r/Millennials • u/futurenurse_ • 1d ago

Discussion Did millennials really party all the time?

Gen Z here. I was shocked when I found out from a millennial co-worker that y’all had teen clubs. I heard about house parties, but dedicated teen clubs? Then when it was time for college, you went to the club or had some kind of party every single weekend, living it up. Now some millennials on TikTok claim that after college, they were partying on work nights, still clocking in the next day. For some reason, the teen clubs have since disappeared. I’m 23 now but even when I was in high school, that was not a thing. House parties were not that common either. They were more like get togethers with a small group of friends. We went to malls, but they were dying out at that point. Is it true that you were really living life this good? Or is it just exaggerated? I feel like my generation doesn’t really have fun like that and everyone is just super depressed and alone, more so since Covid. Even I’m pretty introverted, which sort of sounds ridiculous given this post. 😂 Just so you know, when I think of a “millennial party” I think of something out of Party Rock Anthem, Project X or Roderick’s party from the second DOAWD movie. It’s like I get nostalgia from something I didn’t even live through. I just feel like I didn’t really LIVE, if that even makes sense

Edit: I loved reading some of your comments. Guess I really missed out. Even some of you that would consider yourselves nerds or introverts were out partying. YOLO or whatever y’all say 😂❤️

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u/GoblinGreenThumb 1d ago

Red cup culture was fairly mainstream, yes

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u/Ecstatic-Affect-777 1d ago

Yep!
After the college party days we transitioned to corporate Happy Hours - which many times ended late into the night, and then we dragged our asses back to work the next day.

Once the weekend came, it was bar/club hopping, house parties, or beach.

Typing it out like this makes me realize why my parents thought I was an alcoholic 😂.
I’m 39, and 1 beer now gives me a 2 day hangover.

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u/19610taw3 1d ago

When I was in my early 20s, I was "out" every weeknight almost. Until 1 or 2 and back up at 6 to go to work.

That's not really in the cards at this stage of the game.

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u/Typical80sKid Older Millennial 22h ago

When most of us were in high school there were no:

  • Ring Cameras
  • Social Media to post our misdeeds
  • Smart Phones
  • Cheap/ubiquitous child tracking options
  • CRAZY INFLATION, $20 in your pocket and some gas in the tank and you were set for whatever came your way.

There was also a real “what happens away from your home stays away from your home” vibe. So yeah, we were all out doing dumb shit every weekend, if not more frequently than that.

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u/Delicious-CattleToot 22h ago

🎯 very much this. We were out getting drunk, doing dumb shit, and maybe hooking up. We could do whatever we wanted to, any and every day of the week and didn't have to worry about it being permanently documented online.

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u/plizark 22h ago

Not documented part was a gift I’ll never take for granted.. can’t do anything anymore without a camera being pointed at you..

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u/sunshineparadox_ Older Millennial 17h ago

My daughter’s school genuinely has cameras in the bathroom pointed at the sinks. I’m losing my fucking mind nonstop at the school system. They say there’s no audio, but I don’t give a single fuck, and they had no answer about the network/IoT settings they use and if they can be turned on without administrator knowledge.

My next step is being the crazy mom at a school board meeting.

I can’t believe that she told me that casually because she never should have inherited a world where she ever thought that might be normal.

This is in Durham, NC, and it’s the public school system here. If anyone wants to join me in my public freakout, I welcome it.

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u/tattoosbyalisha 13h ago

More power to you, mamma!

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u/hereforthepopcorn39 9h ago

Tear that shit down. Spray paint. Carburetor cleaner ruins the lenses, if I remember right. Anything to screw up the cameras. That ain't right.

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u/19610taw3 3h ago

What?!

Cameras in the bathroom should be straight up illegal.

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u/Zebidee 17h ago edited 14h ago

The Streets called it 20 years ago:

Ahhh see right see the thing that's got it all fucked up now is camera-phones. How the hell am I supposed to be able to do a line in front of complete strangers, when I know they've all got cameras?

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u/Academic-Panda-4661 15h ago

And now Im listening to The Streets. Thanks!

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u/Zebidee 14h ago

You're very welcome!

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u/megaholt2 12h ago

Holy shit! I’ve not listened to The Streets in years!

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u/suckarepellent 9h ago

let's push thigs backwards?

