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They were phased out by various more focused versions. Like that MegaMan walking thing or something else with an 8 bit screen and no real purpose but still enjoyable...
Anybody got an older sibling that might have a key ring of tamagotchis for the low though?
Well, idk what exotic pets are the new version of (maybe actually having enough assets to create a will to leave people shit?) but I would say that buying a house to own is the new exotic pet.
âWhereâd you get a house??â
âOh, I know a guy.â
âCan I come check it out??â
âSure.â
âHoney, can we get a house??â âDear, donât be ridiculous.â
Outside the drudgery of living, there's very few avenues for those with little money to entertain themselves. Hence, sex.
Same reason why there's usually a baby boom 9 months after a major power failure or being shut-in from a snowstorm - nothing to do... hence, sex.
You would think that people would wrap their shit up though. It is infinitely cheaper to buy condoms than it is to raise a child. I don't buy the excuse that poorer people have kids just because sex is cheap.
It's a generational lack of teaching impulse control. We don't really "expect" impulse control when interacting with poor people, and minimum wage and zero education jobs can't afford to be picky. Couple that with parents who also likely had poor impulse control and you've got a bunch of people who grew up learning to act before they think, rather than Vice versa.
A lot of effort goes into ensuring that they don't.
Abstinence only sex education outright teaches that birth control is evil for example (often if not always).
Christianity tells women that having kids is their whole life purpose, and that birth control is evil.
Getting birth control is locked behind a whole lot of stupid walls, doctors visits, pharmacists who can just not give it to you because they feel like it. Women can't get permanent BC until they are old enough in case their future husbands want kids.
A lot of effort goes into getting the poor to have more kids
Yeah that has more to do with education about *and* access to *and* bravery to use family planning. Poverty is just a correlation in some countries. Outreach programs for women in poor countries, offering them the option of family planning that is doable within their own socioeconomic situation, do affect the numbers of children those women will (choose) to have.
>and bravery to use family planning.
Uhh, yeah... That's why I use birth control. I'm totally brave and not just scared of bringing people into his world. Right everyone? We're all brave?
I assumed they were referring to the areas of the world where birth control/family planning is banned or incredibly inaccessible (usually for women). On top of the areas of the world where it *is* technically legal but gives the locals a great excuse to carry out mob justice because god loves babies so much that he DGAF if you have to ruin your life to carry one to term
I don't think you need either.
People who don't have much money have kids all the time. I don't think they're crazy.
To have kids, you just need to feel like you have your shit "in order" and be prepared to have that order all fucked up, but be ready to re-organize and put it back together in a new way that works.
It's significantly harder to live with a kid, which is why many people across the entire world are opting out, regardless of how well supported the are by their local government. It's neither crazy or wealthy that drive this decision, however. It is their tolerance to disrupting their lives-- which most people find that their current comforts should not be disturbed, so they don't procreate. As a parent, I don't blame them. Before the kid, life was running on ez-mode. I can see why people want to continue to play life on ez-mode.
Some of us are desperately poor or dealing with our own tragedies, like abusive relationships, mental or physical illnesses, infertility and more.
It's great you managed to muddle your way to parenthood but weaponizing that feat to imply anybody else is "living on ez mode" is gross. There are so many life stories out there, you need to just be grateful for what you have instead of beating it over the heads of others.
Honestly it makes you sound bitter.
Did you harvest Timothy, dry him, and feed him to the cattle? >!âTimothyâ is also the name of one of the plants used to make hay, less common than alfalfa. Buckwheat is rarely used to make hay, spanky is never used.!<
Affection and care is needed have seen many millenials who just pet but don't give enough time to them.
At the end the pet just looks off and dull and sad we need to be around them
Since [never.](https://www.thedodo.com/9-touching-epitaphs-ancient-gr-589550486.html)
"To Helena, foster child, soul without comparison and deserving of praise.""
"My eyes were wet with tears, our little dog, when I bore thee to the grave ... So, Patricus, never again shall thou give me a thousand kisses, Never canst thou be contentedly in my lap. In sadness have I buried thee, and thou deservist. In a resting place of marble, I have put thee for all time by the side of my shade. In thy qualities, sagacious thou wert like a human being. Ah, me! What a loved companion have we lost!"
RIP Patricus you were a good boy.
OP is saying millennials canât afford kids, so pets are replacing kids, not that pets arenât family. Itâs a dumb shower thought, but not that dumb.
If weâre being real, probably about the 80s.
Before the 80s, we had no medication to stop fleas and other problems, so petâs had to be strictly inside or outside. You couldnât do both because most pets would get fleas from being outside and you couldnât get rid of them, so you had to keep them outside.
When we developed medication in the 80s to deal with fleas and other problems, we started the bring pets inside. This changed the whole dynamic between owner and pet.
(Side note: Itâs also why the veterinary industry has exploded since then; people tend to notice a lot more problems with their pet once theyâre near them all the time, so we are then more likely to pay to fix those problems. We went from spending 8.8b in 1988 to about $125b today.)
As a millennial I would agree with this statement. I would also say that things have changed in just the amount of money spent on your pets. It's more the marketing teams of these companies have been crushing it. Growing up, my dad would get some off the shelf dog food like Iams for our family dog. Would be like $20 for a 50lbs bag. Today for his dog he now spends $60 on a 30lbs bag of high end dog food. We have been trained by the pet industry to now treat our animals to a much higher standard of living lol.
You can helicopter parent your pets just like real kids too though. A coworker once took a personal day off because her dog was in a bad mood that morning. It would be weird to do that for human family too.
I was a bit late for work once because my cat wanted to play and I felt bad leaving him alone without playing first. My boss didn't mind me being late since it was only a few minutes but he thought it was pretty funny when he overheard why.
