As a millennial, I often hear older generations commenting on how different today's times are — everything from our way of life to the cost of things. The BuzzFeed Community recently shared things that were once normal and because they're now so expensive or taboo, are considered ~luxuries.~ Here are some!
1. "Eating out without all kinds of fees added to the bill by the restaurant."
2. "Being able to disagree with your friends, family, or anyone and not being ostracized for it. You were able to disagree on some things without it poisoning all the things you do agree on. I miss healthy discussions. Everything seems to get ugly these days."
3. "Remember when you could call any business and talk to a real person instead of a recording with 20 options and still not get a human?'
4. "Unbiased news. It was once a luxury to be able to watch or read the news without it being an overarching statement of your political beliefs, or feeling like you have to 'take sides.'"
5. "Medicine was not a luxury back then. Now some people — especially senior citizens — have to choose between food or medicine."
6. "Hotel prices and prices for hostels. Nothing is cheap anymore. Especially for travelers in big cities like San Francisco."
7. "I remember a checked bag being included in Economy for long haul flights even in the early 2000s. There wasn't Economy Lite back then."
8. "Sports games being affordable. I remember the Rangers and Astros both had general admission tickets for cheap in the early 1990s. Those days are long gone. Baseball is still the most affordable of the big four, but it’s hardly cheap. Heck, I can remember paying only $50 apiece for a pair of Spurs tickets thinking that was pricey. It’s so expensive to go to sporting events — the post-season prices are wild."
9. "Vehicle rentals. Probably around 2018, I moved back in with my parents because I lived in a different city and developed depression. My boyfriend at the time still lived in the city I moved from and I wanted to visit him every weekend. I was paying $18 a day and could make it a good four or five-day trip without hurting my bank account. Now I want to do road trips with my new boyfriend and we want to rent a vehicle so we don't put too much mileage on his truck. The prices are anywhere from $80 to $115 a day! It's absolutely ridiculous. The price jump is outrageous and not to mention gas."
10. "I remember back in maybe 1997 or so, a gallon of gas cost a buck. It stayed that way for quite a decent amount of time too. Now it's so expensive to fill up a gas tank."
11. "Non-stop flights. Now they are few and far between, and usually at awful times of day or more expensive. I moved to LA in 2007, there were plenty of direct flights up to Portland where my family lived. Now basically all the flights are like nine hours of travel time because of all the connections (Arizona, Vegas, Bay Area, Seattle) and they're way more expensive."
12. "I hate everything becoming a collector's item. You used to be able to find great records for very cheap at garage sales, local thrift, music stores, or even online. The same goes for other hobby stuff like video games and even thrift store prices for clothing at a lot of places. Part of that is the age of some of the items, but it's happening to newer ones as well. Casual hobby stuff that we collected or enjoyed for fun when I was a teen seems like it's so incredibly expensive now."
Is there anything you would add to this list? If so, share it with me in the comments below!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.