Harley in big financial trouble

[SimonTemplar]

We all sound like a bunch of old farts complaining about millenials. They all seem like great kids to me, with financial burdens we never had when we were young. Between high rents, low pay, paying off student loans, and the added cost of the digital age. Mostly the reason they are all so broke. Seems to me the previous generation is the one with entitlement issues.

Whoa there! I didn't even have time to duck to miss that one. My head is still spinning from it. Can't decide whether to laugh, or pity someone.

Great kids with no entitlement issues? New and improved financial burdens?

Can't EVEN begin to decide what 'the added cost of the digital age' might be. No, I mean...I really can't! Unless you are suggesting that we now need to molly coddle and pity them because they just HAVE to have a new iPhone every year?

No doubt, along with that new iPhone they'll also need an upgraded iPad and MacBook to go with it. I mean if they actually used pen and theme pads to take class notes, surely they'd get laughed out of class, now wouldn't they? THEN they'd waste an entire afternoon wadded up in a fetal position at the 'Safe Space' across campus! And THAT would mean they'd be late for pulling down all the statues on Front Campus.

But you're right, they do have financial burdens different than what me and mine had to endure. My brother and I both had huge student loans to pay off....he moreso than I. Of course, neither of us spent four years on 'Gender Studies', 'Eighth Century Slovak Literature', or 'Religious Interpretive Dance' degrees. When I finished my second Engineering degree and my brother finished 13 years leading up to a Doctorate from MIT....we were eventually ABLE to find employment. And that DOES make paying off that 'financial burden' much easier than hipsters have it. The Public Dole along with food stamps does indeed make it difficult to pay off those degrees, you're right.

And I agree that they have MUCH higher rents than I had at that age. Mostly because I spent a couple years living on a cot in the back of an aircraft hangar at an airport where I was working in the far north. And that was because I couldn't afford high rents either. Yet....I found a way. And it also ultimately helped in furthering my career field too (must be something to do with all those entitlement issues I had/have.)

Contrary to the stated implication.....these kids have not invented low pay. And they are no more put-upon than any other generation was. Except perhaps for the ones that had to go the pacific rim, western Europe, or Southeast Asia and get shot or dismembered. They might have had it a little rougher.

EVERY kid gets low pay at that age.....its the way the world works (unless, of course, you happen to have been born on a trust fund that Daddy and his lawyer threw together one afternoon between the 7th green and the 8th tee.) I was damned near 30 before my Line 32 broke the 5-digit barrier.

And we did ALL of this without ever once showing up for class with a $6-10 cup of coffee in our hands. We didn't demand a free life or even 'free upgrades' from Comrade Bernie. We didn't turn our noses up at 25-cent boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese because the pasta wasn't good enough for artisan-only palates.

No...the reason they are so broke is the same reason WE were so broke. Except they mostly still have not grasped that the only way to change their lot is to get a job. And that 'Participation Trophies' ended with public middle schools.


But, hey....I'm just an old fart.




.....sT

[jmdaniel]

Whoa there! I didn't even have time to duck to miss that one. My head is still spinning from it. Can't decide whether to laugh, or pity someone.

Great kids with no entitlement issues? New and improved financial burdens?

Can't EVEN begin to decide what 'the added cost of the digital age' might be. No, I mean...I really can't! Unless you are suggesting that we now need to molly coddle and pity them because they just HAVE to have a new iPhone every year?

No doubt, along with that new iPhone they'll also need an upgraded iPad and MacBook to go with it. I mean if they actually used pen and theme pads to take class notes, surely they'd get laughed out of class, now wouldn't they? THEN they'd waste an entire afternoon wadded up in a fetal position at the 'Safe Space' across campus! And THAT would mean they'd be late for pulling down all the statues on Front Campus.

But you're right, they do have financial burdens different than what me and mine had to endure. My brother and I both had huge student loans to pay off....he moreso than I. Of course, neither of us spent four years on 'Gender Studies', 'Eighth Century Slovak Literature', or 'Religious Interpretive Dance' degrees. When I finished my second Engineering degree and my brother finished 13 years leading up to a Doctorate from MIT....we were eventually ABLE to find employment. And that DOES make paying off that 'financial burden' much easier than hipsters have it. The Public Dole along with food stamps does indeed make it difficult to pay off those degrees, you're right.