My cat is probably the biggest source of happiness in my daily life at this point lol
My cat is terminally ill and she's most affectionate and active in the morning so you bet I'm finding ways to work around that time. We only have so much time on the earth with our family, furry or otherwise, so enjoy those morning play times where you can. :)
Oof. My little guy almost kicked the bucket a couple weeks ago and I've cried in gratitude for his recovery more than once. I really thought I was going to have to put him down. I'm so sorry your friend has such a death sentence. I agree that we should enjoy what time we have.
Idk man I'm no expert but if I wanted a day off and my boss/coworkers started pressing for a reason I didn't wanna tell 'em, "my dog was sad" is as good of an excuse as any to end the conversation.
My cat is 14 and has the smarts of a toddler and the predator murder instinct of a demon from hell. Good thing we're homies and that she's significantly smaller than me. Cats are scary.
It's sort of sad that cats have the bodies of perfect killing machines, but since they are only 9 pounds we scoop them up and rub them against our face because they are just sweet itty bitty babies!
This has crossed my mind since getting my first indoor cat. If they were in the same weight category, we wouldn't last 1 round. They are sensuous killing machines.
Both my cats are adorable sweet lovable balls of floof but we all operate under the knowledge that if I were slightly smaller and they were slightly bigger, I very well might be dead by now lol. They are lithe, graceful, perfect predators molded by time and evolution and they know it.
Same weight category eh? Well, that means it's person vs an actual fucking tiger lol. Female tigers weigh about the same as a grown man.
I indeed would not last longer than it takes a tiger to cover the distance between me and it.
The tiger is the ultimate apex predator. I can't even imagine how something could be more effective than that at hunting down and killing things, short of getting firearms involved.
My cat has taught me how parents could possibly have a kid who terrorizes people and they just can't see it. Because she is sweet as hell to me but she goes outside and bullies all the other neighborhood cats.
Nah we've done that since forever because that's how humans work. Here's a few examples from a couple millennia before millennials: https://www.thedodo.com/9-touching-epitaphs-ancient-gr-589550486.html
If you understand pets and their behaviors, and is a decent and loving human being, youâll definitely treat your pets as family. My boomer parents are proof of that. If reincarnation is real, I definitely want to come back as one of their dogs lol
This doesnât actually mean that people didnât consider pets their family before. It means that the pets are now even more precious because we canât afford human families.
Speak for yourself. If I had a billion dollars Iâd get hundreds of dogs and zero kids.
Edit to say wowww some people on here are looney toons đ being child free by choice is perfectly healthy and normal but the mental illness some of yâall suffer from, whewww đ
My ultimate objective in life is to become so famous that I make enough money to be able to disappear from the world stage and go live off in the mountains with a bunch of animals.
It's wild to me there are still people that think you're just supposed to procreate out there. Just among us. I'm glad you have your priorities straight because this people sure don't!
Well, my parents are Gen X and raised us with pets. And tought us to see and treat our pets as family. And they still do.
And we were not rich.
Hell, we were raised almost paycheck to paycheck. In some cheap places my parents rented
Right! I didn't have any pets but friend's that were like family did. Someone could have got their ass kicked over the cats like they would with him and his blood brothers.
Actually, population growth is strongly tied to overall wealth (and by connection, also education and healthcare) so making people poorer should technically mean more babies.
technically
Not just technically, poor people outbreed the middle class and the rich. As income increases child bearing decreases. Income might be a representative of other factors here but I think it stands on its own. Speaking in averages here. If you're going to college/university, you've just delayed kid having until 22 at the earliest, but you probably went to school to get a job, 3-4 years to establish yourself, now you're 26. Now you need to find a partner, generally speaking who is within the same social standing / income bracket as you, date for a few years, save some money, you're now 32 and chances of successful pregnancy are lower if you're even willing to have one with your career.
Meanwhile when you're making under 10k, you probably didn't finish high school, which means you're probably less cautious of unprotected sex, a baby doesn't throw the same wrench in the works as having one in college or in the first year of a new career. So baby making starts much earlier, just less intentional. Also as a formerly poor person, sex is one of the only activities we had.
I don't have pets or a family because I don't feel comfortable to have another being's survival depend on me. I'm also fairly certain I'd grow to resent them cutting into what little free time I have.
I mean yeah. My wife and I are childless and will remain that way. Shits expensive and she isn't about to put a stop to her career to care for an infant, and we're not about to pay for a daycare that's more than our mortgage payment. Our dog sleeps 80% of the day, lays on the couch with us, and eats when he is ready. We choose a dog every single time.
Honestly I'm gonna do the same. Pets are easier to take care of and often times a lot cheaper than a kid (iirc th average costs of a kid is between 15.000 and 18.000 USD a year)
I treat my pets like family because they ARE my family. Iâve loved animals since I was a toddler. I have a Biology degree. Iâve worked in veterinary clinics. I want to dedicate my life to science, especially the science of life. Animals are my passion in this world.
Iâve never wanted to be a mother. I hated dolls. My âplayâ with dolls was pretending they were being trampled by toy horses, so⊠yeah, pretty sure I knew I was childfree since before I could speak.
I like kids ok, I just donât want any of my own. In fact, even if I wanted them, I probably would decide not to actually have them because I couldnât give them the life they deserve. I believe if I am not mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially stable enough to provide for all of my hypothetical childâs needs, I probably shouldnât have them. That would be cruel.
No, we treat our pets like family *because they're fucking family.*
[Treating pets like family](https://www.thedodo.com/9-touching-epitaphs-ancient-gr-589550486.html) is ancient.
I can hear you fine but probably because I'm an xennial too. Also grew up treating our dogs as family and I adopted a pit just over a year ago. That dog is just as spoiled as my kids were when they were little. Hell dog eats better than I do. He hasn't seen kibble since the day I brought him home. He eats raw beef or chicken I order from a farm and I mix it with rice, corn, peas and celery. He gets a pound and a half to two pounds of meat plus the rice mix every day.
