What's with teenagers these days and their never-ending demands for money?!
My
17-year-old son is a big fan of the local Starbucks here in Greater Noida,
where he and a bunch of his teenager friends often hang out. While they usually
have limited amounts of cash to spend there, they know there’s always UPI
payments. While my son is still two months away from having his own savings
bank account and cannot yet make UPI payments on his own, some of his friends
do have a PayTM wallet and can make payments. For bigger payments,
which they can’t manage on their own, all they have to do is call up somebody
or the other’s parents, share a QR code and the payment is made.
Most parents – certainly including my wife and I – have come to accept the fact that everyday there will be demands for UPI payments. Cabs. Coffee. Snacks. Movie tickets. Autorickshaw rides. Rapido bike rides. And, less frequently, clothes, shoes and gifts for friends’ happy birthdays. It’s a never-ending drain on our resources but one that we have, unfortunately, had to learn to live with.
Some parents don’t seem to be too bothered with this and seem to think it’s okay for teenagers to blow thousands of rupees every month on random frivolous expenses. Not on things that kids necessarily need, only stuff they want. Stuff they can easily do without. Yes, parents with higher disposable incomes might not feel the pinch while those on a tighter budget may find frivolous spending harder to deal with. But regardless of their parents’ financial means, I do find it bothersome that most teenagers these days refuse to understand that money in middle-class households is hard-earned and that it is a limited resource. Someone has had to work hard to earn the damn stuff and others need to be prudent while spending.
Most parents – certainly including my wife and I – have come to accept the fact that everyday there will be demands for UPI payments. Cabs. Coffee. Snacks. Movie tickets. Autorickshaw rides. Rapido bike rides. And, less frequently, clothes, shoes and gifts for friends’ happy birthdays. It’s a never-ending drain on our resources but one that we have, unfortunately, had to learn to live with.
Some parents don’t seem to be too bothered with this and seem to think it’s okay for teenagers to blow thousands of rupees every month on random frivolous expenses. Not on things that kids necessarily need, only stuff they want. Stuff they can easily do without. Yes, parents with higher disposable incomes might not feel the pinch while those on a tighter budget may find frivolous spending harder to deal with. But regardless of their parents’ financial means, I do find it bothersome that most teenagers these days refuse to understand that money in middle-class households is hard-earned and that it is a limited resource. Someone has had to work hard to earn the damn stuff and others need to be prudent while spending.