i don't think it's right to blame my generation for entitlement issues -- if anything, it's the parents' fault. i happened to have great parents that taught me what it means to work hard and make a living. i do see a lack of that in many of my friends, who have parents that will bend over backwards to make sure they never got any bumps and bruises. and if you think us guys in our 20s are bad, wait until you see the up and coming crop of sissies that are 11,12, 13 years old now!

i can definitely relate to the living with parents into the 20's thing, though, and anyone who can't is out of touch with how expensive it is to be out on your own these days. to put things in perspective, i think your average 23 year old is going to be lucky to find a job paying 30k a year(most of my friends make far less), and after paying rent, utilities and my fuel bills, i'm lucky to make ends meet. i'm beginning to have doubts that i'll ever own a house, when i'm seeing "starter homes" advertised for $220,000 in olympia. money does not go as far as it did 5, 10, 20 years ago. we moved to lacey in 1986 - my folks bought a house on an acre for under $40,000(making roughly that in a year at my dad's job), which now is worth close to 200k.