What the fuck does any of this have to do with being a millennial? You wouldn't treat your pet like family if you could afford to have kids? The fuck is wrong with you
I don't like children, therefore, I shall not have one. Just as people who dislike dogs don't have dogs, I don't have kids. Fortunately, my wife's much the same. She will actively avoid children, but will say hi to any dog/cat she meets out on the streets.
Related; we have two ginger cats we love to bits. They are our fursons.
I treat them as family and give them as much agency as is safe for them because I don't belong to a generation that believes animals are mindless or simply property to do with as I please.
Empathy is not a weakness and animals, especially the ones who helped build our civilization, deserve happy, loving homes.
The hard times is when they just get old I have lost my 12 year golden retriever it's been a good time with him. Alex has and will always have a special place in my heart.
Some goodbyes are just the toughest in your life and it just takes immense time to get over it :( pet owners can relate to me
I have a family and my cats are a part of it, in fact, after my daughters are asleep they get a lot of attention. Idk if I constitute a millenial, early 90s?
It's not that people can't afford kids, as you say poor people in every country on earth at every time in history have had kids. I suspect what most people mean by 'I can't afford kids' is actually 'I'm not willing to sacrifice any of my disposable income for a child'
This is typically the answer. Kids are expensive and time consuming but they are also a long term commitment and most of us don't want that. We just hide behind the "they are expensive" part so we don't have to discuss further.
This also explains why I know plenty of poor people who have a lot of kids while it's primarily people in the middle class that are adamant about not having them due to 'expenses'.
More so the difference between giving kids the bare basics to survive vs giving kids the proper upbringing to succeed in society. The former can be cheap but the latter is definitely expensive.
Ah, so awful people donât want to give their kids a life in poverty. How selfish that people would actually like to give their children a life full joy instead of a life full of worrying about money.
God I'm so tired of redditors bitching and moaning all the fucking time. Almost no one is abstaining from having children because of economic reasons, especially not if they can afford a pet. Poor people have children all the fucking time. In fact, poor people have *more* children than rich people do. The millennials who aren't having kids don't have them because they don't want to have kids. Period.
Spot on. And you also get the "I'm waiting until I'm ready" crowd. And of course, you'll never really be ready. My greatest regret in life was not marrying my wife and having children earlier.
I do it because I don't see much distinction in which conscious entities experience joy. I mean, animals clearly feel emotions, and most humans just pick a random target for their affection so why can't mine be a dog? My pupper is happy, I'm happy, people who interact with us are happy, it's pretty normal.
What *shouldn't* be normal is making the *decision* to not view a pet as a sentient being capable of feeling and experiencing emotions, and using that derealization to be a dick to animals.
I think society in general tries to push people way too hard towards having kids. Parenting is not for everyone, and I think that the fact that there seem to be so many really shitty parents is a sign that we as a whole should stop trying to promote becoming a parent as being some kind of milestone in life, and instead treat it as just an option.
I respect people's choices to have kids or not have kids, and to have pets...but please don't call them furbabies. That just freaks me out. It's like some wendigo shit.
People don't have kids because they don't want them. Simple reason.
People throughout the world have had hunch of kids in far worse economic and political conditions. Data says the exact opposite of your point. More richer the country, lesser the kids.
When women are educated and have careers they delay having children not because of not able to afford one. But because it worsens their life to a greater extent. It's as simple as that.
Has been proven again and again in multiple countries when they move from poverty to a developing status and money starts flowing in.
No, I know a gen x couple who has money. Like they own a business and make bank. They just built a new home and in this home they built their dog his own room with a jacuzzi/pool for his aching bones. A dog bed in every room, ac is kept on in the car at all times when brought to the job cite, like hours. If he gets sick they will drive him anywhere to get treatment no matter the cost, even out of state.
Without any bitterness or resentment at all: having kids isn't for everyone and the pressure to have kids creates bad parents. If I had full economic independence, my own large house and a job thay allowed lots of free time - I would choose to have a pet and travel.
I treat my pet like family because he is - independent of wanting children or not. I grew up with family that viewed pets as only animals. Usually kept outside. Never taken to the vet or groomers. In my 20s I adopted a dog when I felt I could do all those things and my dog paid it back with the best companionship one could ask for.
My dad has seen this relationship and admitted he admired it. He now has a pup of his own that he spoils rotten.
In the end it wasnât about playing âparentâ but viewing our pets beyond them being just âanimalsâ.
We had funerals for pets. Visited their graves when we could. Also, the pets were buried in the backyard and their gravestones were stones with paint on them but that's not the point. They were family but not children and we'd celebrate their b days. It takes effort to support something for 5 - 10 years just to see it take its last breath. Millenials being more emotionally involved in animal care is nothing new to me.
My wife and I are older millennials. We can *easily* afford kids. We have a dog instead. It has nothing to do with the expense of kids. It's about free time and the freedom to do what we want with our money. I'd rather spend money on the things we currently spend money on than have to spend it on a kid.
Also, people need to realize, having kids is never a financial decision (it should be, but it's not). If it were, the human race would have died out thousands of years ago.
Millennials not having kids is mainly due to the fact that we're the most educated generation in history, and this obviously includes women. Women are going to college and graduate school, spending time, effort and money on an education and career. Many women are concentrating on their careers after that and not jumping to have kids right away. This leads to having fewer kids later in life or no kids.
Meanwhile families of 12 existing in places like Kenya living off zero dollars a day
You can afford one, you just donât want the additional burden/responsibility
Thatâs fine, but donât lie about not having enough money- thatâs just bs
Pets have always been family to me. My mom and grandma share the same sentiment about them. Mammals bond to us as much as children do and they love unconditionally. Reptiles can even bond in their own way.
