You've probably been hearing a lot about inflation. Everything from milk to gas to used cars is more expensive and Americans are feeling the crunch.
Earlier this week, as The Associated Press points out, "the government said its consumer price index soared 6.2% from a year ago — the biggest 12-month jump since 1990."
Businesses have struggled to meet demand as the economy rebounds despite global supply chain disruptions that continue to be exacerbated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But even before all this, many people were struggling to afford the basic necessities.
But you can dream, can't you? Whether it's the basics or luxuries, people were all too keen to share their thoughts after Redditor Benjamin-Dover- asked the online community,
"What's something you really want but can't afford?"
"I could technically..."
"A place of my own with no roommates. I could technically afford an apartment but it would be literally over 3X the rent I'm paying now for one bedroom. Ugh."
Vibrations
I remember how thrilled I was to finally live in my own space without roommates. I still have my place and I understand what a privileged position that puts me in.
"I'm so tired of being in pain."
"I've literally never had the money for a dentist. Mine all need to be pulled (what's left of them) and there's no way I can come up with the $8k for all the 'surgical removals' plus dentures."
"I'm so tired of being in pain."
pokey1984
This is terrible. I wish healthcare in the United States wasn't such a racket.
"Working every day sucks..."
"Retirement. Working every day sucks when you're 66."
lodger238
"I really want..."
"I really want to have a simple house. I don't have a family house to go to if something in my life goes bad, I have to rent. I would really like the idea of safety that comes with having a house."
imlayingonthetable
I still rent, but at least I live alone. Owning property of some kind would be the dream.
"Lost my job due to COVID..."
"Christmas for my sons. Lost my job due to COVID in 2020. Got a new job making half the pay but the bills stacked up. COVID set so many people back. It stinks."
hollyinnm
The Strangest Superstitions People Actually Observe | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
The world can be a superstitious place. If you've ever knocked on wood or thrown salt over your shoulder then you've run into one or two throughout your life...I hope things look up for you! Sadly, COVID-19 has continued to wreak financial havoc.
"The problem is that..."
"Car. If I were in any other state making what I make, this wouldn't be an issue."
"The problem is that what I'm currently making by NYC standards is steadily shifting from the lower middle class to the working poor. I'm grateful for what I have, but f**k me if it ain't getting harder to live here."
WanderingGenesis
NYC is so ridiculously expensive, it's not even funny.
"I can't move along further..."
"To fix my screwed-up spine. I can't move along further without paying a large sum upfront, even with health insurance."
RiftCity
Again, healthcare in the United States is a racket. Why is this considered okay?
"My neighbors..."
"A privacy fence! My neighbors are complete asses who harass me and my family and a fence would really solve a lot of the problems I'm having in my life."
Plenty-College-9146
"My freedom..."
"My freedom from student loans."
dowhatchafeel
Speaking of rackets... education in the United States is definitely one. The student loan crisis is obscene!
"Being comfortable in life..."
"Being comfortable in life and not just stressing my way through one day at a time."
tasteslikesailor
Probably all any of us want. If only.
Will things ease soon? Will inflation go eff off? We don't know how long this will last but there is no doubt that Americans are tired and stressed out.
What do you wish you could afford? Feel free to tell us in the comments below!
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There are some things I just won't say no to. Food, for one. I just love to eat. Bonus points if we're going to go somewhere. Eating can be a very intimate and communal experience.
It's the best, okay? Chinese? Indian? Want a burger? Why don't we hit up a pub somewhere and sit down for a pint and see where our stomachs lead us?
Yeah, my wallet doesn't always like it, but you know what, food is what makes life worth living.
There are plenty of other things out there that people are equally as passionate about. We heard all about them after Redditor fistbump101 asked the online community,
"What is something you can never say NO to?"
"Free money."
"Free money."
"Well, I wouldn't say no to it, but I'd need some pretty darn concrete assurances that it was actually free. People rarely just give away money with no strings attached."
Reinventing_Wheels
In our time of rampant economic inequality, there are countless people out there who would looove some free money.
"Food."
"Food. I never say no when offered free food."
YouFavDealGuy
To be fair, I think I'd draw the line at a stranger offering me candy...
"Staying in..."
"Staying in over going out."
busyB_83
You know, even as someone who is pretty much an extrovert... the occasional moment when I've had plans get canceled is a level of joy that I really enjoy experiencing.
"In that order."
"Money, weed, ice cream, sexy times. In that order."
LazySilver
I'm pretty sure Lil Wayne has a song about that.