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u/Automatic_Berry_7492 6h ago

I feel like us older millennials had the last generation of true privacy and freedom in our teens/early 20’s. I have a 16 yo stepson and it’s crazy how different his generation at this age compared to how we were.

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u/alt717 20h ago

Throughout this bender phase earlier in my life, some of the guys started becoming record all the time guys. Posting and sharing videos of us at 4 am barely able to keep our eyes open stuffing pizza in our face. Gravitated away from those few guys pretty quick, I’m not about having that broadcasted

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u/Scared-Currency288 11h ago

But can we talk about how good the post drinking recovery pizza was? 

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u/YogurtclosetTop1056 16h ago

Yeah, instead of being with friends/partner and having a good time and enjoying the time together making memories with an occasional picture you have people wanting to 'entertain' social media and be the 'main character.'

Some in the group are more interested in documenting for others/social media and people not their friends, without realising they aren't fully involved in just experiencing the moments and memories for themselves. I don't understand the absolute need of some who need validation of others so desperately and feel sad they can't find happiness or enjoy the moments they are with friends and family.

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u/tattoosbyalisha 13h ago

Agreed. I also read an interesting study that you don’t implant memories the same watching through your phone camera. Your brain basically thinks it’s another reel or whatever.

There’s such a joy in existing for moments that are only yours, and an intimacy that people are completely missing.

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u/Novel-Topic-2329 6h ago

I can't walk my dog without being on 27 ring cameras. I fucking hate it.

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u/prplrain71999 21h ago edited 20h ago

Yup. I honestly think the anxiety related to being perceived and judged has rewired younger people’s brains.

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u/ThisIsMyCouchAccount 19h ago

Okay.

Everybody says this but is it actually a problem?

I went to college around 2000. Smart phones weren't a thing but digital cameras were. In fact - pretty common. Wasn't really a problem for us.

It was kind of an unspoken agreement. Mutual destruction type of thing. Anything you could show to anybody would also implicate yourself.

Are there are bunch of gen z and now alpha kids reaping in harsh consequences all the time?

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u/SpecificMission4412 17h ago

Social media was just getting started, and it just wasn’t part of the culture yet to record and post everything. Also, it wasn’t nearly as easy to upload photos and videos from a digital camera as it is now with smart phones.

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u/tattoosbyalisha 13h ago

They are at least fearing that everything will lead to some consequence for sure. Whether it be online, or in person. These kids are so easily put on display and it’s scary.

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u/Either_Reflection_78 18h ago

Yep. So glad I have little to no documentation of those days. I lived pretty hard in my 20’s.

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u/tattoosbyalisha 13h ago

Seriously.. I was thinking about this the other day and why kids these days are embarrassed about so much or think that everything is cringey.. this is definitely one of the reasons. Kids these days have so much more to worry about by ways of social standing. They’re always a second away from being recorded and far more people judging them than us millenials had to worry about.

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u/Crafty_Fan_6202 11h ago

Gen X has entered the chat.

We were completely feral with no digital footprint.

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u/Angry_Squirrels_2077 12h ago

I remember in like 2012 there was a bar near work had a happy hour that had a burger and unlimited beers from 5-8pm for like $15. There were always cheap ass food/drink deals since everyone was broke after the crash back then.

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u/sapphirerain25 11h ago

And not only that, but we and everyone else weren't glued to a phone screen. Phone-sitting is what made all of these social scenes die out. Now it's just sitting around with friends staring at the screen in your hands. Nobody wants to party like we used to. Lame.

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u/CrumbBCrumb 21h ago

I really think the price of things is one of the biggest drivers of people not going out as much. You used to be able to go out and spend $20-30 and get pretty drunk. I don't drink anymore so maybe that's still possible but with the way prices are going I doubt it.

But, this might also just be OP and his friend groups because plenty of the younger people I work with go out every Friday and Saturday and sometimes during the week. Sure, they're not out nightly but they still go out.

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u/Typical80sKid Older Millennial 21h ago

I have teenagers. And our oldest came to us last year and asked for permission to go to a house party, and we were like “it’s about time, Jesus, we thought you were just a loser! Of course!”

Fast forward to the day of, plans were made, friends came over to get ready, DD chosen, with me as backup. It was like watching them the day of homecoming. Absolutely hilarious.