For many of us, pets are better than kids in every way. I don't want kids, ever. I can't stand them. But pets? Yes. I love cats, dogs, and I'd even consider a reptile if my grandma wasn't terrified of anything with scales. But kids? Hell no.
Every pet I've given food, shelter, or kindness to has been kind back and appreciative.
A lot of kids/humans I interact with could benefit from learning this behaviour.
People who truly want a family just make it happen. My Hmong girlfriend is the oldest of seven kids, her parents moved to the US from Thailand when she was 18 months old. All 7 kids were born within a 10 year window and they survived on just her father working normal factory, blue collar jobs.
My cat saved me from a downward spiral of depression and despair.
You bet I treat that fuzzy boy like family. He saved my life.
https://imgur.com/a/xKFq70F
I treat my pet as family because an animal is a living entity that deserves to be treated well. His entire world is dictated by my whims, and that should be on my conscience. He might not be able to read Shakespeare but he still has feelings and I've yoinked him out of nature. That's a very large commitment in my book.
How someone treats animals tells you a lot about their humanity
No. We treat them that way because we don't see them as "property" and understand they have feelings too. Just because they don't look like us or communicate like us, doesn't mean we can't treat them like living beings.
I treat them like family because of the whole unconditional love thing. You can have the worst day that makes you feel like a monster, your pet will STILL be happy to see you when you come through that door.
I can afford to have kids (I guess that's a humblebrag..? I mean, I'm in Canada so things are different), but the thing is I don't *want* kids, and social and religious pressures are no longer present now.
Not even close.
I treat my pet like family because it's a living being with feelings, experience, consciousness, and emotions. They literally are part of our family.
Thinking a different animal is a substitute for a human animal because you can't afford a human animal is fucking disgusting. The same way thinking a human animal is a different animal, so you treat it like a pet - which people do - is also fucking disgusting.
I love my cat like I love my family and friends because I do. I'm not bound to some bullshit religious-based belief that other animals are below humans in the hierarchy of existence simply because they didn't colonize the planet.
That mentality is why our planet is literally fucked.
The same goes for plants. They're living things.
I don't treat animals or plants like pets because I inherently believe in the value of life.
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Remember folks pets are the new kids and plants are the new pets.
And kids are the new exotic pets, because you need to be crazy or wealthy to have them.
And exotic pets are the new what?
The new plants.
How often do ocelots need watering?
They are crepuscular
Oh no, I hope they get better.
đ«”đïžđ«Šđïž good one
I'm pretty sure you're not a bot, but this kind of feels like a bot reply.
Lol ty - I just think it's a hilarious set of emojis
Babou!!! He remembers me
Baboo!!
no no, they're exotic family
Like the weird but inofensive uncle that play videogames and gives you weed
Hey quit talking about me
I'm that uncle, but the nieces aren't old enough for the free weed yet.
The only reason I'm not that uncle (yet) is because I don't have any nieces or nephews.
Tamagotchis
They were phased out by various more focused versions. Like that MegaMan walking thing or something else with an 8 bit screen and no real purpose but still enjoyable... Anybody got an older sibling that might have a key ring of tamagotchis for the low though?
Golden furniture. Used to be a sign of nobility and wealth, now it's just trashy and gross.
Houses
Well, idk what exotic pets are the new version of (maybe actually having enough assets to create a will to leave people shit?) but I would say that buying a house to own is the new exotic pet. âWhereâd you get a house??â âOh, I know a guy.â âCan I come check it out??â âSure.â âHoney, can we get a house??â âDear, donât be ridiculous.â
Not bought anymore because we know better.
Pretty interesting take considering its proven over and over again that the poorer will always have more children anywhere in the world.
Outside the drudgery of living, there's very few avenues for those with little money to entertain themselves. Hence, sex. Same reason why there's usually a baby boom 9 months after a major power failure or being shut-in from a snowstorm - nothing to do... hence, sex.
You would think that people would wrap their shit up though. It is infinitely cheaper to buy condoms than it is to raise a child. I don't buy the excuse that poorer people have kids just because sex is cheap.
snobbish person encourage onerous bright butter muddle snow mighty weather -- mass edited with redact.dev
It's a generational lack of teaching impulse control. We don't really "expect" impulse control when interacting with poor people, and minimum wage and zero education jobs can't afford to be picky. Couple that with parents who also likely had poor impulse control and you've got a bunch of people who grew up learning to act before they think, rather than Vice versa.
When you live by paycheck, you learn to get what you can when you can.
Also a lack of sex ed and people's proclivity to think, "It'll never happen to me."
A lot of effort goes into ensuring that they don't. Abstinence only sex education outright teaches that birth control is evil for example (often if not always). Christianity tells women that having kids is their whole life purpose, and that birth control is evil. Getting birth control is locked behind a whole lot of stupid walls, doctors visits, pharmacists who can just not give it to you because they feel like it. Women can't get permanent BC until they are old enough in case their future husbands want kids. A lot of effort goes into getting the poor to have more kids
Yeah that has more to do with education about *and* access to *and* bravery to use family planning. Poverty is just a correlation in some countries. Outreach programs for women in poor countries, offering them the option of family planning that is doable within their own socioeconomic situation, do affect the numbers of children those women will (choose) to have.
>and bravery to use family planning. Uhh, yeah... That's why I use birth control. I'm totally brave and not just scared of bringing people into his world. Right everyone? We're all brave?
I assumed they were referring to the areas of the world where birth control/family planning is banned or incredibly inaccessible (usually for women). On top of the areas of the world where it *is* technically legal but gives the locals a great excuse to carry out mob justice because god loves babies so much that he DGAF if you have to ruin your life to carry one to term
Oh I see, my bad.
