Comment of my one (half Sudanese) (half British) friend, on a mid-20th c. play.

The other week, I caught a mid-20th c. play with my one (half Sudanese) (half British) friend.

At one point, a minor character who's a doctor pines for a career in research that he never took, since his wife said it was too risky with money and so discouraged him from it.

Afterwards when we were chit-chatting about the play, my one (half Sudanese) (half British) friend burst out with a theatrical British comedy persona-like face and was like, "I was like, 'Research, nooooooo!', don't try to live the dream, take the job, take the money, take the house in the suburbs!".

And, he said that comedically, but he was dead serious on what he meant.

He then commented that we're in exactly the opposite situation from the mid-20th c., because then people pined to follow their hearts, but now people are pining just for a stable decent job with a decent income that allows for a decent life.