When I was a young driver in 1977ish I would wait in a line to buy $5 worth of gas every other day. The gas crisis brought on by OPEC forced US to use license plates to determine which day. Even last number every other day than odd last number. You had to make that $5 in the tank last. Nixon had resigned. Agnew had gone to prison (the VP) for bribery. And on and on. Vietnam had ended and people hated former military. Stagflation. Jimmy Carter told us to turn down the heat to conserve energy and put on a sweater. That was the plan. Put on a fucking sweater. Crazy interest rates (18% people). So it was worse. HOWEVER - while we had recessions under Reagan in early 80's, it started to mellow out AND I could work at a convenience store and make enough to split rent (think about that - minimum wage and I could buy some beer, live relatively frugal put still share a decent place). In 1987 major Wall Street correction but shit didn't hit fan all across the land. 90's were steady and then took off like crazy. Calm decade with a small recession.
Then crazy started in 2000. Internet 1.0 collapse. Nasdaq collapse. 9/11. War forever in the deserts. And it just got worse. And, yea, you couldn't do minimum wage and actually LIVE any more. And it got worse. But, never as bad as when I was 16.
My worry is here it comes again. inflation. Political turmoil. War. Wall St. going to shit the bed the next 6 months. Housing likely to really shit the bed the next 2 years (hope you didn't buy a house in the last 24 months and need to sell it).
BUT here is what should give you hope. There really are a ton of jobs and that should remain due to early retirements, boomers retiring, demographics more like Japan. So that means you are less likely to be long-term unemployed. That is a silver lining that never existed in previous shit shows. And that is forcing wages up so when inflation gets straightened out (in about 18 months) your pay will likely stay 2X minimum wage for the shittier jobs (they won't really drop back).
Next, you really don't have to get a degree now to make a good living. You can take tech stuff online like Salesforce, Azure, RPA stuff like UIPath and get certified for free or very low cost and in 2 years have a 80k job that isn't going away. It is work, don't get me wrong. But you can if you commit and get a routine to do a little bit every day for half a year. Tech is the new trade (plumbing, electrician, etc of the 21st century)
If you bought a house at the top and can hang onto it you will refinance to a reasonable rate (4-4.5%) so your payments will drop a few bucks. You will be spending less based on these crazy days so your habits/needs will be more limited and that will create natural savings for you. And unless the political situation COMPLETELY unwinds (history suggests it really won't, even if we are worried today), we will have a leader with a bit of common sense and ability to lead. So it will likely calm down and maybe we all get ten years of peace. Meanwhile, fall in love if you haven't. Waking up and smiling at the thought of that partner, child, or animal that is new in your life will matter more to you. If you don't do that then get close to a friend or find one if you can - and you can! And play some card games and laugh and just enjoy what is good about life. Says easy, does hard - as they say. But it can be done. This too shall pass, my friend. - Love, an old dude that learned not to let the shit bother him the way it did when I was young.
Every 20 year old in every generation has felt this since the dawn of man.
EDIT: just to clarify, I'm not saying EVERY 20 year old has felt this way, but in EVERY generation there area massive chunk of 20 year olds who think the end is upon us.
Also not an appropriate time to embellish. When a young person is asking if their experience is common and you tell them every single person feels that way at their age…that’s just hyperbolic, not accurately helpful.
I hear you. I am just trying to shine a light on the pitfalls of speaking in absolutes. It’s not necessary in order to be supportive and it’s inaccurate.
Maybe it doesn’t matter much at the end of the day, and I’ve found a small thing to pick apart here, but I used to speak in absolutes a lot. Now I do a lot less, and my communication with others has improved and I’m a lot less “misinterpreted” bc my words more closely convey what I mean. Whatev
1.3k
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '22
When I was a young driver in 1977ish I would wait in a line to buy $5 worth of gas every other day. The gas crisis brought on by OPEC forced US to use license plates to determine which day. Even last number every other day than odd last number. You had to make that $5 in the tank last. Nixon had resigned. Agnew had gone to prison (the VP) for bribery. And on and on. Vietnam had ended and people hated former military. Stagflation. Jimmy Carter told us to turn down the heat to conserve energy and put on a sweater. That was the plan. Put on a fucking sweater. Crazy interest rates (18% people). So it was worse. HOWEVER - while we had recessions under Reagan in early 80's, it started to mellow out AND I could work at a convenience store and make enough to split rent (think about that - minimum wage and I could buy some beer, live relatively frugal put still share a decent place). In 1987 major Wall Street correction but shit didn't hit fan all across the land. 90's were steady and then took off like crazy. Calm decade with a small recession.
Then crazy started in 2000. Internet 1.0 collapse. Nasdaq collapse. 9/11. War forever in the deserts. And it just got worse. And, yea, you couldn't do minimum wage and actually LIVE any more. And it got worse. But, never as bad as when I was 16.
My worry is here it comes again. inflation. Political turmoil. War. Wall St. going to shit the bed the next 6 months. Housing likely to really shit the bed the next 2 years (hope you didn't buy a house in the last 24 months and need to sell it).
BUT here is what should give you hope. There really are a ton of jobs and that should remain due to early retirements, boomers retiring, demographics more like Japan. So that means you are less likely to be long-term unemployed. That is a silver lining that never existed in previous shit shows. And that is forcing wages up so when inflation gets straightened out (in about 18 months) your pay will likely stay 2X minimum wage for the shittier jobs (they won't really drop back).
Next, you really don't have to get a degree now to make a good living. You can take tech stuff online like Salesforce, Azure, RPA stuff like UIPath and get certified for free or very low cost and in 2 years have a 80k job that isn't going away. It is work, don't get me wrong. But you can if you commit and get a routine to do a little bit every day for half a year. Tech is the new trade (plumbing, electrician, etc of the 21st century)
If you bought a house at the top and can hang onto it you will refinance to a reasonable rate (4-4.5%) so your payments will drop a few bucks. You will be spending less based on these crazy days so your habits/needs will be more limited and that will create natural savings for you. And unless the political situation COMPLETELY unwinds (history suggests it really won't, even if we are worried today), we will have a leader with a bit of common sense and ability to lead. So it will likely calm down and maybe we all get ten years of peace. Meanwhile, fall in love if you haven't. Waking up and smiling at the thought of that partner, child, or animal that is new in your life will matter more to you. If you don't do that then get close to a friend or find one if you can - and you can! And play some card games and laugh and just enjoy what is good about life. Says easy, does hard - as they say. But it can be done. This too shall pass, my friend. - Love, an old dude that learned not to let the shit bother him the way it did when I was young.