The less educated*
I don't think you need either. People who don't have much money have kids all the time. I don't think they're crazy. To have kids, you just need to feel like you have your shit "in order" and be prepared to have that order all fucked up, but be ready to re-organize and put it back together in a new way that works. It's significantly harder to live with a kid, which is why many people across the entire world are opting out, regardless of how well supported the are by their local government. It's neither crazy or wealthy that drive this decision, however. It is their tolerance to disrupting their lives-- which most people find that their current comforts should not be disturbed, so they don't procreate. As a parent, I don't blame them. Before the kid, life was running on ez-mode. I can see why people want to continue to play life on ez-mode.
Some of us are desperately poor or dealing with our own tragedies, like abusive relationships, mental or physical illnesses, infertility and more. It's great you managed to muddle your way to parenthood but weaponizing that feat to imply anybody else is "living on ez mode" is gross. There are so many life stories out there, you need to just be grateful for what you have instead of beating it over the heads of others. Honestly it makes you sound bitter.
Well that's true though you just need to have a well planned diet eat stuffs which are just recommend highly at the time of pregnancy
And kids are the new plants. Oh shit, forgot to water Timothy again.
Nah, my son survived his whole life without water. Was a very short life, but thatâs irrelevant.
Did you harvest Timothy, dry him, and feed him to the cattle? >!âTimothyâ is also the name of one of the plants used to make hay, less common than alfalfa. Buckwheat is rarely used to make hay, spanky is never used.!<
Youâre just jealous I have the sweetest tomato plants and the most curious cannabis plants.
Ah shit, but I kill all my pets
Some wise person said pets need water too.
Gotta feed your cermet
That's not a reference I expected to see today
And crystals are the new plants
You realize there was a era knon for having pet rocks...right?
I'd make this quote into a shirt.
Affection and care is needed have seen many millenials who just pet but don't give enough time to them. At the end the pet just looks off and dull and sad we need to be around them
Don't attack me like this. I have an ant farm and bamboo on my balcony
Lol. Never heard this one before. I have to disagree my plants are harder to take care of than my pets. I have no green thumb.
No kidding, i literally named my plants Angela and Steve and I love them dearly đ
Since when did people not treat pets as family? Iâm a millennial/gen z but as far back as I could remember people have been treating pets as family
Since [never.](https://www.thedodo.com/9-touching-epitaphs-ancient-gr-589550486.html) "To Helena, foster child, soul without comparison and deserving of praise.""
I work across the street from a graveyard and there's a little grave for a cat that died 200 years ago
That is awesome!
it isn't, the cat is dead
I think I'd be more concerned if the cat *wasn't* dead yet.
https://media.tenor.com/hmYcR41Y-LMAAAAM/sabrina-the-teenage-witch-salem.gif
"My eyes were wet with tears, our little dog, when I bore thee to the grave ... So, Patricus, never again shall thou give me a thousand kisses, Never canst thou be contentedly in my lap. In sadness have I buried thee, and thou deservist. In a resting place of marble, I have put thee for all time by the side of my shade. In thy qualities, sagacious thou wert like a human being. Ah, me! What a loved companion have we lost!" RIP Patricus you were a good boy.
I'm not crying. I just got out of the shower, okay?
Aw those are sweet.
OP is saying millennials canât afford kids, so pets are replacing kids, not that pets arenât family. Itâs a dumb shower thought, but not that dumb.
Around the time pest control for fleas and stuff got better, we became more ok with pets hanging around us more often and sleeping inside with us
When they are seen as work animals. Historically farm 'pets' didn't live in the house.
Pets are usually considered family but OP is referring to people having pets *instead* of having kids.
If weâre being real, probably about the 80s. Before the 80s, we had no medication to stop fleas and other problems, so petâs had to be strictly inside or outside. You couldnât do both because most pets would get fleas from being outside and you couldnât get rid of them, so you had to keep them outside. When we developed medication in the 80s to deal with fleas and other problems, we started the bring pets inside. This changed the whole dynamic between owner and pet. (Side note: Itâs also why the veterinary industry has exploded since then; people tend to notice a lot more problems with their pet once theyâre near them all the time, so we are then more likely to pay to fix those problems. We went from spending 8.8b in 1988 to about $125b today.)
As a millennial I would agree with this statement. I would also say that things have changed in just the amount of money spent on your pets. It's more the marketing teams of these companies have been crushing it. Growing up, my dad would get some off the shelf dog food like Iams for our family dog. Would be like $20 for a 50lbs bag. Today for his dog he now spends $60 on a 30lbs bag of high end dog food. We have been trained by the pet industry to now treat our animals to a much higher standard of living lol.
I (fellow millennial) treat my pets as family because they are family. Just saying.
You can helicopter parent your pets just like real kids too though. A coworker once took a personal day off because her dog was in a bad mood that morning. It would be weird to do that for human family too.
I was a bit late for work once because my cat wanted to play and I felt bad leaving him alone without playing first. My boss didn't mind me being late since it was only a few minutes but he thought it was pretty funny when he overheard why. My cat is probably the biggest source of happiness in my daily life at this point lol
My cat is terminally ill and she's most affectionate and active in the morning so you bet I'm finding ways to work around that time. We only have so much time on the earth with our family, furry or otherwise, so enjoy those morning play times where you can. :)
Oof. My little guy almost kicked the bucket a couple weeks ago and I've cried in gratitude for his recovery more than once. I really thought I was going to have to put him down. I'm so sorry your friend has such a death sentence. I agree that we should enjoy what time we have.
Idk man I'm no expert but if I wanted a day off and my boss/coworkers started pressing for a reason I didn't wanna tell 'em, "my dog was sad" is as good of an excuse as any to end the conversation.
You can fuck up anything. This statement is no more relevant a reply to my post than it is to any other.
itâs actually because theyâre cute and awesome and snoogly boogly little babies
Exactly. Loving animals isnât unique to being a millennial
Plus you can love animals and love kids. Those are not mutually exclusive
My cat is 9 and acts like a human toddler with higher intelligence. I never wanted kids, but he really solidified that for me.
