Re: It seem that the majority of people posting here now are just high school kids.
Posted by:
gen x person
()
Date: April 16, 2017 10:33AM
Your last 2 sentences explain the entire problem at hand now.
If a kid asks for a new iphone, they are given the iphone instead of being made to work for it, and now the kid expects/demands nothing but the best from then on out.
Growing up for me (gen x, born in the late 70's)-
I wanted clothes, sears it was. Shoes were reebok classics or simple nikes (whatever was on sale for $50 at foot locker that day, at least my parents knew name-brand shoes were worth it and not payless for growing feet).
If i wanted the guess jeans or the reebok pumps or the champion short set or the raiders starter jacket- I had to work for it. So at 15 years 6 months (the law in VA at the time, in the 90's) my parents signed my work permit.
I worked at the mcdonald's on route 50 at annandale road (where bill page honda is, the one with no drive-thru) part time after school. I quickly learned my $256 bi-weekly paycheck was quickly eaten up by car insurance ($125/month) gas ($60 a month or so in the lil hatchback my parents bought me when i turned 16 but i paid my own insurance and gas) and I couldn't afford the sony discman with the mega bass and the DJ headphones- but the craig brand from Best (remember them!) and the koss headphones had to do- but I was still rocking in the car back when the CD players first came out with the cassete adapter that plugs in the headphone jack because I couldn't afford the $300 Alpine CD deck with the MTX speakers anyway. I did get them eventually by saving.
Thanks parents for the work ethic. I got a taste of the good life by them (once in awhile they would suprise me with a REAL polo shirt from macy's, etc) but i had to work for the luxury myself since I had expensive taste.
Now I make 6 figures and am doing very well. I can buy it because I learned to work for it.
Kids today expect it to be handed to them- and when they learn mommy doens't have $2000 to get them that gaming PC today- instead of saying OK and going out and cutting lawns/getting a fast food job and trying to get it themselves they pop xanax and oxys and cry and blame their parents for everything.
I was already used to being lower middle class- had the worst house in the best neighborhood- but we made it work.
I think that is part of the reason there is a drug crisis today- kids never had to learn about hard times, sacrifice, and hard work and saving up for what they want- mommy or daddy loses a job and now instead of nike they get payless- and they shut down and cry-
Just a thought- poor people who grew up that way are already used to being poor, so have the mental toughness to deal with it and work harder to overcome. Those who grew up rich having everything handed to them then they hit a rough patch and can no longer afford the good life tend to give up at the first sign of hardship.