Not to worry if you're a financially privileged teenager- you will still get an awesome birthday party/bar mitzvah/quinceanera/graduation party/whatever it is you dream of.
Despite the fact that many people in America are struggling to find employment, the teen party industry is booming.
My grandfather is rolling over in his grave; I can't imagine what he would think of our present-day highly frivolous and materialistic culture after living through WWII and the depression, where providing shelter for his family and putting food on the table was enough of a challenge.
Spending $15-20,000 on a birthday party for a teenager would seem thoroughly absurd to him. Which it is.