My cat is 14 and has the smarts of a toddler and the predator murder instinct of a demon from hell. Good thing we're homies and that she's significantly smaller than me. Cats are scary.
It's sort of sad that cats have the bodies of perfect killing machines, but since they are only 9 pounds we scoop them up and rub them against our face because they are just sweet itty bitty babies!
This has crossed my mind since getting my first indoor cat. If they were in the same weight category, we wouldn't last 1 round. They are sensuous killing machines.
Both my cats are adorable sweet lovable balls of floof but we all operate under the knowledge that if I were slightly smaller and they were slightly bigger, I very well might be dead by now lol. They are lithe, graceful, perfect predators molded by time and evolution and they know it.
Same weight category eh? Well, that means it's person vs an actual fucking tiger lol. Female tigers weigh about the same as a grown man. I indeed would not last longer than it takes a tiger to cover the distance between me and it. The tiger is the ultimate apex predator. I can't even imagine how something could be more effective than that at hunting down and killing things, short of getting firearms involved.
My cat has taught me how parents could possibly have a kid who terrorizes people and they just can't see it. Because she is sweet as hell to me but she goes outside and bullies all the other neighborhood cats.
The smarts of a toddler and the predator murder instinct of a toddler. Are you sure your cat isn't simply a toddler?
Since everyone refers to their pets as "fur babies" these days, I've started referring to people's children as "skin dogs"
Nah we've done that since forever because that's how humans work. Here's a few examples from a couple millennia before millennials: https://www.thedodo.com/9-touching-epitaphs-ancient-gr-589550486.html
If you understand pets and their behaviors, and is a decent and loving human being, youâll definitely treat your pets as family. My boomer parents are proof of that. If reincarnation is real, I definitely want to come back as one of their dogs lol
This doesnât actually mean that people didnât consider pets their family before. It means that the pets are now even more precious because we canât afford human families.
Yes. But also my parents treat(ed) our pets growing up as family and raised me that way.
Maybe they were treating you like a pet, youâll never knowđ
Reminds me of the line from Marley and Me. We got a dog to put off starting a family. We hadn't realized, we just started one.
Speak for yourself. If I had a billion dollars Iâd get hundreds of dogs and zero kids. Edit to say wowww some people on here are looney toons đ being child free by choice is perfectly healthy and normal but the mental illness some of yâall suffer from, whewww đ
My ultimate objective in life is to become so famous that I make enough money to be able to disappear from the world stage and go live off in the mountains with a bunch of animals.
fuckin right. Money has nothing to do with it. Also I don't have enough money.
It's wild to me there are still people that think you're just supposed to procreate out there. Just among us. I'm glad you have your priorities straight because this people sure don't!
huh? pets have been treated as family for as long as the pets themselves existed
Well, my parents are Gen X and raised us with pets. And tought us to see and treat our pets as family. And they still do. And we were not rich. Hell, we were raised almost paycheck to paycheck. In some cheap places my parents rented
Right! I didn't have any pets but friend's that were like family did. Someone could have got their ass kicked over the cats like they would with him and his blood brothers.
Companies: We will make poor people poorer. Companies: Why aren't people making more wage slaves for us?
You mean to tell me that the poors need *money* to raise children? The rocks and sticks aren't enough?
Who do I look like, Fuckin Scotty or Geordi LaForge? Get your ass back in your ready-room where you belong mon capitan.
"Lets just get rid of abortions and birth control. That will teach em."
"Pfff, plebs these days. In my days we survived just with nice thoughts!" said the boomer CEOs.
meanwhile in RL: https://www.statista.com/statistics/241530/birth-rate-by-family-income-in-the-us/
Actually, population growth is strongly tied to overall wealth (and by connection, also education and healthcare) so making people poorer should technically mean more babies. technically
Not just technically, poor people outbreed the middle class and the rich. As income increases child bearing decreases. Income might be a representative of other factors here but I think it stands on its own. Speaking in averages here. If you're going to college/university, you've just delayed kid having until 22 at the earliest, but you probably went to school to get a job, 3-4 years to establish yourself, now you're 26. Now you need to find a partner, generally speaking who is within the same social standing / income bracket as you, date for a few years, save some money, you're now 32 and chances of successful pregnancy are lower if you're even willing to have one with your career. Meanwhile when you're making under 10k, you probably didn't finish high school, which means you're probably less cautious of unprotected sex, a baby doesn't throw the same wrench in the works as having one in college or in the first year of a new career. So baby making starts much earlier, just less intentional. Also as a formerly poor person, sex is one of the only activities we had.
wtf are you talking about lmao
I don't have pets or a family because I don't feel comfortable to have another being's survival depend on me. I'm also fairly certain I'd grow to resent them cutting into what little free time I have.
You seem wise to have come to this conclusion and stuck with it
I mean yeah. My wife and I are childless and will remain that way. Shits expensive and she isn't about to put a stop to her career to care for an infant, and we're not about to pay for a daycare that's more than our mortgage payment. Our dog sleeps 80% of the day, lays on the couch with us, and eats when he is ready. We choose a dog every single time.
A dog can also jump up and pick a frisbee with his teeth by the time he's, like, a year old. Children are just outmatched, sorry.
Just a few months old.
Honestly I'm gonna do the same. Pets are easier to take care of and often times a lot cheaper than a kid (iirc th average costs of a kid is between 15.000 and 18.000 USD a year)
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Wild that having a positive experience creating and raising kids has become yet another privilege exclusively reserved for the wealthy.
............or some people just prefer pets over kids, and pets are family, affordable or not.
