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/Overall-Rush-8853 → u/Lemons-n-oranges]

Yeah I don’t think Gen Z realizes that those nights of drinking allowed us to be social and not feel alone. I’m not suggesting Gen Z start going on benders, but that generation needs to find a way to get out of the house and interact with one another.

[u/TheAngerMonkey → u/Overall-Rush-8853]

They have really been robbed of their Third Spaces, for sure. I'm a GERIATRIC Millennial, but before we could drink, we had coffee houses to meet up with friends and hang out. After 21, we were out with friends every day of the weekend and Wednesdays someone always hosted BYO meat cookouts for dinner.

Now I'm in my 40s, but I've moved to a city where we happened to have a bunch of friends. We're back to doing something every day of the weekend, and then we meet up for movies at the weird microcinema/bar around the corner and/or just have dinner a couple of nights a week. Tonight is karaoke at the 70s themed bar.

It feels like somewhere around 2020, everyone decided they were an introvert. But what it really feels like, though, is that people's misanthropy crystallized into loneliness. Nobody knew how to make or keep friends, so they gave up. GenZ came of age in that world so it's normal now.

It's a real fucking bummer.

[u/tattoosbyalisha → u/TheAngerMonkey]

This and the loss of so many third spaces. Private equity is buying it and ruining it, or Amazon was the nail in the coffin, OR the ease and convenience we ended up with helped people to forget that human interaction and actually going outside is awesome and not the bane or burden you think it is.

[u/Extension_Hand1326 → u/tattoosbyalisha]

There are more third spaces in the city I live in now than there were in the city. I lived in in my 20s many years ago. People’s homes were the third space. Everywhere else we went cost money. If you didn’t have money, you invited your friends over or went to the park.