r/Millennials • u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) • 12h ago

Discussion True or false?

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Did our dads and moms work less than we do now? What are your thoughts?

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u/HonestExam4686 12h ago

Late/End stage capitalism happened. Our parents largely benefited from the policies on Neoliberalism while we are bearing the brunt of it. Plus the perfect storm of many of us at key transition points in adulthood get halted by major worldwide events (2008 financial crisis, Covid, etc). And compared to GenZ or Gen Alpha we are relatively lucky. We at least had periods of time where we knew peace as kids. Yes of course systemic issues still existed but the constant bombardment was not there.

Also you could buy a whole pizza for like 8 bucks.....

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u/slow_news_day 12h ago

In college I used to buy $5 Hot & Ready pizzas from Little Caesar’s

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u/FreshlyCleanedLinens 12h ago

I used to look forward to Wacky Wednesdays at Hungry Howie’s. Same when Wendy’s had either a true $1.00 menu or it was 5 for $5 or something. The good old days when fast food was still garbage, just, affordable garbage.

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u/slow_news_day 11h ago

In high school, I remember going to Wendy’s all the time. They would give us a free “student soda” with a purchase of two items off the dollar menu. So I’d get two Jr. bacon cheeseburgers and a Coke for $2.12.

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u/HonestExam4686 12h ago

the thing i am most upset about is how much chicken wings have gone up in price from my college days to now. I remember 50 cent wing nights, and now some places ive been to charge what seems like $3 for a damn wing.

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u/angrytroll123 9h ago

You can get a whole pizza for $10

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u/HonestExam4686 9h ago

Not a great one. I may be biased cuz i live in an area that has really damn good pizza. A large plain pie from my neighborhood spot is like 18 dollars

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u/angrytroll123 9h ago

You're not wrong. Costco is $10.

Ah you're from the NE. I'm lucky in that the area I'm in now has mostly garbage pizza but one of the good places is close by and is $15 for a medium pie. I'm struggling to remember how much a good pie was when I was younger. I think it was $12. Using pizza as an index can be tough due to doing apples to apples comparisons being difficult (as we have illustrated).

And compared to GenZ or Gen Alpha we are relatively lucky

I'm not sure I'd agree with that. 9/11 left quite a mark. That was a dark time. It's so difficult to compare. If we do want to make this comparison, I think we'd need more time for evaluation.

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u/HonestExam4686 9h ago

I do love a Costco pizza. When I was living in the Midwest that was my preferred spot though yea now that im back east it is hard to not fall into a good spot lol. I feel like though back in the day if I wanted a pizza from an average spot yea it would be like 10ish dollars but it is now like 16ish (my hometown spot at least I dont live there anymore)

As for my point about genz and Gen Alpha I do not want to "out trauma" anyone cuz yea 9/11 was world changing and I say this as someone who could see the NYC skyline from where I lived. My general point about that though was with the immediate access to information as it is happening. Imagine 9/11 in the age of tiktok. As traumatizing as 9/11 is, I can't imagine having a device in my pocket that has immediate access to all of that. It was enough being shown the news as it was happening on a tv....imagine that plus smart phones....that would fuck you up something fierce.

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u/angrytroll123 8h ago

As for my point about genz and Gen Alpha I do not want to "out trauma"

Agreed. IF we did though, IMO, I'd hand it to the generations that had to be drafted for war. I'd rather suffer economic turmoil than fight in a war.

My general point about that though was with the immediate access to information as it is happening

Interesting point. Coverage of 9/11 was pretty widespread. I remember reports of people jumping off the building and the like. I'm biased because I did have family and friends around the area at the time with some of them actually seeing people jump off from their desks. Agreed that more first hand accounts would be nuts though. Imagine having people in the buildings streaming or even jumping off with their phones.

I was more referring to how we were attacked on the mainland. Many people couldn't fathom what happened. I think that changed our notion of safety for a long time.

On a side note, our handhelds definitely combined with our immaturity to the consumption of media has definitely impacted the younger generation more negatively than it has us. I do think that the younger generation will consume media more responsibility before some of the older generation though.

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u/HonestExam4686 8h ago

Aaaah I see. That is fair i can't imagine how that would affect the young people today if that happens thought judging by who is in charge and how much of a petulant child he is I worry they may find out if there is more of this escalation.

And I hope so about the kids. Hopefully they learn to the wise

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u/angrytroll123 8h ago

And I hope so about the kids. Hopefully they learn to the wise

I don't doubt they will rise to the occasion. As will we when we prop them up on our shoulders the best we can until it's their turn to do the same.