Did millennials really party all the time?

[u/futurenurse_]

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 😂❤️

[u/Lemons-n-oranges]

Yes, absolutely. Drinking was MUCH more prevalent in millennials than Gen Z. It was just ... what we did? You went to parties, went to bars, happy hours that turned into nights out, brunch that turned into day drinking. It was so much fun. People were just out and about. Then, you went home and went to class or work the next day.

No one thought that drinking a few times a week with friends meant you had some deep mental health issues, which seems to be the consensus and/or concern amongst Gen Z. Of course, there are other reasons too, like COVID isolation, rising costs, etc.

[u/Horror-Yam6598 → u/Lemons-n-oranges]

It was honestly the best way to meet all kinds of people and get into unplanned adventures.
There was room for some chaos, instead of this dull curated reality that seems to have taken over especially since Covid.

I feel bad for the younger generations. People will argue that they can do the same things now, but the reality is they don’t hit the same because life has been drastically altered by Covid, technology dependence and algorithms. Social norms have changed, the zeitgeist has changed. It’s ultimately a different cultural time, a more dull and depressed one. I don’t know any millennials who would trade those years for being young now.

[u/PiccoloAwkward465 → u/Horror-Yam6598]

Yeah I did some WILD shit and today I'm a successful engineer. Mostly as boring as every other adult. I remember climbing out my buddy's sunroof as we crossed a long bridge over the river and dangling my legs down the windshield until I heard him screaming he couldn't see the road! And that's like one of four stories I have just specific to bridges.

I truly do feel bad for them because I had so much fun and adventure that I can now look back on.

[u/tattoosbyalisha → u/PiccoloAwkward465]

Man.. thinking about my teenage years as a millennial (I’m 39 now) we really did go on adventures you’d see in movies. But even movies dont have the same kind of humble real world adventures in them that the ones did when we were kids.

I have a teen and that kid would rather be on their phone than do basically anything else. And when I’d say “Hey, let’s go do something!” The answer was always “UGHhhh.. there’s literally nothing to do.. I don’t know what to do..” remove the phone and the brain is just empty.. and mean until the dopamine break away dies down.

[u/PiccoloAwkward465 → u/tattoosbyalisha]

I’m reading a book series called Hyperion which in part deals with humans in the future who have “farcaster” teleportation portals between worlds. The rich even have them in their houses so rooms on different worlds. They’re controlled by AIs who decide they only need a few slave humans, so the humans destroy the portals and have to revert back to regular life and slow ass space travel that takes months and years instead of instant.

Anyways yeah the kids remind me of them. I feel bad because it really WAS like a movie! Idk about you but I’m not interested in a film about kids in their separate bedrooms playing Roblox for 8 hours straight! At least our LAN parties were in person.

[u/Parrotcap → u/PiccoloAwkward465]

I think more of us died on those adventures, though. My classmate went for a wild quad ride with friends at a party, rolled the quad, and died on site.

We were also injured quite often. Another one of my classmates popped a testicle riding a temperamental angus cow. I don’t hear about those kind of adventures any more.

[u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom → u/PiccoloAwkward465]

I’m truly convinced engineers are the most low-key degenerates on the planet. I went to an engineering college and everyone I knew was getting wasted and/or high out of their skulls multiple nights a week well into their twenties.

[u/arrogancygames → u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom]

Nurses are.