👉🏻 https://x.com/tgrammie2/status/2011915331460350348
👉🏻 https://nitter.net/tgrammie2/status/2011915331460350348
I’m worn out hearing people moan, “Our grandparents could buy a house on one paycheck, but now we can’t even afford rent on two!”
Yeah, maybe because Grandma wasn’t dropping half her income on $14 iced lattes and avocado toast shaped like art projects. Back then, if they wanted coffee, they boiled it at home in a dented pot. It tasted like burnt rubber and regret — but it woke you up and cleaned your pipes.
And Grandma wasn’t “out to brunch.” You think she had time for mimosas and hashtags? She was making something called whatever’s left in the fridge and feeding six people with it.
Don’t even start with Uber Eats. You think Grandpa was out here paying $38 to have a burger delivered three blocks away? Please. He grilled mystery meat on a rusted barbecue, and everyone called it dinner.
Now people cry about being broke while sitting in a house full of gadgets. Two SUVs in the driveway, six streaming services, three air fryers, and matching tattoos that cost more than their light bill. You think Grandpa had a tattoo? He did. It said “Korea, 1951,” and it came with trauma, not Instagram likes.
And the kids—Lord help us. “We can’t make ends meet, but Brayden needs the new iPhone!” No, he doesn’t. You’re handing an $1100 device to a child who still eats crayons and forgets to flush.
When we were kids, there was one phone. It hung on the wall like a family relic. The cord stretched just far enough for you to whisper secrets before someone yelled, “Get off, I need to make a call!” And guess what? We lived.
The TV? One. In the living room. With three channels and a dial that clicked like a safe. And if Dad wanted to watch bowling, you were a fan of bowling, end of story.
Now there’s a flat screen in every room, the baby’s got an iPad, the dog’s got a camera, and everyone’s wondering why they can’t afford rent. Because you’re living like rock stars on retail salaries, that’s why.
Grandpa wasn’t leasing Teslas or buying $12 smoothies called “Green Zen Awakening.” He drove a truck that coughed smoke, rattled like a storm, and smelled like oil and hard work.
They lived within their means. Whatever Grandpa brought home on Friday — that’s what they had. They weren’t keeping up with the Joneses; they were keeping the lights on.
So yeah, Grandpa bought a house on one salary. But he also didn’t have a gym membership, three delivery apps, and emotional support crystals on his nightstand. His only support system was Grandma, who told him to quit whining and mow the yard.
Nowadays, everyone’s broke, anxious, and “manifesting abundance” while ordering tacos on DoorDash for the fourth time this week.
It’s not the economy — it’s the lifestyle.
Wake up, turn off your subscriptions, make your own coffee, and maybe—just maybe—you’ll smell the truth.
Credit to original author, unknown
Have you noticed that the children of this era are very gentle, timid, and conflict averse?
I promise that speaking this way to them is ineffective. There is blame in multiple generations and on multiple nations for this situation, but casting it internally and pointing it at them won’t fix the situation. The goal is to repair this nation, “nation” being “the people”.
We all helped make this, let’s all work on routing it out.
I helped make this problem. You helped make this problem. They helped make this problem. Let’s just fix it
I am tired of them blaming everyone for everything.
We never imagined doing this to our parents.
The problem is simple. When you were handed everything it means nothing.
They don’t have parents.
Huge difference.
(Not my downvote, I +1ed)
They also aren’t getting handed everything. Lots of toys, sure, but anything of consequence is very hard for them to get. Pay close attention to relative prices on different things.
I watched the door get slammed shut on them to enter a lot of courtyards we are in.
They aren’t upset for no reason.
Oh I lived a cushy life.
Ha ha.
You have no idea what I endured.
My current husband said when he had his first child it was either buy diapers or put gas in his car to get to work.
Go cry me a river.
Not saying you did. I’m saying that approach is 100% not effective with them, and should not be pursued as such. Do we want to save the country or do we want to be right?
I’ve also pointed out to a lot of them that things weren’t all sunshine and unicorn farts for prior generations.
What is effective with them? Hell if I know. It just ain’t that.
I agree we are all in a mess together we all have some sort of blame, lets make it better, I just hate to see gen z say all or most boomers made it all worse and i cant do anything about it, as much as I hate to see boomers saying all or most gen z is lazy and frivolous, as if everyone from those generations complaining is exactly like that, we need to listen to the grievances and move forward, Millennials/Genz lock in you need to be wise with money and get out from debt were you can as soon as you can.
Boomers understand that the younger generation isn't as bad or lazy as you think and that just because it was hard for you too doesn't mean it hasn't gotten worse, or that others younger than you are necessarily doing something wrong, there are plenty who work hard and still struggle while others spend lavishly when they don't have it.
So don't write someone off as complaining and lazy just because they are young, and that's how you see a whole generation not the individuals in it, just like how many gen z shouldn't write off the advice a boomer has on how to save and make it in hard times.
No doubt. Everyone needs to understand that this mess predates us all, and while it’s possible that some of us could have handled it better, it’s also true that none of us “started the fire, which has always been burnin since the world’s been turnin”, and we are all going to have to work together to recognize and work on fixing the problems.
I try to push both parties toward meeting in some presently unknown middle ground.