"Walking in the woods..."
"Walking in the woods when the weather is pristine."
thomport
A lovely feeling. Want to feel at peace? Take a nice stroll in the woods. Just make sure to stay on the path.
"My mother's Sunday roast."
"My mothers Sunday roast. And I mean a PROPER. English Sunday roast. With actual gravy, not the American stuff. Roast potatoes, roast leg of lamb, carrots, peas, Yorkshire puddings."
"Especially on a cold, wet, rainy Irish winter day after you’ve just come in from the cold and changed into sweatpants and a warm hoodie. Very particular but amazing."
Pitiful-Bass-535
Oh, you're definitely speaking my language. I love all of that and it's one of my favorite things whenever I'm in Ireland or the UK!
"The best I've done..."
"Buying a pet I want. The best I've done is wait three days but we went back and got the rats."
kooc98
I hope those rats are doing well!
"Cinnamon rolls..."
"Cinnamon rolls and almost anything from Taco Bell that doesn't have beans potatoes or gravy."
broken_doll_911
You had me until you got into all your Taco Bell stipulations! How dare you, sir or madam! How dare you!
"A big piece..."
"Cutting myself a big piece of chocolate cake."
Chaleowin
You had me in the first half, I'm not going to lie.
"A new Xeno game..."
"A new Xeno game from Tetsuya Takahashi and his team."
[deleted]
Ah, I see that you, too, are a person of culture.
Admit it, you have weaknesses too! There is something out there that is your kryptonite!
Have some suggestions of your own to share? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
Nothing is forever. It's a grim reality but no matter how hard we try and ignore it, our inevitable demise looms ahead on the horizon.
And while we individually have our unknown expiration dates, the fate of the human race is an unfathomable mystery that will continue to elude us.
Hopefully, the fateful event is thousands of years beyond our lifetime.
Curious to hear people's predictions, Redditor Nuggl3s7 asked:
"What will be the reason for human extinction?"
Redditors had their sci-fi theories.
Remember Pixar's WALL-E?
"Im gonna have to go with the WALL-E theory that we will turn our planet into a giant waste basket."
– SheriNormand
We Are Not Alone
"Something from space probably, there is some scary stuff in the void."
- Mylastbreathgoing
An AI Revolution
"We merge with AI end become a different species, thus ending homo sapiens."
– Soggy-Impact-5852
It might take one huge impact.
We Would Never See This Coming
"Either a massive space object colliding with Earth, or Mother Nature finally gets tired of our sh*t and concocts a virus 10 times more contagious than COVID and several times more fatal than Ebola."
– POL4Life
A Big Bang Theory
"A Coca-Cola truck hits a Mentos truck."
– No_Finger9730
Ouch
"Every human simultaneously stubs their toe at the same time. R.I.P."
– LeakingLantern
Some speculate the big disaster will be one of our own making.
Self-Destruction
"Generous of you to assume it will be error. Right now there's a large percentage of the decision makers in the world operating by 'This will have catastrophic effects if everyone does it, but it will be profitable if I do it. So everyone else needs to stop, but I'm not going to, and also I'll be dead by the time the really bad consequences happen so f'k all y'all I guess.'"
– ProjectGO
Corruption
"For realz tho…no big catastrophe….just a slow drip of f'k you gimme your money while I ruin the world and whattya gonna do about it brah? Nothing, that’s what. If you can’t stop me I’m gonna do it indefinitely. Big fish eat the little fish. Then eventually no little fish left and big fish go bye bye 👋"
– BeneficialBig153
There's A Sad Pattern
"Considering how poorly humanity as a whole dealt with this time's pandemic, and how much we overestimated their intelligence, yeah. 5 centuries is a generous amount of time, I give it 3 centuries."
– ToastWithNaomi
Mea Culpa
"This, I think it will be our fault and only our fault."
– RandellX
Growing Lack Of Intelligence
"Gross stupidity. In less than 500 years max."
– Centretek
Many Redditors speculated our own shortcomings would inevitably be the end of us instead of a meteor shower or a hostile takeover of extra-terrestrials.
Interesting.
It says a lot about our lack of humanity, doncha think?
There is little more important than a good night's sleep.
But getting a good night's sleep isn't always easy to come by.
As a result, many people have an important ritual or method which helps them fall asleep easily and wake up feeling rejuvenated.
So much so, that if they attempt to sleep without this method or helping hand, they might find themselves staying awake all night.
