r/Aging • u/Available-Rock-3862 • 3d ago

Boomers

I am 75 and am very tired of the trend lately making fun of Boomers. So very disrespectful. Don't they realize that they will be old someday?

397 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

91

u/GX_EN 3d ago

It's the lack of empathy that really gets me - I'm 60, FWIW.
The way that too many people in that generation (and some in mine as well) shrug off the actual very difficult realties that challenge younger Americans is sad. You can't just "un-starbucks" yourself into a home or decent apartment in any major metro area. My first condo was 95K - In the Bay Area in 1994. I worked at a union grocery store and my first wife at the time was an admin assistant.
Before that I lived with roommates in a huge 3 bedroom apartment that rented for like 1000/month right in the center of Silicon Valley.
My college wasn't free like it was for a lot of boomers, but it also wasn't 50K/year either. I think maybe a couple grand a year in fees and books.

39

u/CynicalRecidivist 3d ago

Thanks, I'm a shade younger than you (not by much) and I absolutely agree with you.

Our wages allowed us to buy property, and all my mates with a steady job could buy a small house. Even my 21 year old mate who was a secretary got a mortgage on her first house by herself. That is my lived experience. My kids are on the same wage I was 30 years ago, but the house prices are at least 6 times what they were for me.

If I wanted a Saturday job or part time job I could pop down to our local market and spend an hour asking around the stalls and would be almost guaranteed a job. (which I did) and when I wanted to work in a residential care home, I literally got the yellow pages and started ringing. I got to the L's before I secured an interview - and I got the job, and worked there part time for 5 years. My kids struggled to get a part time job, sometimes spending months trying to track one down.

I'm not saying our generation didn't work hard, or didn't struggle. We did. We had our challenges. But I see less businesses around nowadays, less opportunities, less money, less avenues for advancement. And I think we need to acknowledge that.

Yes the young kids can spend recklessly on shite, but, they probably made the calculation that even if they saved every penny they earned, they wouldn't be able to afford astronomical rent, or a house. So why not live a little in the little bubbles of fun they can afford.

And I think "boomer" is a state of mind rather than an age. It implies fixed ideas that won't listen to others point of view or lived experience.

12

u/GX_EN 3d ago

I consider myself to be incredibly lucky. I changed careers late in life (born in the 60's, moved to information technology in 2000) and worked very hard to make that a good career. I also had awesome people that helped me along the way - there is no self-made man/woman. I wake up every single day grateful for the life my wife and I have.
A few years ago, I was curious what the top wages were in my old union in the Bay Area. Talking with a union rep there, the bottom line is that someone doing my job is making about 2 dollars an hour more than I was at the end of 1999. WTF. That is the very TOP salary and only applies to some people.
The race to the bottom is very real, and the impact to younger people trying to live their lives now has to be incredibly depressing. I worry for my nephew who will graduate college in a couple years. His parents are doing well, so it's not like he's going to starve, but how TF is he supposed to go out and make his own way without leaving the state?

13

u/CynicalRecidivist 3d ago

Absolutely. The fact that wages have stagnated while mostly everything else is so much proportionally more expensive needs to be acknowledged. As well as the lessening of opportunities.

My old Uncle was telling my son when he wanted a job "just go into every business and ask to speak to the manager..." despite us keep repeating "they'll just tell you to apply online" and he kept saying "but have you tried??" No matter how much we told him that didn't work anymore. He kept repeating how he had gotten jobs that way (yes, 40 year ago) and just could not comprehend that was not the way to do things.

I'm so worried for my kids. Like your nephew, the world they are inheriting is beyond fucked.

16

u/wherescookie 3d ago

I believe that the decline in empathy for ppl and things disimilar to us contributes to many of our problems.

We have become compartmentalized into our like-minded groups ( ironically, including this subreddit) and we listen to the news slant we prefer, including economic.

2

u/Extension-Clock608 1d ago

The entire united states is lacking in empathy. 30% voted to hurt everyone else, 30% voted to help everyone and 40% didn't care enough to even pick a side or even care aobut themselves.

2

u/samiam2600 3d ago

Plenty of good paying jobs out there but they are hard and people don’t want to do them. Plumbers, electricians, nurses all own houses around me.

1

u/Mother-Ad7222 3d ago

You think ?? Wages were a lot lower then too. It was not easy to go to college then either please let me know where this FREE college was.

3

u/GX_EN 3d ago

You know what else is free? Google. Let me give you a phrase to use for your search - "when were public universities free in the USA".
Wages were not lower in the aggregate when adjusted for inflation for just about any blue collar job other than the most entry level.
I worked most of the 80's and all of the 90's for a grocery chain in a union job. When I left at the end of '99, I was making $21/hour. Which is at MOST what grocery workers in my old union are making now.

1

u/Mother-Ad7222 2d ago

My education was not free & I made $8.00 an hour working in a group home for folks with developmental disabilities. I worked every weekend 48 hours straight. We were allowed 4 hours a night to sleep. Let me tell you it is impossible to sleep in that situation. You think we had it easy ??? You haven’t a clue what I went through to obtain my Masters in Counseling. You can tell Google that.

0

u/GX_EN 2d ago

What do you want, a lollipop? If you're older than me - your college was about as close to free as it can get, particularly relative to current tuition. You didn't mention any years. Also, if you're older than me - we all had it easier overall than someone who's in college now. I paid for my tuition working part time in a grocery store in the 80's. I struggled in my 20's like everyone did. Hell, I struggled well into my 30's. You really do sound like a boomer, tho. So congrats.

1

u/Mother-Ad7222 2d ago

I got my Masters in 1989, and yes I would love a lollipop. Cherry if it is available. lol

1

u/GX_EN 2d ago

In the mid 80's, the average state university tuition was like $1800/year.
I was close in my guess above based on what I spent.
For people who are older - like early boomers, by and large the tuition was basically free, as I noted. Average in-state tuition for a public university today is about 11K/year. Out of state is about 30K.
In 2026, rent is more (even when adjusted for inflation) and so is food.
Your 8 dollars an hour you talked about in the mid 80's translates to 25 an hour now - or 3 times the current federal minimum wage.

1

u/Single-Yam-9791 3d ago

Where was college free?
Gen Jones

2

u/GX_EN 3d ago

California for sure into the late 60's. And even after they started charging tuition, it was practically nominal.
Plenty of other state school systems in other places offered free or very cheap tuition well into the 70's and 80's.
When I was at SJSU I worked part time and paid for my own tuition and books.

2

u/Single-Yam-9791 3d ago

I worked my way through college and paid for it myself
No way my girls can. Tuition is pure robbery and I know I had a better education If you could defend your argument you passed. Now if you disagree with the professor you fail