Here’s One Thing Millennials Aren’t Killing

Photo credit: Andrew Baron, CC BY 2.0.

I don’t know if you saw this tweet thread the other day, but it’s great:

Okay so I'm actually working on this now, and here's my favorite headline I've found. https://t.co/RbaIZ3DIBU

— regan (@theindiealto) August 9, 2017

Did you think I was kidding pic.twitter.com/PsS8sca31p

— regan (@theindiealto) August 15, 2017

However, there’s one thing that Millennials aren’t killing. A SINGLE CONSUMER MARKET WE HAVE ALLOWED TO LIVE.

Can you guess what it is?

If you are a long-term Billfold reader, you might remember the phrase “Middle Class Snack Kids.” Lindsay Katai’s essay about only being able to afford snacks was The Billfold’s first feature article, published on April 4, 2012:

“Middle Class Snack Kid” is a term I made up for people who do not spend a lot on themselves on the whole, but are running themselves into the ground buying food and drink. I coined this term for myself because I needed to diagnose my disease — the disease being that no matter how much money I make and how little it feels like I spend on myself, I am always living paycheck to paycheck. How can I be so damn broke all the time? Me! The person who doesn’t own a single piece of furniture that wasn’t given to her for free! The person who will wear one pair of jeans until they literally fall apart! The person who will wait until she looks like a crazy mountain woman before she will shell out $40 for a haircut!

Then it hit me: snacks. Fuck. I am all about snacking.

Anyway, I’d suggest you re-read Katai’s essay instead of this CNBC post about Millennials saving Hershey’s through their love of snacking, but the point is that Millennials have kept something alive for once. We’ve destroyed lunch and napkins and marmalade in our quest to buy Cadbury Creme Eggs year-round and eat Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups stuffed with smaller Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and anything that is not a snack should stay away because we are coming to get you.

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