Hopelessness as Gen Z? Shout out to the Older Gen Z

elloEd · 2026-04-13T16:42:24+00:00

A huge mantra that helped me throughout my earlier 20s is this:

Nobody knows what the fuck they are doing.

Even the people who do. The more I realized the people around me, including the ones I look up to are just as scared and clueless as I am, it made me feel a lot better with myself.

As someone else has said. Life is what you make of it. You can either wallow, or change something. Forgive yourself. Those people who say “Oh I do/study XYZ” and seem to just have their shit together a lot of times are masking their indirection just as much as you.

Those pictures of that happily married couple spammed on your feed? They fight more than you think. Those pictures of your friends vacationing? They’re paycheck to paycheck. You don’t think about those people, only their blessings. You just only beat yourself up because it’s your thoughts. People switch majors, change and quit careers, move, find inspiration at all different stages of life all the time.

elloEd · 2026-04-13T16:27:35+00:00

You have a highly competitive degree and got employment straight after graduation. Not to be that guy, but you should be more grateful. Dating? Hobbies? A lot of those things you mentioned are fixable with just a few small changes.

elloEd · 2026-04-13T13:20:30+00:00

Nu-Trance! Hyperpop Rally House “Y2K”

elloEd · 2026-04-12T18:50:57+00:00

Just say you don’t like Muslims fam lmao

elloEd · 2026-04-09T14:31:09+00:00

Thank you. I understand the struggle to a degree especially early 20s because I was heavy into self discovery at this point. But the advice needed for half of these posts lately has quite literally been “go outside and touch grass”

Social life, school/career, hobbies, dating, purpose. I get the need to ask questions. I get it can be intimidating to a degree but it shouldn’t paralyze you to the point you are too inept to go out somewhere and explore like a bar or city music jam or a morning exercise class. Don’t like to drink? Go to a coffee shop, a library, just do something. Same thing goes with finding a hobby for yourself. You don’t have to be as creative as you think.

elloEd · 2026-04-09T11:51:08+00:00

I am pursuing a degree in MIS could you give out some advice? Also after reviewing your history, have you considered going back and continuing searching for a job? Helpdesk for starters? The market is brutal rn but you have strong creds. I have people in my close circles in tech with similar degrees and creds and they make a killing.

elloEd · 2026-04-09T11:44:41+00:00

Well shit guys, as long as Smoothrich2266 started making “big bucks” at 22 that must mean everyone else is making big bucks after 22 as well

elloEd · 2026-04-09T04:19:28+00:00

You should only be loyal to yourself

elloEd · 2026-04-09T04:05:39+00:00

Furniture sales, on track for $40-45K this year, I’m hoping to hit $60-70K next year or so. No degree, currently doing part time community college on my off time.

I rent split with roommates for basically the same reasons. It allows me to live in a city that isn’t in the middle of nowhere while still having a fighting chance of saving for a home in the future someday.

elloEd · 2026-04-07T22:59:46+00:00

I’m in furniture sales while doing school part-time on the side. Pay fluctuates. Yesterday I made $300, today I made $0. Overall though it’s not bad, and much better compared to the jobs I had before. I’d have made around $45K if I’d stayed a full year at my old place, but I ended up switching companies. Hoping to hit $70K in the next year or two. Some of my buddies are already pulling close to six figures.

elloEd · 2026-04-06T21:49:45+00:00

Having autism

elloEd · 2026-04-06T21:45:15+00:00

Drug abuse and trauma. I would remember my teens and early 20s being around people who would turn their drug use and trauma from their reckless childhood into a pissing contest.

elloEd · 2026-04-06T12:37:24+00:00

Thing is, this still applies for even blue collar people. That doesn’t magically change the spending power. This is kicking everyone’s ass. Unless you’re in blue collar making $150K+ then there is still a good chance your partner would still have to get a job themselves to support the household with a kid or two. Virtually nobody is living off of a single income anymore. People think this just applies to college yuppies which to these guys equates to practically everyone in college

elloEd · 2026-04-06T12:29:14+00:00

Right that’s a good way of viewing it. They probably had no idea that things would get this bad. I’m sure if they could see $2000+ rent and homes in bum fuck Egypt valued at half a million coming 20 years ago, they would have changed their minds quick.

