u/Weary_Musician4872

Maybe I’m the only one noticing this, but r/KLM feels less like a travel community and more like a permanent complaint desk lately. Every other post is someone furious because their flight meal was mediocre, they only got 2 wines instead of 5, or their bag arrived 20 minutes late after flying halfway across the world.

Yes, airlines mess up sometimes. Delays, cancellations and bad customer service are fair things to discuss. But the amount of outrage over tiny inconveniences is getting exhausting to read. You’d think people were crossing the Atlantic on a luxury yacht instead of economy class.

Would honestly be way more interesting if the sub had more useful content:

• upgrade tricks
• best seats on certain aircraft
• lounge tips
• Schiphol transfer hacks
• Flying Blue strategies
• destination advice
• aircraft discussions

Instead it’s often just: “KLM ruined my life because I didn’t get my third mini bottle of wine.”

Feels more like group therapy than an airline subreddit sometimes.

Something I genuinely don’t understand about Amsterdam discourse online is how many people aggressively defend this idea of the “real Amsterdam” while not even living in the city anymore.

Every discussion about housing, nightlife, tourism, internationals or just the city changing turns into people saying things like “real Amsterdammers know…” and then you find out they moved to Almere, Purmerend or Hoofddorp 15 years ago.

I’m not even saying that in a disrespectful way. People move for space, families, money, whatever. Completely normal. But at some point you are no longer actually living in Amsterdam. So why act like you have more claim to the city than people who currently live there?

Especially because Amsterdam has never been static. The entire history of the city is built on migration, growth, change and new people arriving. Every generation complains the city is becoming different from the version they grew up with. That’s been happening for centuries.

What makes it strange is the entitlement some people still carry after leaving. Someone can actively live in Amsterdam, work there, pay taxes there, build their life there, but apparently they’re still less “real” than someone who left decades ago but happened to be born there.

If you live in Almere, you are from Almere now. That’s not an insult. It’s just objectively true.

It’s honestly kind of crazy that in a city this big, seeing AFC Ajax regularly is becoming almost impossible unless you already have connections, old season tickets, or get lucky.

Seizoenskaarten are basically locked up, demand massively outweighs supply, and for a lot of regular people it feels like top-level football in their own city is becoming inaccessible.

Meanwhile, other major European cities often have multiple serious clubs. Madrid has Real Madrid CF and Atlético Madrid, London has several, Milan has two giants, even Rotterdam has more than one pro identity depending on level and sport.

Does Amsterdam need another serious professional football club (or broader sports club) to create more access, rivalry, and identity?

A second ambitious football club?

Bigger investment in other sports like basketball or ice hockey?

More competition so one club doesn’t monopolize elite sport in the city?

Right now it feels like Amsterdam has huge demand but basically one dominant institution. Is that healthy, or does the city actually need another club people can realistically support and attend?

Would people embrace it, or is Amsterdam too culturally Ajax-dominant for a second big club to ever really matter?

Maybe I’m imagining it, but compared to when I lived here 5 years ago, way more people now barely drink or don’t drink at all.

Back then it felt much more normal to grab beers, loosen up, and people generally seemed more open, social, and forgiving after a few drinks. Now it feels like a lot more people are on 0.0, drinking less, and sometimes also a bit more reserved or less tolerant socially.

Not saying alcohol is some magic solution, but Dutch culture used to feel a bit more gezellig, relaxed, and blunt in a fun way, now sometimes it feels more controlled and all about fitness.

Is this a real cultural shift? Health trend? Cost of living? Have drinks just become too expensive?

Do you think this keeps moving toward less drinking, or would people embrace booze more again if prices were less ridiculous?

Curious if it’s just age/circles changing, or if Dutch drinking culture genuinely became different.