@Embracethemess – I also don’t like millennial bashing. (I think it’s a remarkable generation of young people; the generation we should be bashing is ours, the boomers, but that’s another story.) I took this thread as one showing how life styles have changed in the past 30 years. Between the economy and technology, boy are millennials living in a different world!
@BunsenBurner - actually many dining tables now come with chairs on one side and a bench on the other. https://www.potterybarn.com/products/stafford-reclaimed-pine-extending-dining-table/?cm_src=AutoRel That’s what ds#1 has and Ds#2 has barstools at a counter- no table at all.
@katliamom I do understand the spirit of the article and the thread, and it is both interesting and worthy to think in the moment about how our world is changing so quickly. I just had a visceral reaction to the word “killing” used in conjunction with millennials, because I work with a gentleman who often laments how millennials are changing the world for the worse. It gets tiresome. But that headline as written gets way more clicks than if it spoke to how our collective lifestyles are changing, and either of those 2 words were left out. It got me!
The most shocking thing to me about this thread is the comments about giving up paper napkins in favor of paper towels (I get the draw of cloth towels). Paper napkins are so much better to wipe your mouth on after eating. Paper towels are large and stiff and more expensive. I just don’t get it!
Also agree with the comments about people mixing up Millennials with current teenagers. The Suburban mom Millennials that I am related to absolutely love their designer handbags, their $4 Starbucks everyday (which they periodically post pictures of on social media), and Hunter boots, ugg boots etc, for their 3 year olds. What they love most of all is posing for pictures in these fashionable outfits in unrealistic settings that never actually happened in real life. So yes I am referring to millennial upper-middle-class people, but similarly a few Millennial moms I know that are not as wealthy also enjoy partaking in conspicuous consumption online.
Sometimes I feel sad that the chain restaurants are closing but at the same time I don’t they put a lot of local businesses under 20 years ago so I guess now they’re getting their Payback. We really eat there anymore with a few small exceptions.
I think people will come back to Cable as the cost of all of these streaming services will soon add up to the cost of cable. But cable is much more stable. Cable companies also offer their services streaming for tablets and phones so it’s only a matter of time before they make a comeback. It always comes down to class but in all things equal the stability of service will win out as costs equalize.
Between the box rental fees, dvr, broadcast fees, etc cable was costing me well over 100 a month when I literally watch 2 channels. Both of which I could get online if needed.
I’ll get of tv completely before I go back to cable unless they start offering channels a la carte.
Besides, right now the streaming services are putting out better stuff than most traditional networks imo.
I can speak to the use of paper towels versus paper napkins @suzyQ7. Paper towels are thicker, so if something greasy falls to the lap, they absorb that grease as opposed to seeping through flimsy paper napkins and staining, sometimes permanently, clothing. I used to use cloth napkins, but my workhorse napkins that washed and dried with no ironing wore out. Now all I can find are cloth napkins that either need to be ironed, or look very wrinkled. No thanks.
Neither DH nor I wear watches. Both of our Ds do wear them.
I actually have a really nice watch, but the battery is dead and it was pretty pricey to replace last time I did it.
@suzyQ7 Cable is never making a comeback. I get Netflix for free through my cell phone plan; Hulu is less than $6 per month; Amazon prime is super cheap considering my shopping habits; you can subscribe to HBO, etc on an as needed basis without cable. And ESPN is working on a cable-less option (that will really kill off cable). This is a small fraction of what we used to pay for cable. I don’t know anyone who got rid of cable who misses it.
For my DD and her friends who are in a very upper middle class/wealthy demographic and the “kill or keep” status
Dining chains: kill
Starter Homes kill
Paper napkins (in favor of paper towels) kill
Cereal kill
Golf kill
Motorcycles kill
Light yogurt kill
Bars of soap kill
Diamonds keep
Fabric Softener keep
Banks kill
Department Stores kill
Designer Handbags keep
Big Box Gyms kill
Big Box Home Improvement Stores kill
All of her friends have Apple watches. None use cash. They do have TV’s which are used for group viewing of sports, The Bachelor and major events
I can’t think of anyone of any age, other than my 80- something grandma, who actually watches shows live. It’s all on demand or recorded.
I have Hulu live or whatever it’s called because I like to watch the news live and it has all the sports channels we watch. If it gets too expensive, I won’t miss live msnbc that much. I can wait an hour to watch Rachel.
@romanigypsyeyes All my 21 and 22 year old daughters and their friends watch The Bachelor and major sporting events live.
Sorry I didn’t make that super clear. We watch sports live but there are plenty of ways to watch that don’t involve cable or a full streaming service.
I don’t know of anyone who watches the bachelor in my circles but I obviously know everything they do :). I do know most don’t have cable so if they’re watching it live, it’s not through traditionl cable.
So more thoughts from me on this… All of us read newspapers every day, we all read the NYTIMES. We get the actual newspaper delivered 7 days a week but might cut back to just the Weekender. We all have apps for our phones as well and can read it online. I also read other news sources online as well, the Washington Post, BBC, Politico. One d and I have magazine subscriptions to New York Magazine and the other just declined renewal for the New Yorker as not enough time in her busy life to read. We all enjoy a good fashion magazine when we have a chance to read them.
I am wearing pearl earrings as we speak in honor of Barbara Bush but I wear frequently anyway. We still have landline in our house but not my daughters. I use fabric softener when washing towels. not sure about my girls. We are all know to sometimes iron when needed but truthfully is ironing anyone’s favorite activity?
I haven’t had a drop of soda in years but I do enjoy having cereal, non-sugared of course, like Cheerios or Total but not every day. DH enjoys playing golf with his friends andthey play on public courses, country clubs when invited to do so.
One of my daughters always wears a watch, not the other. I wear my beloved Movado watch almost everyday as it was my mother’s and I think of her everyday even though I can easily look at my phone and my computer at my desk for the time. I also have a coach watch with a more summer like watch band than the black leather Movado watch band and will switch that out sometimes. None of us are really big jewelry and accessory wearers for the most part as compared to other people.
I had no idea the paper towels>napkins was a thing. I just thought my S and DIL were always out of napkins!
“The most shocking thing to me about this thread is the comments about giving up paper napkins in favor of paper towels (I get the draw of cloth towels). Paper napkins are so much better to wipe your mouth on after eating. Paper towels are large and stiff and more expensive. I just don’t get it!”
“I had no idea the paper towels>napkins was a thing”
Me, too.
So, for those of you who use paper towels instead of napkins, what about when you have guests for something casual? Do you use paper towels? Cloth napkins?
@katliamom “I also don’t like millennial bashing. (I think it’s a remarkable generation of young people; the generation we should be bashing is ours, the boomers, but that’s another story.) I took this thread as one showing how life styles have changed in the past 30 years. Between the economy and technology, boy are millennials living in a different world!”
What about Gen X, do we not get some love, lol
@socaldad2002 – YIKES! Gen X is old enough to have kids??? Man I’m old
We use paper towels for ourselves, but when we have guests we get out the cloth napkins.
I thought one used paper towels instead of napkins as an emergency back-up, kind of like using Kleenex because you ran out of toilet paper. But I not only use napkins, I buy special decorative beverage napkins to put under my coffee each morning when I read the paper.
The effects of entering the labor market during an economic downturn are long lasting, according to http://www.nber.org/digest/nov06/w12159.html and http://www.businessinsider.com/great-recession-put-a-lasting-cap-on-millennials-earning-potential-2017-7 . However, this does not affect all members of a specific generation (“generation X”, “millenial”, etc.) equally, since each generation has labor market entry years spanning both up and down economic times.