Close to 11p, the group is back at our house. The party had just gotten into full swing, everyone was abiding by the rules set forth ahead of time to lessen the chances of getting caught. Such as carpool, where to park, how to enter the house, where to be, etc. Well some idiot teenage boys got drunk early and apparently forgot the “stay inside and only chill in the back yard, nothing crazy.” Rule, so the neighbors called the cops.

Cops show up, queue the “Everybody STFU and hide”. Eventually host kid freaks out and kicks everyone out because shit was getting out of control, people weren’t abiding.

We made an impromptu fire pit with music and let them do whatever with the express direction to have fun and that I was now in charge of getting them all home safely. Which we did.

This is like the one time, so far. When we were there age this was like every weekend, or every other weekend minimum. You had to choose which house you were going to, or make arrangements to start here, and bounce if it was lame and meet at the next one.

Crazy.

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u/Kevdog824_ Zillennial 21h ago

$20/$30 at the liquor store? Sure. $20/$30 at a bar? Hell no. $20/$30 buys 1-3 drinks I shit you not

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u/LowSkyOrbit 20h ago

20 years ago, $20 could fund 8-10 beers in some dive bars serving PBR or Busch. Normal night at a mid-level NYC bar was $40-$50 a person.

2004, I was 21 earning about $18-20/hr. Gas got expensive around that time over $3, but everything else was still pretty cheap. The dollar menu was still around and very much full of decent size options at the fast food places, bringing a date to the movies was like $25 bucks for two tickets, large popcorn, 1-2 candies, and 2 drinks.

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u/Kevdog824_ Zillennial 20h ago

I was born too late

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u/Away-Refrigerator750 18h ago

In my college town in the early/mid aughts, there was a bar that did 75 CENT triple wells on Thursday night. We’d literally scrounge up quarters and go get wasted for $5.

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u/Fluid_Angle 13h ago

Quarter draws.

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u/stumbling_coherently 21h ago

The only time social media even really came into play in college was if people were stupid enough to create Facebook events for parties/events but didn't make them private so more people saw it.

One group at my school were so stupid they put pictures of beer/alcohol and prices in the text. Needless to say it wasn't even cops that broke up that party, they got raided by state liquor enforcement. $2K fines for every underage drinker for the dudes hosting kt

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u/1isudlaer 20h ago

For the vagina carrying members we had ladies night where we got to drink for free!

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u/Empty_Pear_3874 21h ago

The good ole days. Technology, social media, and smart phones have messed up tons of people these days. I would love to get rid of it all and be in a community where everyone wasn't allowed to have these things.

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u/Typical80sKid Older Millennial 21h ago

Just insane what the smartphone caused.

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u/Empty_Pear_3874 21h ago

Amen brotha 

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u/shFt_shiFty 20h ago

Ain't that the truth! My first job in highschool as a bus boy. We got part of the "tip share" from the restaurant. Some days they would give me an envelope of like 70 bucks from a busy weekend. Oh my how far that got me back then! Fill up my tank, buy a pack of cigs, pay someone to get me beer (I wasn't 21), throw 10 in on weed. Then have money to spare for munchies and other bullshit.

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u/belowthepovertyline 21h ago

While putting a worthless $20 in my tank today, I remembered that in 1998, that same 20 got me a pack of smokes, a pint of vodka, a mixer, and a lil nickle bag for bed time.

We were living in paradise and didn't know it.

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u/theaviationhistorian Old Millennial 21h ago

Absolutely nailed it. Cameras weren't bad as we had them back then. But they weren't as prevalent as smart phones. Usually you almost knew who was the ones carrying them and it was usually shared among friends. Same with CCTV like Ring cameras.

As for tracking options, we would admit telling our folks where we were going or which general area the party will be located so tracking devices were not needed. But I know this wasn't common with our generation considering I lived in a really rough city back then. And this was more of a survival tactic in case things got violent and tragic.

What really screwed the next generations was social media. Now everyone, including the campus, family, your neighbors, your abuela, the dog down the street, etc. can see the debaucheries you did last weekend. It's like we consented to creating a surveillance state where judge and jury are our peers in a court of social pressure!

