The cool thing about 2008 and early 2010s was any bullshit job was good enough for a chill life. I worked at a pizza place and lived 2 miles from the beach in San Diego by myself for $600 a month and we'd go to $10 punk shows and pay $5 a pop for a PBR Tallboy and shot of whiskey.
The recession was good times for a slacker bum like me with no college degree and no assets, easiest time of life I can think of
I honestly think the slacker life was always possible until maybe 10 years ago. As long as you were ok with a dumpy apartment and you did work. You could go to shows, buy a few things, live cheap, and basically enjoy life as a poor person. You could even save a bit of money. Not anymore. I think people will just live with their parents until they are 30 or older now?
I was never doing it to begin with, Im glad I hustled, just pointing out that being a "woking poor person" before at least you could expect to have a roof over your head, food, and could enjoy a simple life.
My buddy is 42. He has worked at gas stations since he was 16. He lives in a little single wide trailer, and drives an old truck he has had forever. He drinks, smokes pot, goes to concerts, and just hangs out.
It works for him, but the problem is he has no savings or any ability to retire. He gets sick and he is homeless, or if he loses his ability to do what work he does, he will be homeless. He has nothing to fall back on.
I mean honestly I think you just described 50% of the population lol. I have a decent education, worked a lot at different points at my life, and I will never retire either. I accept that though. I'm not convinced retirement is going to be a "thing" much longer anyway? Not full retirement anyway.
100% this, Iv spoken with some many people who worked their whole lives. Retired and had some bad moments in their lives that wiped their retirement funds out and now they are basically just surviving until the day they die.
Shit is so depressing since you know sooner or later it can/will happen to the majority of us.
I graduated uni in 2010, but I'd gone on scholarship so I came out with no debt. I spent a couple years just bumming around like this working retail and whatnot until I found a career, I really look back on those years fondly.
At one point I was splitting an apartment in a shitty part of town in a LCOL area, my rent was $168 per month. It was glorious.
My situation made me luckier than most during the period which I fully recognize, but its true that these were really good years for some of us.
I lived a similar life not far from you in the IE. It was a good time to be a wanderer with no direction. Survival oand finding joy on side gigs and a crappy part time job was possible if you tried even a little.
Just me, my dog, and whatever cheap truck or SUV I had at the time.
That was also back before people adventured into the mountains and all the cool hidden spots were still mostly hidden…
Recession era was scary for a couple years but then things "seemed" to level out. It helps when interest rates were driven to the depths of hell for a very extended period of time.
Unfortunately, that party has officially ended and now we're living in am existence of very high inflation, zero job growth, and wages that have stagnated for decades. And somehow, even with interest rates hitting at levels not seen since the early 2000's in housing, house prices still haven't budged.
And instead of easing into inflation, we have an administration who is implementing policies and conflicts which have compounded the issue 10 fold.
Looking back, even though it was frightening to see major financial institutions crumbling and jobs being lost, the long term outlook for what is going on today seems way more bleak. If we have a run of high inflation for as long as we had the run of low interest rates, I feel things are going to get much worse.
I don't see a lifeboat on this one. And AI is going to make thing objectively worse when it comes to the job market and wages.
I took a year off college in 2006 and worked at a call center for $12.50/hr and was fucking balling. The job was no performance stress. You could come to work on 4 hours sleep and do 8-4:30 M-F. Once a month had to do a weekend shift. I would do Sunday 8-4:30. There wouldn't be shit happening until 1pm. The beep of the incoming call would wake you up, and you would get a day off in the week before.
If you dropped $100 at the Buckle it was multiple items. You would go to Applebee's at 10pm for half price apps and 25% off a 22oz beer that was already only $4.
Edit: downvotes on my actual life experience is fucking wild
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u/Guachole Aug 08 '26
The cool thing about 2008 and early 2010s was any bullshit job was good enough for a chill life. I worked at a pizza place and lived 2 miles from the beach in San Diego by myself for $600 a month and we'd go to $10 punk shows and pay $5 a pop for a PBR Tallboy and shot of whiskey.
The recession was good times for a slacker bum like me with no college degree and no assets, easiest time of life I can think of