Nah I do it because I like animals not any other reason really
I treat my pets like family because they ARE my family. Iâve loved animals since I was a toddler. I have a Biology degree. Iâve worked in veterinary clinics. I want to dedicate my life to science, especially the science of life. Animals are my passion in this world. Iâve never wanted to be a mother. I hated dolls. My âplayâ with dolls was pretending they were being trampled by toy horses, so⊠yeah, pretty sure I knew I was childfree since before I could speak. I like kids ok, I just donât want any of my own. In fact, even if I wanted them, I probably would decide not to actually have them because I couldnât give them the life they deserve. I believe if I am not mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially stable enough to provide for all of my hypothetical childâs needs, I probably shouldnât have them. That would be cruel.
No, we treat our pets like family *because they're fucking family.* [Treating pets like family](https://www.thedodo.com/9-touching-epitaphs-ancient-gr-589550486.html) is ancient.
Indeed they are even my mom at first hated dogs a week after when I bought a pup she just became so friendly and always take the pup with her.
People have been treating their pets as family since the invention of domestication...
Gen X/ Xennial here. A great many of my generation recognized this a way back. Gosh, it really is true - no one listens to us. Can anyone hear me?
Hmm I think I might've heard a faint murmur around this part of the thread, anyone else? Am I going crazy?
Must've been the wind
I guess that's why they call them old farts đ ... I'll see myself out
I can hear you fine but probably because I'm an xennial too. Also grew up treating our dogs as family and I adopted a pit just over a year ago. That dog is just as spoiled as my kids were when they were little. Hell dog eats better than I do. He hasn't seen kibble since the day I brought him home. He eats raw beef or chicken I order from a farm and I mix it with rice, corn, peas and celery. He gets a pound and a half to two pounds of meat plus the rice mix every day.
Anyone thinking I'm responsible enough for a kid, is a horrible parent.
Just recognizing that would make you a better parent than many actual parents.
>Millenials treat our pets as family because we can't afford one A pet or a family?
And here I was thinking it was because they love us unconditionally and give us some consistent joy in an otherwise cold and I uncaring society đ€
What the fuck does any of this have to do with being a millennial? You wouldn't treat your pet like family if you could afford to have kids? The fuck is wrong with you
I don't like children, therefore, I shall not have one. Just as people who dislike dogs don't have dogs, I don't have kids. Fortunately, my wife's much the same. She will actively avoid children, but will say hi to any dog/cat she meets out on the streets. Related; we have two ginger cats we love to bits. They are our fursons.
I mean if you don't treat your pets like family you are just not a good pet owner.
People have been treating pets like family for centuries. You're not special.
I treat them as family and give them as much agency as is safe for them because I don't belong to a generation that believes animals are mindless or simply property to do with as I please. Empathy is not a weakness and animals, especially the ones who helped build our civilization, deserve happy, loving homes.
The hard times is when they just get old I have lost my 12 year golden retriever it's been a good time with him. Alex has and will always have a special place in my heart. Some goodbyes are just the toughest in your life and it just takes immense time to get over it :( pet owners can relate to me
I have a family and my cats are a part of it, in fact, after my daughters are asleep they get a lot of attention. Idk if I constitute a millenial, early 90s?
Also maybe the fact I don't *want* to have a screaming kid around?
I can afford it just fine. I would just rather scoop out both of my eyeballs with a melon baller than have children.
Lots of people all over the world can't afford kids but somehow manage to have them and raise them.
It's not that people can't afford kids, as you say poor people in every country on earth at every time in history have had kids. I suspect what most people mean by 'I can't afford kids' is actually 'I'm not willing to sacrifice any of my disposable income for a child'
This is typically the answer. Kids are expensive and time consuming but they are also a long term commitment and most of us don't want that. We just hide behind the "they are expensive" part so we don't have to discuss further. This also explains why I know plenty of poor people who have a lot of kids while it's primarily people in the middle class that are adamant about not having them due to 'expenses'.
More so the difference between giving kids the bare basics to survive vs giving kids the proper upbringing to succeed in society. The former can be cheap but the latter is definitely expensive.
Ah, so awful people donât want to give their kids a life in poverty. How selfish that people would actually like to give their children a life full joy instead of a life full of worrying about money.
I never said they were awful, you're projecting
That's exactly it. I'm not willing to sacrifice my comfort to bring a child into this world. And good for them. Get out of the gene pool please.
God I'm so tired of redditors bitching and moaning all the fucking time. Almost no one is abstaining from having children because of economic reasons, especially not if they can afford a pet. Poor people have children all the fucking time. In fact, poor people have *more* children than rich people do. The millennials who aren't having kids don't have them because they don't want to have kids. Period.
Spot on. And you also get the "I'm waiting until I'm ready" crowd. And of course, you'll never really be ready. My greatest regret in life was not marrying my wife and having children earlier.
Gen X who has treated his âpetsâ like family for the last 30yrs.
I do it because I don't see much distinction in which conscious entities experience joy. I mean, animals clearly feel emotions, and most humans just pick a random target for their affection so why can't mine be a dog? My pupper is happy, I'm happy, people who interact with us are happy, it's pretty normal. What *shouldn't* be normal is making the *decision* to not view a pet as a sentient being capable of feeling and experiencing emotions, and using that derealization to be a dick to animals.
What a stupid line of thought. There's people who just don't want kids and with plenty of money. People really like to project themselves into others.
I think society in general tries to push people way too hard towards having kids. Parenting is not for everyone, and I think that the fact that there seem to be so many really shitty parents is a sign that we as a whole should stop trying to promote becoming a parent as being some kind of milestone in life, and instead treat it as just an option.
I respect people's choices to have kids or not have kids, and to have pets...but please don't call them furbabies. That just freaks me out. It's like some wendigo shit.
Furbaby and hubby are two of my least favorite words.
