Sad priorities

[leroy]

The person the OP described isn't much different than who I was as a young man. It took some embarrassment, lean times, and a few domestic disputes to learn some hard lessons about what is "valuable".

We can only hope that the individual you have described (and the millions more just like him) learn from what is, to many of us, an obvious mistake. I propose we not be too hard on them as there are many organizations that spend a lot of resources tricking young people into believing things of little value are actually of great worth.

I'd also say, old people are a tremendously more costly "burden" on American society than he is. That young man, misguided though he may be, still works and thus contributes to systems that largely benefit people other than himself (the oldest among us being chief amongst those beneficiaries)

Most of those "old" people have worked and contributed 30-40-50+ years to cover their burden!

 

[leroy]

The issue today is many want to stay at entry level positions but make management salaries. They do not quite understand to make more you have to go further and further up the ladder, with more responsibility.

This ^^ alot want to make 20+ an hour flipping burgers or bagging groceries.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

Most of those "old" people have worked and contributed 30-40-50+ years to cover their burden!

I am at 50 years of paying for the 'others' with my taxes. I wonder when I might start getting a little bit back that I have paid in over the years.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

This ^^ alot want to make 20+ an hour flipping burgers or bagging groceries.

and not do a good job at either of those positions, after calling out 1 or 2 days a week

 

[earlthegoat2]

Not precisely relevant to the OP but since this thread is going that direction….

Wages haven’t kept up with the price of normal common use necessities such as vehicles, housing, and groceries.

I know older folks who think that what worked for them 40 years ago should work for an average 20 something these days, will never be convinced otherwise.

I can’t really blame them though. If I had already won the game, why would I care about all the rules that have changed since.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

Not precisely relevant to the OP but since this thread is going that direction….

Wages haven’t kept up with the price of normal common use necessities such as vehicles, housing, and groceries.

I know older folks who think that what worked for them 40 years ago should work for an average 20 something these days, will never be convinced otherwise.

I can’t really blame them though. If I had already won the game, why would I care about all the rules that have changed since.

Yeah, I guess you are right. Everyone should just roll over and quit. <sarc>

There is more ways to make money today than at any time in history. You have to be willing to get off your lazy hind quarters and actually do something. I know some young people that drive around doing Door Dash, pocketing $100 a day before their expenses and wondering why they can't own a 3 bedroom house like their parents. They don't want to get the training to hold a job that will pay for that home, nor do they want to put in the commitment that it takes to make the $$$ to own that home. They think they can show up, put in 30 hours a week, and they should still have all the luxuries that Mom and Dad have gather over 50 years, but they want it in 4 weeks time.

Don't even get me started.

Thank God there are still a few out there who have the tenacity to buckle down and do what it takes to earn a home, car, and support a family.

 

[sinclair1]

Not precisely relevant to the OP but since this thread is going that direction….

Wages haven’t kept up with the price of normal common use necessities such as vehicles, housing, and groceries.

I know older folks who think that what worked for them 40 years ago should work for an average 20 something these days, will never be convinced otherwise.

I can’t really blame them though. If I had already won the game, why would I care about all the rules that have changed since.

I don’t know how they compare really, but I sure remember making $14 and hour and a house in the cheap part of town was 85k.
I literally ate .33 cent burritos, no cable tv etc and still couldn’t buy a house. I had to wait on the timing and a few promotions before buying a starter house for 58k.

 

[leroy]

Yeah, I guess you are right. Everyone should just roll over and quit. <sarc>

There is more ways to make money today than at any time in history. You have to be willing to get off your lazy hind quarters and actually do something. I know some young people that drive around doing Door Dash, pocketing $100 a day before their expenses and wondering why they can't own a 3 bedroom house like their parents. They don't want to get the training to hold a job that will pay for that home, nor do they want to put in the commitment that it takes to make the $$$ to own that home. They think they can show up, put in 30 hours a week, and they should still have all the luxuries that Mom and Dad have gather over 50 years, but they want it in 4 weeks time.

Don't even get me started.

Thank God there are still a few out there who have the tenacity to buckle down and do what it takes to earn a home, car, and support a family.

That to me is the big problem they want what their parents have but in 1/4 of the time and 1/4 of the work.

 

[gobbleinwoods]

Not precisely relevant to the OP but since this thread is going that direction….

Wages haven’t kept up with the price of normal common use necessities such as vehicles, housing, and groceries.

I know older folks who think that what worked for them 40 years ago should work for an average 20 something these days, will never be convinced otherwise.

I can’t really blame them though. If I had already won the game, why would I care about all the rules that have changed since.