Redditor AdministrativeFox784 was curious to hear the things which were necessary for people to have a peaceful night's sleep, leading them to ask:
"What is something you absolutely cannot fall asleep without?"
Sleepless Nights...
"Apparently hours of sleep deprivation."- RaphaelSolo
Tired Stewie Griffin GIF by Family GuyGiphyGive Your Knees The Support They Need
A pillow between my legs."- frann_ie
A Cool Dark Room
"A fan running and complete darkness."- Dangerous_Effort3355
"My fan on, I'll wake up immediately if it turns off."- keznaa
"Darkness."- MekkoL
Star Night GIF by TRTGiphySilence!
"Ear plugs."
"I started wearing them when my wife started snoring like a buzz saw."
"Now I can't sleep without em."
"It's almost become a Pavlovian thing where putting them in almost instantly helps me fall asleep."- fartswhenhappy
When Your Mind Is Racing, It Has To Wear Itself Out Eventually...
"An underlying sense of dread and impending existential crisis."- Bigby11
Keeping You Physically And Emotionally Warm...
"A blanket to hug."
"I curl it up and then hug it."
"I love it Soooooo much!"
"I think this is because I grew out of stuffed animals pretty quick, I was allergic to them, they made cough, and I needed something to replace those fuzzy creatures."- plop8624
Stirring The Imagination To Awaken The Dreams
"Either reading a book or watching a relaxing youtube video."- fh3131
It would be nice if we all had on/off buttons which allow us to sleep undisturbed.
But until we do, our own, personal rituals will have to do.
People Confess Which Illnesses They Think They Have But Aren't Willing To Get Checked Out
It's very easy to jump to conclusions about a small sniffle... or noticing what looks like the beginning of a rash.
Most of the time, It's easy enough to rub it off as just a cold, or an allergic reaction which might clear up with some lotion, and thus don't feel the need to alert their doctor about it.
Though others might worry that it could be the beginning of something more serious.
But even with that looming possibility, they still avoid seeing a doctor, perhaps afraid to learn that their fears turned out to be true.
Redditor Kith-Kath was curious to hear from people who refused to get confirmation from a doctor that they may be suffering from a specific illness or ailment, leading them to ask:
"What illness do you think you have but aren't willing to get it checked?"
Depression
"Probably depression."- Kho-yi-dwags
Hypothermia? Or Chronic Fever?
"I'm always stupid cold."
"Hands and feet especially."- SimplyJustKarma
Cancer
"My family has a history of cancer."
"I've lately been having a lot of the same symptoms my dad had when he first got diagnosed."- nottherealneal
Schizophrenia
"I doubt it's full-on schizophrenia, but sometimes I hear things other people don't, or see distinctive things out of the corner of my eyes that aren't really there."
"Idk, one time I was at work and saw a customer in my peripheral, but when I turned to go take their order no one was there."
"Also, I was recently at a park on an overcast day."
"I was chilling on a bench with some friends, and I noticed the mulch moving weirdly."
"We all looked in the same spot at the same time, after I had mentioned it, they wanted to see, and although I saw it happen, they didn't."
"And it wasn't this subtle little movement."
"It looked like tiny little explosions in the mulch."
"At random spots, it would just go flying, like the smallest land mine just went off."
"It was f*cking impossible to miss."
"I have enough mental illnesses as it is, I don't want to lengthen the list." -Reddit
Autism
"I think I’m on the spectrum."- TheCanadianRedHood
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
"I already know for a fact I have OCD/Hoarding issues, but I don't have the money or time to deal with it, and honestly, it's not a huge problem."
"Right now."
"But I sh*t you not, watch the show 'Monk' and just imagine the main character is a Black guy in Detroit and you know me backwards and forwards."- ThatGamingAsshole
"OCD and maybe Dyslexia."- UnstableThought
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
"I think I have IBS but don't want to go to the doctor about it."- No-Understanding8583
"Some kind of bowel disease."
"Been having diarrhea chronically."- Reddit
Deafness Or Hearing Loss
"I think I'm going a bit deaf or have some kind of auditory processing disorder."
"My left ear rings and if I am going to understand someone I have to watch them talk to hear them if that makes sense?"
"I have been a bit worried because it has been getting worse."
"I hate having to ask someone to repeat themselves three times before I understand what they are saying."- sfoxx
As we are, hopefully, coming to the end of a global pandemic, it's understandable to jump to worrisome conclusions regarding our health.
But if you think something seems off, and doesn't seem to go away after a day or two, always check in with your doctor.
As it could be the beginning of something much more serious.