30 Super Valid And On-Point Complaints People Have About Life In 2023

We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community, "What about today isn't as good as it used to be?" and we received a whooole lot of answers like this:

So that gives you a sense of how people are feeling!

But since "all of it" would make for a really short post, here are 30 specific complaints people have about life today:

1."Everyone is so rude. Some people even had the audacity to come after Dolly Parton after she wore a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader uniform, saying it wasn't 'appropriate' … WHY?!"

2."Subscriptions for every damn thing under the sun...that you have to renew annually so whatever you buy never actually feels like it's yours."

—ravenbard

"Having to subscribe to newspaper websites in order to view their news articles, and subscribing to normal everyday services in order to use them, such as bikes and scooters in the city."

—kims41ec63ebc

3."Because of cellphones, anyone with a job is essentially 'on call' ALL OF THE TIME. There’s no escaping the constant stress of society."

—helloiamplant

4."Shows being axed at the drop of a hat and leaving fans forever and perpetually hanging. It's become such a pattern I'm wary of getting into anything new."

5."Women’s rights in the States."

—barriv

6."Finances. Everyday expenses make a major dent, making living life as we're used to very difficult."

—anonymous

7."The fact that I paid nearly $70 to feed my family of four at Five Guys. F**king FIVE GUYS!"

8."The durability and longevity of products. It used to be that you could buy one gadget and have it last decades. Nowadays, you're lucky if it lasts three years. We're accumulating so much e-waste in landfills, it's alarming."

—ravenbard

9."Customer service wherever you go is worse than ever."

—puertorican

10."Manners — since the invention of social media, arseholes can insult, belittle, and try to pigeonhole you through the anonymity of a screen."

11."I never liked leaving the house, but now I dread it. Eating out, running errands, and shopping have all been spoiled by active shooters and COVID. I feel like I ask myself if it’s worth it, and the answer is rarely yes anymore. It sucks."

—buzzkeeper

"Yep, I agree! I’m always terrified of a shooting happening when I’m in public. Growing up it was always 'Oh, that’ll never happen to me!' and now it’s 'Where and when will it happen to me?'”

—torismith24

12."Prizes in cereal boxes. Bring. Them. Back."

—ravenbard

13."100% air travel. It’s always been an undertaking, but now it feels like if you’re flying economy, you might as well be livestock. One bathroom for 20+ rows of people; if you’re at the back, the whole flight is just people standing beside you waiting to pee, the thinnest seats, frequently no screens, seatbelt sign ALWAYS ON, meager food that costs a bunch. Such a garbage way to start and end a vacation."

14."Facts have been clouded by the conspiracy theorists. So when you’re young and learning, you really have to know who to trust, which is an impossible task for a child raised in a more isolated community…so the problem cycles out of control."

—helloiamplant

15."You can't scroll the internet without being preyed on by advertising."

—puertorican

16."Dating. I am sick and tired of hearing 'What's your snap?' instead of a dinner date or the movies or anything like that. I actually had a guy tell me he 'doesn't do the whole "talking in person" thing.'"

17."Everything just being so damn expensive and companies just taking every opportunity for another cash grab while giving us less for it."

—panda_13

18."Everything is costing more and getting less. Everything. Concurrent inflation and shrinkflation."

—luxahoy

19."No one can afford a house because no one is being paid enough."

20."Black Friday used to be fun! I'd go to the craft stores by 6 a.m., then go to the mall by 7 a.m. where you could find all kinds of deals that were not in the paper. I would also drive by Best Buy to check out the people camping in line in tents. Once they opened everything up on Thanksgiving Day, it knocked the fun out of it, and all of those retail workers lost a good day with their families. Now it's just a big mess."

—born_with_no_bones

"Maybe this is because it was recent but Black Friday. I was so excited when I was little to wait outside stores at midnight and burst in and lick things out. Now it’s all online, and there’s not even a point of going in person. Why does Cyber Monday still exist if it’s all online from the start?"

—rosekutsaftis

21."The holiday season. It just doesn't feel as magical or as special as it did before."

—anonymous

22."I miss having a stable climate...feel like pure shit...just want it back."

23."This is kind of a silly one, but thrifting. For one, lots of thrift stores are just as expensive if not more expensive than retail stores. And nowadays, a lot of clothing that’s getting recycled at cheaper places like Goodwill is fast fashion stuff or things from the early 2000s (which wasn’t exactly the peak fashion era). I miss being able to get $8 jeans made from that quality 20th-century denim!"

—anonymous

24."Music has definitely gotten worse. Auto-Tune, reality TV shows (X-Factor, BGT, etc.) churning out the same insipidly plastic shite with no creativity or talent whatsoever, so they have to rely on who they're dating, or what clothes they've bought, etc., to stay in the limelight, rather than how good their music is."

—solongandthanksforallthefish1

25."Narcissism has gotten worse since the rise of social media and the need to take thousands of unnecessary photos of yourself."

26."College education. Both my uncle and best friend from college are college professors, so I say this, in part, using their experiences. College courses used to be set up to be difficult, students had to show some level of mastery of the topic before they could pass, no grading on a curve. When I was in school, the first quarter of calculus had a 50% failure rate for students the first time they took it."

"Obviously, this doesn't apply to every course or major, but there are classes and majors you shouldn't dumb down. You don't want an engineer to design a suspension bridge if they can't do the basic calculations."

—markh63

27."Buying culture… These influencers are just walking ads for so many brands! Between beauty trends, household cleaners, seasonal decorations…they suck people into the 'buy, buy, buy!' while the prices have skyrocketed!"

—anner2991

28."Fast-food places all dropped their grilled chicken options because it’s soooo hard to store it. So we are now a deep-fried America."

—helloiamplant

29."My cat, she’s broken."

And lastly, we'll leave you with a counter point-of-view:

30."These are the Good Old Days, even with its many flaws. Someday, we’ll be wishing it was 2023 again."

—bestcookie705