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submitted 9 months ago by balderdash9@lemmy.zip to c/memes@lemmy.world

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[-] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 223 points 9 months ago

In their defence, it is a difficult concept to grasp. My dad started his career shovelling gravel for a few dollars an hour. Now he's a vice president making very good money. In his mind, anyone can replicate what he did by working hard instead of being lazy and asking for handouts.

I eventually got through to him one day when he was talking about hiring for a senior management position. He was interviewing all these people with fancy degrees and credentials. I asked why not promote one of his hard workers? He laughed and said the person needs to be more than a hard worker to manage multi-million dollar projects. But where would he be now if his old boss had thought the same thing? My dad has none of the credentials of the people he was interviewing. He'd still be shovelling gravel 60 hours a week for minimum wage if nobody gave him the opportunity to advance. How could he think hard work will be rewarded when he doesn't even reward it himself? That's when he admitted the world works differently now.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.ca 100 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I read one story the young adult finally convinced his dad when he showed him a job posting for his old job. It payed less than when he had it, not even accounting for inflation.

[-] Hitsujikai@mtgzone.com 53 points 9 months ago

I remember that story and can relate. It took showing my parents the cost of my tuition at a university now and comparing it to when they were 18, then doing the same for the yearly wage of a fast food worker, before they realized that cost inflation has out-paced wage inflation by a crazy amount and no, people can't just sustain themselves through college to get a leg up in society.

[-] Furbag@lemmy.world 36 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I was searching for apartments a few years ago when I still lived with my parents. My Dad was frustrated with my search taking so long (basically accusing me of dragging my feet) asked me why I kept saying I couldn't afford to live in any of the places near where we lived / my workplace (I live in one of the highest cost of living states in America). I made a bet with him that if he could find me an apartment that was within my budget of $2,200/month within a week, I would sign the lease and move out as soon as they would let me move in. If he couldn't, he had to admit that finding an apartment in this area in this economy was not as easy as it was when he was my age (I was originally going to ask him to pay me $500 if he lost the wager, but he backed down from that so I took away any monetary incentive and just went for the moral victory instead).

Of course, three days after we made the bet, he came back to me and said "What happened to all the apartments that used to cost $800/month? These leases are more than what we pay for our mortgage!". Somehow, he was still living in a reality so far removed from our own that he had no idea just how bad things had gotten.

[-] HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world 20 points 9 months ago

There was something a while ago where people were worried in the 70s-90s (can't remember the decade) where house prices had increased to 1.8x to 2.7x the Average annual income and were unaffordable.

So... yeah....

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

I’d love to see a source on this because it’s believable and insane

[-] SolarMech@slrpnk.net 1 points 9 months ago

Outside the US college is sometimes stilll a good path. I've seen people blow it (useless degrees with no plan to get a job with it, etc.). but if you pick the right field it helps a lot.