The clip, which has racked up 2.1 million views so far, starts off with Rick's comment that "the vast majority of people in North America have done [a full-fime job] for their entire lives." At this point, Robbie's TikTok caption reads, "Most Boomers don't know what it's like to work 40+ hours a week and still not be able to afford a house and food, so let me walk you through it."
"We need to stop expecting the same damn people who bought a four-bedroom home and a brand-new Cadillac convertible off of a $30,000 a year salary working at Perkins to understand what it's like to be working 40+ hours a week with a Master's degree and still not being able to afford a 400-square-foot studio apartment in b*mf*ck, Iowa," Robbie began his Stitch.
He went on to say that basically nobody likes working their full-time job, Boomers included. After all, why else would "so many of you [be] trying to become billionaires so that you can one day pay people to do that work for you so you don't have to do it?"
The reason Gen Z and Millennials are upset, Robbie says, isn't because we're any less willing or able than Boomers to work a nine-to-five. "We're not getting angry and entitled and whiny because we can't work nine-to-fives — yes we can. We do it every day." Instead, the problem lies with the rewards working those hours offer — especially in comparison to previous generations, Robbie argues.
"What's sh*tty is, we're holding up our end of the deal," he says. "We're staying in school. We're going to college. We've been working since we were 15, 16 years old... doing everything that y'all told us to do so that we can what? We can still be living in our parents' homes in our late 20s?"
He then points out that Millennials and Gen Z are working hard. "We're also making considerably, and disproportionately, much less than any other generation has — and that is kinda sh*tty," he says.
He points out that he knows people in their mid-30s who've been working for over two decades, but who can't afford a home in his state of Minnesota. "That is why some of us are crying," he explains. "That's why some of us are angry... we're holding up our end of the deal, and someone on the other side is not holding up their end."
He went on to say that Boomers and Gen X would empathise more if they'd faced the same conditions — though he does say that plenty of older people are sympathetic and considerate. But for those who judge younger people for being upset by a lopsided work system, he says, "f*ck you — 'cos you don't get it, you will never get it, and you should be thanking God for that."
Some people in the comments agreed with Robbie. "I wouldn't mind working if it actually allowed me to afford things," one person said.
"Imagine if they'd just paid us," another person sarcastically said.
Some people outside of Gen Z and Millennial generations commented too, with one saying, "I'm 44 and [let me] tell you — we are NOT working the same 40 hrs as we did when I was 25. We're doing the work of 2-3 people now."
But some thought Robbie was being too dramatic. "It's not difficult. If you work hard you get nice things. Sick of this pitty [sic] party mentality."
Yet another person blamed young people for going to college, saying, "yall go get these stupid degrees that don't get good paying jobs then cry about its everyone's fault."
