BOOMER: "Nobody wants to work anymore."
YOU: "I work 55 hours a week."
BOOMER: "At a desk job?"
YOU: "Yes. It pays $62,000."
BOOMER: "I made $16,000 and bought a house."
YOU: "That's exactly my point."
BOOMER: "We didn't complain, we just showed up."
YOU: "You had a pension waiting for you. I get a 401k match if my employer feels generous."
BOOMER: "Nobody gave me anything."
YOU: "Tuition was $500 a year. Your starter home cost less than twice your salary. Your job covered your whole family's health insurance."
BOOMER: "That's just how it was."
YOU: "Right. It was normal. Now it's out of reach."
BOOMER: "So you want it handed to you?"
YOU: "I want what used to be normal."
BOOMER: *silent*
You didn't work harder than us.
You just worked in a country that still paid off.