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[–] 8 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Was not expecting this to be so unpopular but legitimately when I was growing up there were open mic nights and jazz clubs filled with musicians taking turns. People had weird exotic hobbies or fun cars they would drive on the weekend. There were artists and art galleries and little bookstores and microbreweries and hobby shops for anything you could imagine.

Now they have all closed, the jazz clubs bulldozed and paved over for parking lots, and no one does anything but work and be angry.

I remember a time growing up that people were paid enough to actually live and I refuse to let that die

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  • [–] 11 points 15 hours ago (1 child)

    Dude, you're talking about 2010 like it's ancient history, and I've got shirts that old. Everything you're describing still exists, but I'm sorry if your town's fun bar closed.

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  • [–] -2 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

    In 2010 things were already way too expensive, I’m talking like 2000-2005. I’m not saying that stuff doesn’t exist, I’m saying a lot more people used to be able to afford to do things.

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  • [–] 5 points 13 hours ago (1 child)

    In 2000, you were 7 years old and had no clue what anyone was paying for rent, much less how cool was open mic night at the local. Your parents could afford to do things and shielded you from what they cost. Or sitcom families could do things and you're remembering Will & Grace.

    I mean, yes: shit's expensive today, but heterosexual people had roommates in 2000, in 1990, 1980, even in 1960. In 1980, it was scandalous to have a roommate of the opposite gender.

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  • [–] 0 points 13 hours ago

    I have a special needs sister and my parents were so excited I was “normal” they made me help out and I grew up pretty quick.

    I definitely was middle class, I started taking drum lessons early on and actually enrolled at the mason gross school of music at Rutgers when I was 11 and had been playing with jazz combos at those open mic nights since I was 10 or so. When I was 13 I did percussion with my teacher and others for a production of the H.M.S. Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan at a few different theaters in NJ. I auditioned at Juilliard when I was 16 but didn’t get a scholarship and realized I couldn’t make it in music the way I wanted to because I wasn’t good enough.

    So I was taught how to budget very early on because there was a chance I was going to need to know how to do it myself, and all of the people I interacted with were in there 30’s and 40’s because I couldn’t relate to the kids in school.

    So yea, I knew when shit started getting ridiculously expensive because suddenly everyone I knew was a struggling artist or had to stop and get a “real” job because they couldn’t pay their bills.

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  • [–] 3 points 15 hours ago (1 child)
  • [–] 2 points 13 hours ago

    In the suburbs in the middle of NJ. There were enough good Union jobs that even without a degree you could make enough money to live pretty comfortably, and the only notable thing about the area was that you could get to NYC or Philadelphia in about an hour and a half or so by train

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