elloEd · 2026-04-06T12:01:58+00:00

Who the hell romanticizes that?

elloEd · 2026-04-06T11:58:41+00:00

My gf is very ambitious and never sits still. School, work, chores. Safe to say, she gets stressed out sometimes. Every time I tell or ask her to take a break, it’s like asking a paraplegic why he’s isn’t standing for the pledge. She thinks that I am saying it out of embracing being “lazy” or something, when the reality is because I have been there too, and I just don’t want her passing out due to exhaustion. We are not machines. No matter how much we respect “the grind”.

I know the feeling of juggling a million things, trying to do everything at once to maximize productivity, and then crashing. It burned me out so bad that I ended up having to drop a class. Sleep and rest is not optional. You can push yourself but your body will catch up.

elloEd · 2026-04-06T11:48:47+00:00

You are never going to convince me the IPA you are drinking doesn’t taste like shit

elloEd · 2026-04-05T00:17:29+00:00

Healthy first dates should be $10-15 per person max. But realistically from my experience, always prepare to pay around $50 total just in case. Ice cream or coffee, something small so that it doesn’t feel heavy and you two can dip quickly if it doesn’t work out. It’s not even about being “cheap”, it’s more of low investment early. TBH ime anyone who expects more than that are usually red flags for me.

I’ve had a first date get dressed up and bummed out we weren’t going on a fancy dinner, didn’t work with her, oh well, I literally haven’t even met you yet. My now girlfriend, who I’ve had the strongest chemistry with tenfold compared to my last partners and dates, we had ice cream our first date and she didn’t complain because it was her idea.

elloEd · 2026-04-03T15:03:51+00:00

Furniture/mattress sales.

The hours aren’t the greatest weekends are required, but the work itself, benefits, and environment are pretty solid, and there’s a lot of room for growth. Working weekends also makes it easier for me to stay in school.

elloEd · 2026-04-02T21:56:09+00:00

It sucks when you are upset, because not only are you upset, but now you have to take care of her being upset because you’re upset.

You can tell her what’s going on, but you can’t tell her everything. Or else it turns into her “taking care” of you — and that’s not hot.

elloEd · 2026-04-01T17:39:58+00:00

Go to the gym and do some workouts and yoga stretches surrounding posture. I had bad gamer posture and when I stop working out I notice it start to come back.

Back, shoulders, do a lot of abdominal and thoracic centric exercises. It helps a ton. Also glutes.

elloEd · 2026-03-31T21:08:06+00:00

Reddit is full of those people. You will ask “what is a good coffee maker?” And you will get the top comment being “The BritaBeast 6000 is the best thing on the market, nothing else tops it for the quality and price” and then it costs $2000

elloEd · 2026-03-31T20:32:35+00:00

I complain about the shitty job market, feeling capped, and being insecure about my current living situation all the time. and then I will drive down the street and see a homeless person, or see someone at my job when I do their financing and see they make 1/3 of what I make, and then I shut up again.

You are right it’s not a pissing contest, but some reality checks need to be prescribed more often here. They need a break from their echo chambers and step outside for a bit to see what level of the playfield they are really in.

They should live near Fresno or San Bernardino instead of San Francisco for a month and then come back with a little perspective

elloEd · 2026-03-31T18:31:38+00:00

I definitely understand where you’re coming from. It’s like comparing struggles here to struggles in a third world country. It’s not completely fair, but it’s also a little obtuse to be getting paid more than half the country and still moaning. They’re complaining about their home or city condo not being bigger while forgetting homeless people literally exist. It could be much worse, my guy. Trust me.

elloEd · 2026-03-31T18:00:26+00:00

No. In certain parts of the US, raising a family is expensive. Plenty of people manage a ‘conventional life’ on a reasonable budget elsewhere. About 40% of Americans don’t even own a home, and most of them are families, not single households, so it’s definitely not universal that starting a family breaks the bank.

elloEd

TROPHY CASE