Things boomers can afford that Gen Z couldn’t touch
Because golden toilets are just slightly out of reach
By Joseph Casciaro
Visuals By Berry Shi
We all know money can buy happiness and unfortunately for us students, we usually don’t have a lot of it. We know the hustle of looking for all the discounts we can get, unlike the world’s boomers; many of whom are established in this economy with all the money they could want. Boomers are people born roughly between 1945 and 1965, just after the Second World War. With their boring nine-to-five jobs, steady retirement funds and of course, unnecessary purchases, they are definitely a level-up from us measly students.
Here are some of the lavish, over-the-top expenses a boomer wouldn’t hesitate buying that us Gen Z-ers wouldn’t think to touch.
Golden toilets
Let’s be real. If you need to go, you're going to go—no matter where it is. However, for those rich boomers, there is a standard of bathroom design that needs to be met. They treat their go-time as an opportunity to sit upon a gold-plated throne. Golden toilets can cost about $2,000 and for some of us students, that is more than we make in two months. In some cases, that's not even a semester-worth’s tuition. Quite the ridiculous investment for something that will hold what you had for dinner last night.
Luxurious cars
A lot of boomers love their fancy cars and riding in style. They look to fill their garages with Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Mercedes and McLarens. It seems like it's their way of flexing the money they have no matter where they go. And yet, students are pumping their fists with pride by having their Presto cards not decline when they get on the subway. Be honest. We all know the shame of hearing the “card decline” beep and the machine turning red on a packed bus. If you’re a student with your driver’s license, you’re probably saving your money and not buying a car. You can just borrow your mom's and bring it back to the Vine days saying, “I’m in me mum’s car, vroom vroom!”
Kopi Luwak
Have you heard of Kopi Luwak? Neither have we! Also called “cat poop coffee,” this is not like any other coffee—it’s created when Indonesian cat-like animals called civets eat coffee cherries, but they cannot fully digest the coffee beans in the fruit. The beans are then collected and the feces are cleaned off, leaving them to be processed into coffee. Some say this creates the most delicious coffee in the world and due to the low supply, it can cost between $30 to $100 per cup. That is an absurd price for a cup of coffee. But I guess if you’re rich, why not give it a try? As for us students, I think we can stick to Tim Hortons and Red Bulls to get us through the rough all-nighters at the end of the semester.