On the flip side of the coin those who have worked 30-50+ years and are on fixed incomes with a small COL raise every so often can't afford a new vehicle, eating out, or sometimes even groceries.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

I don’t know how they compare really, but I sure remember making $14 and hour and a house in the cheap part of town was 85k.
I literally ate .33 cent burritos, no cable tv etc and still couldn’t buy a house. I had to wait on the timing and a few promotions before buying a starter house for 58k.

And that starter house was ~1000sq ft. Today, people think a starter house is 2500 to 3000 sqft, with marble countertops, tiled bathrooms, hardwood floors, and 2 heat pumps.

My first home was a 10 x 40 mobile home that was 20 years old, and I had to redo the wiring, plumbing and interior before I could move into it. We rented until we saved the $1000 to pay for the mobile home, then we saved until we had the money to fix it up.

My wife was driving a 1965 Mercury Comet that the transmission slipped in reverse. We paid $35 for it at a scrap yard, fixed the transmission, cleaned it up, painted it and we drove it for 3 years until a guy hit us while we were stopped to make a left hand turn. I replaced that car with a 1976 Pontiac that had >100,000 miles on it, but it had a/c.

We couldn't afford a TV, washer, dryer or anything like that. We went to her mom's once a week to wash and dry clothes. While she did that, I would help her Dad work on whatever project he had going on. We heated with wood because we couldn't afford the fuel oil to heat the house, and the wood was free off the national forest if you had a down and dead permit.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Yeah, I guess you are right. Everyone should just roll over and quit. <sarc>

There is more ways to make money today than at any time in history. You have to be willing to get off your lazy hind quarters and actually do something. I know some young people that drive around doing Door Dash, pocketing $100 a day before their expenses and wondering why they can't own a 3 bedroom house like their parents. They don't want to get the training to hold a job that will pay for that home, nor do they want to put in the commitment that it takes to make the $$$ to own that home. They think they can show up, put in 30 hours a week, and they should still have all the luxuries that Mom and Dad have gather over 50 years, but they want it in 4 weeks time.

Don't even get me started.

Thank God there are still a few out there who have the tenacity to buckle down and do what it takes to earn a home, car, and support a family.

I don’t know how they compare really, but I sure remember making $14 and hour and a house in the cheap part of town was 85k.
I literally ate .33 cent burritos, no cable tv etc and still couldn’t buy a house. I had to wait on the timing and a few promotions before buying a starter house for 58k.

You are preaching to the choir. I drive junker cars and live in a $90K house but things were not always so easy.

I am probably not in the same age group as the folks you are mostly referring to since I am now 41 but when I was 25 it was 2009. I could not get a minimum wage job with two college degrees and military.

Older folks of that time called us entitled just because we wanted to work and thought we should have a full time job….any full time job. Both my parents had full time jobs wage day they got out of HS. Was it such a crime for us to want the same thing?

Now I am working 3 jobs to make up for my lack of earnings earlier on.

We are the first generation since the Great Depression who will have a lower standard of living than the generation before us. This is not because of work ethic. It is because of changing economic conditions which are even less favorable to people just starting out.

Lack of full time work at entry level. If you haven’t looked for an entry level job lately, they now require 3-5 yrs experience. So burger flipping or some other form of underemployment until you establish the right conditions to gain a full time spot somewhere in a career field that is worth a rip. Some folks never are able to and it is usually not because of lack of aptitude but rather no or very few good connections. We live in an increasingly more transient society so connections are hard to come by for someone starting out.

That warehouse job may be their best bet even though they have a masters degree in geology and really want to be a mineral scientist (or whatever) but can’t get their foot in the door. You start to see where the entitlement comes from. It’s frustration.

 

[Triple C]

You are preaching to the choir. I drive junker cars and live in a $90K house but things were not always so easy.

I am probably not in the same age group as the folks you are mostly referring to since I am now 41 but when I was 25 it was 2009. I could not get a minimum wage job with two college degrees and military.

Older folks of that time called us entitled just because we wanted to work and thought we should have a full time job….any full time job. Both my parents had full time jobs wage day they got out of HS. Was it such a crime for us to want the same thing?

Now I am working 3 jobs to make up for my lack of earnings earlier on.

We are the first generation since the Great Depression who will have a lower standard of living than the generation before us. This is not because of work ethic. It is because of changing economic conditions which are even less favorable to people just starting out.