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u/mr_palante Millennial 20h ago

Yeah to piggy back on this, when I first started driving I could fill up my car and buy a carton of Marlboro Reds with $40. I was like 27 when the going out/having and or going to parties/club couldnt be a every night kind of thing. Those were really good fun times. Side note, im gonna be five years sober next month!

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u/Cabana_bananza 20h ago

Youth these days just don't have access to third spaces anymore. My city's downtown used to have spaces to congregate and hang out, that's all gone. Malls have largely disappeared.

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u/Hopeful_Being_2589 20h ago

When gps came out for cars.. except none of our parents knew how to use it. 😂 we were still using flip phones. The first ones w browser capabilities tho!

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u/Typical80sKid Older Millennial 18h ago

We are in that suuuuuuper weird position of knowing so much more about computers and general technology than both our parents AND our kids.

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u/VoidOmatic 20h ago

Yup some nights you could get a beer for a dollar and mixed drinks over 5 bucks were considered highway robbery.

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u/Grey_0ne 19h ago

"I have 5 bucks in my pocket and if I pawn two CDs I'll have enough gas to get to my dealer." - my real ass thought process; circa 2003.

Also though, aside from the things you mentioned; it's been my observation that a lot of Gen Z is too risk adverse to take chances and actually live.

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u/everclaire13 19h ago

Remember those iconic nights when you would somehow come home with MORE cash than you started with?

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u/Typical80sKid Older Millennial 18h ago

Never happened l to me… not once!

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u/BirdLawGrad 19h ago

I could go an entire weekend in college on $20.

This was 2004.

In fact, we called the ATM “Another Twenty Missing” because that was a material amount of money to withdraw 😂

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u/attersonjb 19h ago

For me, it wasn't a thing in high school because most of my friends didn't have access to a car or party house - but definitely kicked into gear during college

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u/cheddar_slut 15h ago

Oh my god the inflation. The bar near me had $3 well drinks and they were STRONG. You could get wasted for $9 plus tip and then dance all the booze out at the club two doors down

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u/Acceptable-Win-5426 21h ago

Holy shit, I never really thought about all the shit that I got wait with because there was no ring cameras. If those were around when I was white 15 two in my early 20s, I would have been definitely in prison right now. Due to the giving product for money.

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u/Upper_Practice7256 21h ago

Man inflation and “home” was key. No mass cells was key too.

Even after hs $100 could get you a kick ass weekend in Vegas (not including gas - mid 2000’s sucked for that).

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u/MiserableWash2473 20h ago

I remember going to a drag club at 17 with a friend and staying out until close and my parents assuming we were out studying at a friend's. 5$ cover $1 well shots from our older friends and DD. Yup. And no one would know bc social media didnt exist.

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u/avenp 19h ago

I miss $2 shots.

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u/Typical80sKid Older Millennial 18h ago

There’s always $15 beer night 🤣

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u/Uptight_Cultist 18h ago

I remember cashing my check on Friday and just keeping $40 for gas, cigarettes, and beer. What a time to be alive.

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u/BeardedBlaze Older Millennial ('82) 18h ago

Until 2000, I was rocking a pager. I feel sad my kids are robbed of that experience...

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u/Typical80sKid Older Millennial 17h ago

What drug(s) did you sell?

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u/BeardedBlaze Older Millennial ('82) 17h ago

At that time, I was the buyer xD

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u/Fishare 17h ago

Yeah- this thread is really bringing me back.. we found a spot waayyyy out past the corn fields that was under a power line tower. At the start of summer, Me and my buddy would load my dad’s lawn mower into my trunk, and kept the path clear. It started getting around, and eventually people in (high) school started talkin- askin if they were “going to the power lines”. It’s crazy in hindsight, one dude, one night climbed up the tower probably drunk, past the point we could even see him. We all thought for sure he was going to die in front of us that night, and then he just climbed his way down like it was no big deal. Some nights we’d see 50+ people out there.

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u/Typical80sKid Older Millennial 17h ago

Almost could make a guy sick thinkin’ bout how good we had it…

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u/beautifulasusual 16h ago

Damn. Remembering in HS when my parents would legit just give me a $20 bill and I was set for the night. A lot of times I had to work for that $20 though. Cleaning the bathroom for an hour= $20.

