I was talking to one of my older co-workers, and he was asking why I work two jobs, I told him because my rent is $1800. He was like well damn you must live in a mansion, I said no just an 800 sqft apartment. He didnt believe me at all, so I showed him on my phone what all the apartments are going for in our town, and he was like wtf my mortgage is half that on a 4br house. He showed me pics of his house and it was huge and pretty decent, I looked it up on zillow and its worth $400 000. He bought it decades ago when it was around $100k.
Me and all my coworkers talk about the housing crisis a lot, and all the older guys who have been working there for 20-30 years all said they bought houses in their early 20s thanks to this job. I have the same job they did, the exact same position, and I will never be able to afford even a starter home. The American dream is dead.