[Syd Thrift]

Just as an aside here...

1. I suspect that dcordash is in the cohort that was handing out participation trophies, not receiving them.

2. Speaking as Gen Xer, we never asked for those things, and neither did millennials and Zoomers. Those were never really anything but boomers' desires to feel special through their kids, and while I do think there is a lot of pride to be had just in finishing a tough challenge regardless of if you win or not, the entitlement here is from the generation that started in with protests in the 60s and early 70s but then forgot what that was all about by the 1980s.

Anyway, to the original point, I agree that it is maddening when people respond to stats with more anecdotes. I really do try to keep my mind open when newer posters come in with stuff (and I'm fairly active on OOTP Reddit, too, which has a completely different group of users who also trend a lot younger than these boards do) but maaan, a lot of this reminds me of my days doing customer service for cell phones where 15 straight people would call in with the exact same question and I'd have to sit back and remind myself that this is the first time I'm answering the question for *them*. That does not of course excuse the doubling down, the willful ignorance, and the Main Character Syndrome we're getting from this one particular thread.