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'Peter Pan'-ing Isn't so Cute Anymore

Because some things are cooler than deep-diving into debt.

By Katrina ClarkePublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Thirsty Thursdays. Drinks on Friday because thank God it's the freakin' weekend. Saturday bottomless brunch with avo on toast, of course. Sunday Roast somewhere hipster before the Sunday scaries settle in. Monday, lift chat about how tired and grumpy you are that it's a new week.

Sound familiar?

It certainly does to me, and the friends I have working in London. The cherry on top is when we see our Facebook feeds littered with engagement pictures and pregnancy scans and "Me and X have bought out first home!" posts, and we all chuckle and say, "I'd much rather have my life, thanks." Who wants that when we have London?"

Because when you are in London, you see people back home differently. "Oh, we just don't do that kind of thing in the city." We got degrees and are working our way up the corporate ladders to be rich and successful, people at home who didn't go to university are experiencing life at a different pace getting engaged and pregnant now because life back in your home town is so boring. Sound familiar?

But when you actually stop and look at what your life is like here in the city, and whichever city you may be, because I'm sure it's not just Londoners who are experiencing it, is it actually that great? Sure, we have cool bars and restaurants and Coppa Club and Sketch and Ours are all so instagrammable and have the best cocktails, but what exactly are we celebrating? Let's not pretend like we can even afford these £20 cocktails most of the time. At least for the second half of the month. If we're trying to work our way up this corporate ladder whilst paying £800 rent and a monthly £150 oyster card on a £26,000 salary, we might as well be drunk, right...? And if people are moving in together now, it's to share the extortionate rent.

Of course, a proportion of the workers can afford the lifestyle (go forth and enjoy the cocktails, my friend), but for those of us who can't, we still go out and experience every cool bar, every hipster pop-up, every sample sale and every bottomless brunch, broke as a joke, because if we're going to live in London, we should really make the most of it. FOMO is real, ya know?

But wait, can I just be the first party pooper and put my foot down and say let's chill out a minute? As the city (in England) that everyone predominantly flocks to (now slowly changing, though), shouldn't this be the space where people are at their most hard-working, studious and determined? I'm not saying that a lot of people aren't. But there's definitely a culture of a Peter Pan syndrome floating around here, where people are late to grow up, late to commit to anything and late to invest in themselves when there's other things to invest in like espresso martinis and trips to cereal cafes. Won't it be sad waking up one day, when you're 38 and still can't afford anywhere near a deposit because your overdraft is being eaten up at the All Bar One outside your office and the most commitment or responsibility you have is that pigeon that always comes to your window?

Before people get their knickers in a twist and pitchforks out about rising rent and unavailability of deposits/mortgages/payrises/sane dates/cheap drinks (whatever your argument is), can you say the same for the ones you laughed at for being committed, settled, good job and financially secure back home in different cities?

We choose to move to the big cities and then drive ourselves into the ground thinking we're living our best lives when really, we will wake up years later and find we have achieved nothing but a tummy pouch from all the drunk cheesy chips.

Let's do something uncool and actually invest in ourselves a bit more, make this city move a worthwhile investment to ourselves and our time, where we do the best we can in our jobs, teach ourselves the best things we can learn, work out our minds and bodies and be a bit more adult? Because let's be honest, the people we rant about during happy hour are the ones who are above us, the ones who worked their arses to be at the top and are making a change with their lives.

Maybe I've just watched too many Tony Robbins videos on Youtube, or maybe I'm just sick of everyone living a fake life. Let's actually do something to be proud of ourselves. Something that isn't drinking three bottles of Prosecco and escaping the hangover.

Best thing I read online, "Some of you are not where you want to be in life, yet you party every weekend. What exactly are you celebrating?"

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