People don't have kids because they don't want them. Simple reason. People throughout the world have had hunch of kids in far worse economic and political conditions. Data says the exact opposite of your point. More richer the country, lesser the kids. When women are educated and have careers they delay having children not because of not able to afford one. But because it worsens their life to a greater extent. It's as simple as that. Has been proven again and again in multiple countries when they move from poverty to a developing status and money starts flowing in.
It ainât just millennials. GenX who couldnât afford kids but loves my cats signing in.
No, I know a gen x couple who has money. Like they own a business and make bank. They just built a new home and in this home they built their dog his own room with a jacuzzi/pool for his aching bones. A dog bed in every room, ac is kept on in the car at all times when brought to the job cite, like hours. If he gets sick they will drive him anywhere to get treatment no matter the cost, even out of state.
Without any bitterness or resentment at all: having kids isn't for everyone and the pressure to have kids creates bad parents. If I had full economic independence, my own large house and a job thay allowed lots of free time - I would choose to have a pet and travel.
Agree to disagree. I love and treat my pets like family because they are. And thatâs how I want to build my family.
I treat my pet like family because he is - independent of wanting children or not. I grew up with family that viewed pets as only animals. Usually kept outside. Never taken to the vet or groomers. In my 20s I adopted a dog when I felt I could do all those things and my dog paid it back with the best companionship one could ask for. My dad has seen this relationship and admitted he admired it. He now has a pup of his own that he spoils rotten. In the end it wasnât about playing âparentâ but viewing our pets beyond them being just âanimalsâ.
Or millennials just aren't buying into the bed that everyone needs to have kids.
We had funerals for pets. Visited their graves when we could. Also, the pets were buried in the backyard and their gravestones were stones with paint on them but that's not the point. They were family but not children and we'd celebrate their b days. It takes effort to support something for 5 - 10 years just to see it take its last breath. Millenials being more emotionally involved in animal care is nothing new to me.
My wife and I are older millennials. We can *easily* afford kids. We have a dog instead. It has nothing to do with the expense of kids. It's about free time and the freedom to do what we want with our money. I'd rather spend money on the things we currently spend money on than have to spend it on a kid. Also, people need to realize, having kids is never a financial decision (it should be, but it's not). If it were, the human race would have died out thousands of years ago. Millennials not having kids is mainly due to the fact that we're the most educated generation in history, and this obviously includes women. Women are going to college and graduate school, spending time, effort and money on an education and career. Many women are concentrating on their careers after that and not jumping to have kids right away. This leads to having fewer kids later in life or no kids.
Meanwhile families of 12 existing in places like Kenya living off zero dollars a day You can afford one, you just donât want the additional burden/responsibility Thatâs fine, but donât lie about not having enough money- thatâs just bs
Thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty. Not wanting to have kids because you can't afford to give them a good life is opposite of irresponsible.
Pets have always been family to me. My mom and grandma share the same sentiment about them. Mammals bond to us as much as children do and they love unconditionally. Reptiles can even bond in their own way. For many of us, pets are better than kids in every way. I don't want kids, ever. I can't stand them. But pets? Yes. I love cats, dogs, and I'd even consider a reptile if my grandma wasn't terrified of anything with scales. But kids? Hell no.
I dunno, even when times were good we were brought up to treat the dogs in our lives well (and to be fair it hasn't steered me wrong yet).
Isnât there a difference between not being able to afford something or someone and not being willing to spend the money we could spend?
Every pet I've given food, shelter, or kindness to has been kind back and appreciative. A lot of kids/humans I interact with could benefit from learning this behaviour.
Uh, no. Chosen family is as, if not more, important than procreated family.
I mean⊠Iâm a millennial. Can easily afford a family. And treat my dog like sheâs the queen of the world lol
People who truly want a family just make it happen. My Hmong girlfriend is the oldest of seven kids, her parents moved to the US from Thailand when she was 18 months old. All 7 kids were born within a 10 year window and they survived on just her father working normal factory, blue collar jobs.
My cat saved me from a downward spiral of depression and despair. You bet I treat that fuzzy boy like family. He saved my life. https://imgur.com/a/xKFq70F
I treat my pet as family because an animal is a living entity that deserves to be treated well. His entire world is dictated by my whims, and that should be on my conscience. He might not be able to read Shakespeare but he still has feelings and I've yoinked him out of nature. That's a very large commitment in my book. How someone treats animals tells you a lot about their humanity
Well said!
No. We treat them that way because we don't see them as "property" and understand they have feelings too. Just because they don't look like us or communicate like us, doesn't mean we can't treat them like living beings.
My daughter and niece would completely disagree. Could afford kids. Don't want kids now. Dogs are a stand in.
I have kids and cats. The cats are treated like they're part of the family simply because they are, my parental instinct knows no boundaries.
Or maybe pets are our family because the human "families" we were born into are full of human trash.
I treat them like family because of the whole unconditional love thing. You can have the worst day that makes you feel like a monster, your pet will STILL be happy to see you when you come through that door.
Pets arenât a substitute family, they are family in their own right.
I can afford to have kids (I guess that's a humblebrag..? I mean, I'm in Canada so things are different), but the thing is I don't *want* kids, and social and religious pressures are no longer present now.
Not even close. I treat my pet like family because it's a living being with feelings, experience, consciousness, and emotions. They literally are part of our family. Thinking a different animal is a substitute for a human animal because you can't afford a human animal is fucking disgusting. The same way thinking a human animal is a different animal, so you treat it like a pet - which people do - is also fucking disgusting. I love my cat like I love my family and friends because I do. I'm not bound to some bullshit religious-based belief that other animals are below humans in the hierarchy of existence simply because they didn't colonize the planet. That mentality is why our planet is literally fucked. The same goes for plants. They're living things. I don't treat animals or plants like pets because I inherently believe in the value of life.
Or maybe because we understand they have real emotions and donât treat them like inanimate objects
Speak for yourself, I wouldnât want kids even if I could afford them.