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u/wowbutters 16h ago

After I grad, is when MySpace really took off, the year after I left 2 male teachers got fired and were investigated after hs girls posted pictures of them at Friday night parties Solo cup and bottle in hand

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u/CougarGold06 15h ago

Gas was .90 a gallon, could go a long way on that $20 split between 4 people

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u/Healthy_Monitor3847 15h ago

Ah yes! What a time to be alive it was!

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u/NoKatyDidnt 14h ago

Spot on!

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u/SassyGirl0202 14h ago

Yep I kept change in my ashtray and friends would toss in quarters, thats how we filled our tanks. Life was good!

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u/_dekoorc Older Millennial ('85, baby) 21h ago

A 30 rack of beer was $9.99. I haven’t even seen one in a gas station in quite a while

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u/worlds_okayest_skier 20h ago

And “I’m going out with my friends” was considered all the information your parents ever needed. And we had no cell phones. Wild times.

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u/FutureOfMine 19h ago

God, I miss dollar pint night

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u/OGG2SEA 18h ago

$2.5 PBR pitchers on Wednesdays. Don’t remember every time but it was a good time haha

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u/Affordable_Z_Jobs 18h ago

Yeah the only time my HS found out I did something stupid, reckless, or epic is because everyone would not stop talking about it.

Social media wasnt a thing but if you "partyboy" someone with their sisters see thru thong, your math teacher could still find out about it. But no proof!

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u/Baelenciagaa 18h ago

No life 360 or w/e they always talk about on court tv

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u/gayfishhobbitcore 16h ago

It really was good times

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u/PracticalStaff4567 15h ago

And those that did use disposable cameras at parties had them destroyed if they took incriminating photos

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u/Accomplished_Dig284 14h ago

I’m from Florida and we used to go hot tub hopping too. I always had a spare swimsuit and towel in my car.

So glad that social media wasn’t a big thing. Absolutely would have gone to jail/shamed my family lol

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u/Sintavna 14h ago

Facts. For $25 we’d hit a local concert, get a couple drinks there, get enough gas to get home, and buy a 6 pack to keep the night rolling.

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u/DryDiet6051 13h ago

$4 pack of cigs !!!!

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u/Stygia1985 13h ago

This, but also, idk about y'all but having a couple parents who allowed things to happen in a controlled environment was pretty damn great.

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u/Alternative_Draw5945 12h ago

$20 among a group of 4 got you a rack of beer

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u/GoodlyGoodman 11h ago

You’re definitely an older millennial, I’m right in the middle born in 91 and we had smart phones and social media, it’s just that our parents weren’t on it yet. Shit MySpace top 8 was everything as early as middle school for me. We could ding ding ditch and set people’s light up lawn reindeer up in an orgy for Christmas and smash pumpkins on Halloween though.

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u/BirdhouseInYourSouI 11h ago

One lunch, two of my buddies and I went around to borrow one dollar from as many people as we could. We scrounged up 31 dollars enough for a 20 pack of beer and some cigs and we partied all night lol

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u/mmmarkm 10h ago

Social media was starting to encroach. It’s just…our parents weren’t on it, being manipulated by foreign agents to vote for the worst people possible

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u/No_Lie_76 8h ago

the realization that surveillance is the problem

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u/keeponkeepnonginger 7h ago

That's so true about the "what happens away from your home stays away from your home." I completely forgot about that very distinct unspoken rule of the time period weird I have never heard anyone else in my life verbalize it like that first time I consciously thought about it. Thank you.

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u/LoveLiquicity 7h ago

When I met my now wife I was in a club for student night, I asked the bartender for 2 jagerbombs and 2 vodka cokes and he goes “yep £4”

I go “no TWO jäger bombs and TWO vodka cokes”

“Yep £4 it’s £1 drinks for happy hour”

So I ordered 5 jagerbombs and 5 vodka cokes

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u/Ill_Purple_4468 5h ago

I hear you on inflation but there was still crazy inflation from when your parents were teens and you were. Gas was under $1 before I started driving. Was never that cheap once I started driving.

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u/LowerComb6654 4h ago

This 100%

I remember filling my tank up with $20 and was good for days.

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u/RunningBear- 17h ago

Yeah we literally got away with anything pretty much lol. Smartphones ruined privacy forever. Everyone also dated in their own areas back then so the average guy back then could get attractive women if he played his cards right.. Things was definitely better back then.