I remember having those working permit cards that you got issued at school. Blue card for when you were 13-14 years old and green card for 15-16 years old. First job was via summer youth at a restaurant, I thought I was going to just make and eat food but I learned the value of hard work. I was peeling potatoes, and squeezing lemons for fresh squeezed lemonade.

Gen Z here. I was shocked when I found out from a millennial co-worker that y’all had teen clubs. I heard about house parties, but dedicated teen clubs? Then when it was time for college, you went to the club or had some kind of party every single weekend, living it up. Now some millennials on TikTok claim that after college, they were partying on work nights, still clocking in the next day. For some reason, the teen clubs have since disappeared. I’m 23 now but even when I was in high school, that was not a thing. House parties were not that common either. They were more like get togethers with a small group of friends. We went to malls, but they were dying out at that point. Is it true that you were really living life this good? Or is it just exaggerated? I feel like my generation doesn’t really have fun like that and everyone is just super depressed and alone, more so since Covid. Even I’m pretty introverted, which sort of sounds ridiculous given this post. 😂 Just so you know, when I think of a “millennial party” I think of something out of Party Rock Anthem, Project X or Roderick’s party from the second DOAWD movie. It’s like I get nostalgia from something I didn’t even live through. I just feel like I didn’t really LIVE, if that even makes sense

Edit: I loved reading some of your comments. Guess I really missed out. Even some of you that would consider yourselves nerds or introverts were out partying. YOLO or whatever y’all say 😂❤️

I felt this article SO much. I know the obvious answer to fix these issues NYT is high-lighting is "to get a high paying job" and to "find a lower rent apartment." My apartment is on the very low end of rental prices (very grateful for this) but I truly cannot find a better paying job to save my life. I have 10+ years of experience and I've been skilling up, know how to use AI (feels like a necessary evil for hiring right now), getting new certifications, opening my search, connecting with friends, strangers, friends of friends but it's hard out there when corporations rather pay someone with no skills a fraction of the rate.

I can't even imagine bringing a kid into this. If my partner and I had a kid tomorrow we'd be financially destroyed. I've known for years that our generations purchasing power relative to our salaries is nowhere close to the same as older generations, but I just feel such heavy depression and sadness from it now.

Anyone else feeling the sharp contrast against earlier generations super deeply right now?

I didn't know this was a millennial thing but I won't stop doing it, lol.

I started drawing last year at 39 and painting seriously in January. Before that I had never really thought of myself as an artist.

This weekend I got to see one of my paintings hanging in a student exhibition for the first time.
Turning 40 has been a nice reminder that there are still completely new things about ourselves left to discover.

Anyone else pick up something around this age that unexpectedly became a big part of your life?

I'm 37 kids in discussion are 10 and almost 8. Over the weekend we were talking about influencers and their antics. My 10 yo showed me a video of two guys trying to eat an ice cream cone in 3 bites and tells me she thinks this is why girls live longer. I laughed because all I could think of is what her reaction is going to be when I tell her about Jackass. When I explained it to them they were shocked! They kept saying how dangerous it is to act that way knowing kids are watching. I explained adults didn't care about our safety or mental wellbeing back then like they do now. They were complaining about Halloween specials for kids and how they aren't scary enough so I found Are you Afraid of the Dark and offered to put it on for them. They swore it wouldn't be scary because it's made for kids. I played a random episode and within 10 mins they were begging for me to turn it off. My 8 yo loves folklore and cryptids(he has a stuffed mothman he carries everywhere) he has just discovered creepypastas and was telling me about them and now it's crazy that stuff like that is on the Internet and asked if we had anything scary when I was a kid. I told him yes, we had rotten.com and vaguely told him what was on it. He looked at me shocked and asked me how we were on the dark web and we didn't get arrested.

I have now found it incredibly entertaining to tell my kids what the early 2000s was like because its horrifying to them yet they are equally jealous that they don't get any of the crazy stuff we had because their parents know better.

What's more "lore" I can tell them to freak them out about being a millennial child/teen.

Here's mine

I’m 37, born in 1989. Growing up, my understanding was that you tipped at restaurants where somebody came to your table and served you. The way I was raised, 10% was normal, 15% was generous, and 20% meant excellent service. That’s what I grew up with, before anyone turns this into an argument about restaurant percentages.

Outside of that, tips were mostly optional. Tow truck driver helps me late at night on a difficult job? Here’s an extra $20. Repairman goes above and beyond? Maybe $40 or $50. Something you chose to do because you appreciated somebody.

Now I can’t even order a coffee without feeling like I’m having a fucking moral dilemma.

Dutch Bros is the worst about this in my experience. They take your order, hold out the tablet, look you dead in the eye, and ask, “Would you like to leave a tip?”

Bro. You just took my order. I haven’t even gotten the coffee yet.

Sometimes I’m going straight to the window, so nobody even came out to my car. Same question. I say no, and now I’m sitting there waiting for my drink in this awkward silence, feeling guilty over something that’s supposedly optional.

It’s not that I’m broke. It’s not that I can’t afford an extra dollar or two. I just don’t like being put on the spot every time I buy something. Having the money doesn’t mean I want every transaction to come with a guilt trip.

Starbucks feels a little less awkward, especially when I order through the app. Scan, get my drink, move on. But at the window, that tip screen still gets put right in front of you. One dollar, two dollars, three dollars… dude, I just wanted a coffee. How did this become another decision I have to justify to myself?

And my frustration is mostly with the corporations setting this up. Why make employees ask customers directly? Why create this uncomfortable interaction between the person buying a drink and the person making it? It feels like these companies want customers to take responsibility for making sure their workers get paid enough.

Pay your people properly. If I want to leave something extra, let it actually be extra.

Maybe nobody behind the counter gives a shit when I hit “no tip.” Maybe some of that awkwardness is in my own head. But the way the question gets asked absolutely makes it feel like there’s a right answer, and “no” isn’t it.

Yes, this is a first-world problem. I know. But it’s getting to the point where I’d rather skip going altogether than deal with it.

I just want a motherfucking coffee.

Are other millennials feeling this? Where do you draw the line between something you’re happy to tip for and being asked to tip just because you bought something?

My personal anecdote here being every single goddamn time I finally make enough money, or get ontop of debt, or fix something in my life, something happens that just puts me back to a new variant of square one. Decent wage? The economy plummets/everything gets more expensive to match it. Ontop of debt? My ceiling caves in and exposes an eye-watering issue with my roof (aka, new roof). Make a dream come true? You've just bought a foreign classic car right before a war with fucking Iran. Book your dream road trip overseas with friends and a big villa you got for an insane deal? Well here's COVID. Here's a historic, global pandemic 2 weeks before you leave.

I don't know maybe this is just a rant. But it just feels like everytime I come up for air a bullshit eldritch tentacle yanks me back down under the icy depths