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 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?

It is wild to me that this is acceptable and I see it everywhere. Meanwhile we had to walk around facing the world with our acne in full force. 🫠

I think it used to be bigger back in school. Asked my zillennial friend, and he doesn’t have one at all.

ETA: The bump is from many years of writing, and the way I hold my pen/pencil. By high school, essays were typed, but most other things were still handwritten. Meanwhile, my zillennial friend had tablets and Chromebooks in school. These days, I rarely write by hand, but I still have the bump.

Also, I’m delighted that this post has helped so many people discover something new about themselves.

With the summer fast approaching here in a few weeks. I can’t help but notice it feels a lot like 2008. Not the culture, music, or anything like that. Talking the general vibe going on with people and places.

Family and friends are bailing on their normal summer trips. Grocery stores, restaurants, theaters, etc all seem emptier than normal. But all the staff are there, the shelves are fully stocked, and everyone is just assuming it’ll pick back up any day now.

Memorial Day was an eye opener. I live near a rural highway that can get fairly congested on major holidays. Stop and go traffic for many miles, and it was quiet. Local campgrounds were half empty when usually you need to book 6+ months out. It felt more like a normal summer weekend, and not a holiday.

I was born in 1981 so I witnessed the recession first hand as a working adult. This isn’t meant to be political or anything, and I am sure someone much smarter than me can prove everything is fine.

Just going off my gut. Feels like the quiet before the storm, similar to the summer I experienced back in 2008 before everything started collapsing for real.

Anyone else feel the same?

I watched this movie so many times we had to replace the vhs. It messed up on the part where the crows take the ring leader of the circus and it used to terrify me extra (since that scene is already disturbing).

It is so true back when many of us were young we could just get together and cut loose without having to worry about going viral. At best we would have an embarrassing photo buried in a drawer somewhere or a story. Now you might be turned into a meme or worse. I miss the days when you could do dumb stuff with friends and feel safe if that makes sense.

The new movie that just came out convinced the younger generation that he was always a superstar. This was not the reality many of us Millennials grew up with.

To a lot of us, he was treated like a punch line when we were growing up. A schoolyard boogeyman ("Michaels Jackson's gonna get you at night"). and just a general joke in the media. By the 2000's his music was out of date and didn't chart well. All anyone talked about was his surgeries, court case, settlements and his off behavior. Few mentioned his music. His music was something our parents would have listened to in the 1980's.

My 20 year old kid came to the house for dinner this weekend, walked in, and said "You need to unplug your Echo device. I don't want amazon to listen to my conversation".

So, I did... and then I was confidently incorrect in telling her that it waits for a wake word, and she has nothing to worry about.

Boy was I wrong.

She had me open my app, and look at saved conversations... and there were HUNDREDS of entries. And that was only over the last 2 weeks.

I had NO IDEA that Amazon was collecting everything I say... and the worst part is my 20 year old looked at me like I looked at my grandparents back when they would post text messages or Google queries as Facebook statuses. My kid then showed me the article from Cnet or wherever from about 6 months ago that showed that Amazon was fully transparent that all data is now sent and analyzed whether or not the wake word is used.

I'm proud to say there are no longer any Echoes in my house. Im a little bummed because all of my verbal "turn on the lights" and "lock the door" cues are all out the window, but Im really ashamed of the fact that at 41 years old I just didn't even think to look into it. Just had blind faith in a company that views me as a number. I'm pretty embarrassed.

Every millennial dad I’m friends with or work with seems to have constant financial worries. We just got our yearly bonus which was like 8%. I was talking to my buddy (he’s got 3 kids) about what he wanted to do with it and he just kinda looked down and whispered “it’s just not enough man” and ended the conversation.

Another dad I know is CONSTANTLY looking up the newest crypto/ get rich quick schemes people are doing. He’s always talking about inventing something and it’s usually a joking manner but the way he’s always bringing up financial stuff shows me it’s always on his mind

One of my buddies is a new father and he’s trying to get some anime podcast off the ground as a side hustle on top of his full time maintenance job.

I know children are an immense financial responsibility but there seems to be this dark, simmering resentment about the whole general situation when I talk to these guys. Men are expected to keep quiet about these struggles but when you talk to these guys it’s clear that finances are a massive stress for millennial dads of almost any background.

Makes me feel bad but damn I’m glad I don’t have kids right now.

It hit me all at once. I heard this is a thing for people in their thirties?

In response to another popular post about receiving no inheritance.

Are your parents like mine, who not only are not leaving any money behind - but require significant or total financial support?

My parents left me less than nothing. They're good people, and they were good parents.... but man are they shit at financial planning.