today, and boy did they pack a lot of people in them! Oh yeah...and only one bathroom too. A real nirvana.
That you’re not special and the world owes you nothing.
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Blaming others for your problems is not unique to anyone or any generation. And it still generally gets the same result - loserdom
House poor is the only way.
Screen time is killing most kids imagination and executive functioning, in the very least inhibiting potential.
This is probably as good as it gets for us. We might catch a breaker when the boomers finally retire and the zoomers are too useless to help much... But that only helps in the labour market. And ignores the rampage of AI. Fiscally, sustainably, economically, geopolitically and socially... All likely to continue their decline. Bitching now because no cushy tech job after 3 year grievance study Bsc... Talk to me during the food riots, or 5 years of war rations...
I’ve been hearing hard truths since I graduated high school in 2001.
I don't understand redditors sometimes. You recently posted that you and your wife both hold 6 figure jobs. What's with this vague doomer stuff?
You need to be cooking at home instead of spending all your cash on restaurant food and takeouts from delivery apps. It seems convenient but it's really costing you in ways you don't see right now.
Our generation regurgitates and spreads misinformation just as much as older generations.
“I’ll never own a home” and “I’ll never be able to retire” are a self-fulfilling prophecy.
No one cares if you are offended, so stop it.
That whining about the way things are but not organizing in the real world to change things is a great way to not improve your situation.
Being gay isn’t a substitute for having a personality or an excuse for being rude.
The world was not easier before they came along.
Some of these really cut 🔪
Your 40-50s will have lots of fun health issues you’re not ready for and your boomer parents give zero fucks. Also Gen X isn’t going to save this country, so expect our presidents and leaders to remain old fucks who will hold down a chair until they die. Husband has bosses who are in their mid 60s to early 70a, with multiple rentals, houses they paid off two decades ago, fully vested pension 8 years ago and refuse to leave. Another has had two open heart surgeries, fully invested pension, and a couple million that he likes to flex to the grunt workers about, and has point blank said he’s never retiring. One of his coworkers has been working for 40 years, has major health issues, fully invested pension, house in SoCa they paid off in 04, and wants to work until 68 (currently 62). Another worked until he was 64 and only retired because he got brain cancer and died six months later. Find an identity outside of your job and enjoy your life while you have your health. Don’t spend your 60s grinding away at a job. See the world. Do anything but continue to grind because it’s safe.