@Alistair McLaughlin: "Mine mean nothing to today's kids. I get that."

For me, while I'm no kid (tail end of Gen X), those stories can mean a lot. I've heard them from my folks, in-laws, and friends. They are very instructive for today, even if it's just for the anecdotes on how to survive and forge ahead (they can give hope, as do stories from my grandparents about being kids during the Depression).

The challenge for me is that I also sometimes encounter "I had it tough too, suck it up." as an excuse to not even start discussing systemic problems that need to be addressed. I think I mentioned this elsewhere: my household is in great shape. I come at this issue worrying about the sustainability of my hometown (Vancouver), which is seeing a growing net loss of young people (with all its attendant problems) and a growing hit on livability (ghost neighborhoods, etc.). This region is being gutted in a way it never saw, even in the early 1980s. Sounds like the GTA is on the same path.