I.M. Millennial

“Granny flats are misnamed. They were once intended for older relatives, so they can live near their adult children and grandchildren. Hence the appellation. Down in the lowlands of Boomertown, there are many such little residences. But they’re not for grannies.

Instead, the buildings should be called ‘children and grandchildren emergency shelters’ because that’s what they’ve become. Whole families cram themselves into a few dozen square metres of space and meanwhile, the grandparents stay in the big main house, rattling around their many empty rooms like rubber balls in a vast squash court.”
― I.M. Millennial, A Year in Boomertown: A Memoir

“None of us need any new things,’ I tell my mother one more time, as we drive to the store.
My mother is leaning forward in her seat, the store spotted in the distance. She waves a hand. ‘It’s what I do.’
I try another angle. ‘It would be better for the environment if we all bought fewer things.’
‘We recycle,’ my mother says. She brightens. ‘And I’ve switched to metal straws.’
There’s nothing I can say about that.
Metal straws will save the world.”
― I.M. Millennial