Lack of full time work at entry level. If you haven’t looked for an entry level job lately, they now require 3-5 yrs experience. So burger flipping or some other form of underemployment until you establish the right conditions to gain a full time spot somewhere in a career field that is worth a rip. Some folks never are able to and it is usually not because of lack of aptitude but rather no or very few good connections. We live in an increasingly more transient society so connections are hard to come by for someone starting out.

That warehouse job may be their best bet even though they have a masters degree in geology and really want to be a mineral scientist (or whatever) but can’t get their foot in the door. You start to see where the entitlement comes from. It’s frustration.

Well said. And to your point...It does seem likely that those below the baby boomer group will for the first time in history, as a whole, not do as well as their boomer parents in terms of wealth accumulation and income.

Hopefully this won't prove out to be true but something will have to change for it not to.

 

[sinclair1]

You are preaching to the choir. I drive junker cars and live in a $90K house but things were not always so easy.

I am probably not in the same age group as the folks you are mostly referring to since I am now 41 but when I was 25 it was 2009. I could not get a minimum wage job with two college degrees and military.

Older folks of that time called us entitled just because we wanted to work and thought we should have a full time job….any full time job. Both my parents had full time jobs wage day they got out of HS. Was it such a crime for us to want the same thing?

Now I am working 3 jobs to make up for my lack of earnings earlier on.

We are the first generation since the Great Depression who will have a lower standard of living than the generation before us. This is not because of work ethic. It is because of changing economic conditions which are even less favorable to people just starting out.

Lack of full time work at entry level. If you haven’t looked for an entry level job lately, they now require 3-5 yrs experience. So burger flipping or some other form of underemployment until you establish the right conditions to gain a full time spot somewhere in a career field that is worth a rip. Some folks never are able to and it is usually not because of lack of aptitude but rather no or very few good connections. We live in an increasingly more transient society so connections are hard to come by for someone starting out.

That warehouse job may be their best bet even though they have a masters degree in geology and really want to be a mineral scientist (or whatever) but can’t get their foot in the door. You start to see where the entitlement comes from. It’s frustration.

I am genX at 55. You are at the end of genX aren’t you?
I work for 40 year olds and our CEO is 40.
I was a loser starting out and warehouse work saved me. A boomer saw something in me and made me a supervisor at 19. Been going 35 years in Operations Management.

 

[fishfryer]

I am genX at 55. You are at the end of genX aren’t you?
I work for 40 year olds and our CEO is 40.
I was a loser starting out and warehouse work saved me. A boomer saw something in me and made me a supervisor at 19. Been going 35 years in Operations Management.

Yay boomers

 

[sinclair1]

Yay boomers

They catch a tough break but when they talk, I listen.

 

[Baroque Brass]

Then there’s the really expensive car that’s parked at a run down (probably rented) single wide trailer. That’s always been puzzling to me.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I am genX at 55. You are at the end of genX aren’t you?
I work for 40 year olds and our CEO is 40.
I was a loser starting out and warehouse work saved me. A boomer saw something in me and made me a supervisor at 19. Been going 35 years in Operations Management.

End of Gen X or very early millennial. 1982 bday.

Also, I wasn’t taking a dig at warehouse work. I worked in one for a few years in the early days. Everyone I worked with was looking for something else though. It was just a stop off point for getting to where they wanted to go. It works out great for some though.

Now I often wonder just what exactly anyone “wants” to do. Someone says they are looking for a job and the first question is always “What do you want to do”. Wrong question. The right question is, “What misery to pay ratio are you looking for?”

Following your dreams is for the independently wealthy and/or privileged few. All the rest of us have to make do with the best that we can get.

 

[jdgator]

So feeling entitled to go to $3500 Taylor Swift concerts and drive a 50k+ vehicles making that $20 an hour has something to do with bootstraps or my perspective?

Boot straps would be eating frozen burritos and South Paw beer.

Why U gotta be such a player hatter?

Edit: Any leave my Taylor out of this!

 

[leroy]

There are hiring signs everywhere in our area many 20+/hour start, mostly manufacturing, guy we go to church with said this week they were offering that plus 401k, and insurance. Our first house was 1000 square feet on 2 acres, paid 30K for it in 90 we worked on it along and made a pretty good looking place out of it sold it for 60K after 10 yrs.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

my son took a 8 week apprentice welding course at the local tech school. It was a special class just to teach technique. He finished the course in 7 weeks, and was offered a starting job at a local mfg company at 32.00, matching 401k, insurance, and 40 hours a week minimum. Not to bad for a 19 year old kid with no bills to pay, but his money does get spend on a certain girl

Ain't no reason to be working at a 14 dollar job if you are willing to learn and work