And I agree that they have MUCH higher rents than I had at that age. Mostly because I spent a couple years living on a cot in the back of an aircraft hangar at an airport where I was working in the far north. And that was because I couldn't afford high rents either. Yet....I found a way. And it also ultimately helped in furthering my career field too (must be something to do with all those entitlement issues I had/have.)

Contrary to the stated implication.....these kids have not invented low pay. And they are no more put-upon than any other generation was. Except perhaps for the ones that had to go the pacific rim, western Europe, or Southeast Asia and get shot or dismembered. They might have had it a little rougher.

EVERY kid gets low pay at that age.....its the way the world works (unless, of course, you happen to have been born on a trust fund that Daddy and his lawyer threw together one afternoon between the 7th green and the 8th tee.) I was damned near 30 before my Line 32 broke the 5-digit barrier.

And we did ALL of this without ever once showing up for class with a $6-10 cup of coffee in our hands. We didn't demand a free life or even 'free upgrades' from Comrade Bernie. We didn't turn our noses up at 25-cent boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese because the pasta wasn't good enough for artisan-only palates.

No...the reason they are so broke is the same reason WE were so broke. Except they mostly still have not grasped that the only way to change their lot is to get a job. And that 'Participation Trophies' ended with public middle schools.


But, hey....I'm just an old fart.




.....sT

Pretty much the same here, except the Kraft Mac and Cheese was 3/$1, so the price must have gone up. My story:

- Kicked out of the house 3 days after high school graduation, by my (single) mom, and I deserved every bit of it. Been paying for the roof over my head for almost 40 years now.
- After working at a tool company, framing houses, and installing cable TV, (the I want my MTV era), decided I should get a college degree. The brains were always there, the maturity took awhile to catch up.
- Obviously with no parental support, I needed to find a way to pay for college, so I reached out to an uncle; Sam was his name, and he offered a financial hand, as long as I toted an M16 first. Best decision I have ever made, and #2 isn't even close...
- Obtained 4 year degree in 4 years, (shocker!), supplementing Army educational benefits with part time work, full time in the summers. Kinda funny how paying 100% of the education costs and living expenses will make every class count. Graduated as one of the Top 25 Academics in the university that year; I was the only student who didn't have a parent attend the honorary dinner. I invited a friend, and thanked him afterwards for attending. His response? "I didn't come to support you, it's free prime rib!"...
- Started the corporate grind, and saving for retirement. Funny, how what gets preached about compound interest and paying yourself first, by setting aside for later, really works!
- After being told, "you're just an engineer" far too many times, decided to get an MBA. I knew of the concept of opportunity cost before it was covered in school, so knew that taking 2 years off work to get my degree would have an extremely long ROI. Fortunately, there was a program at my school that allowed me to take the same classes, stretched out over 3 years instead of 2, while I continued to work full time. All classes were graded on a curve, and I remember telling full time students that they should hang their heads in shame if I did better than them, after spotting them 40 hours a week. And that did happen. Toughest three years of my life.
- I did take out student loans while in grad school. After all, if I could borrow money at 0% and invest it, why not? Put the money in the market, paid it back in full when my first payment was due.
- Didn't get married until I was 45, after seeing a lot of my friends crash and burn in divorce court. There was a prenup before I got hitched, and the day I signed it is the last time I looked at it. Knock on wood that continues.

I've read this thread with a bit of amusement, as it has evolved into a bash the kids discussion. Times have definitely changed, but they always do. I personally think that kids are a lot softer these days, but I have a lot of friends that never left my hometown or made much of themselves, so generalizing kinda sucks. Harleys aren't selling, but neither are brand new, 3 year old F6Bs, at 50% off MSRP, as can be seen on CycleTrader. And none of that affects any of us, in our enjoyment of motorcycles.