I know multiple employed, functional people who do not own a cell phone. This is absolutely not a requirement. People have simply atrophied in the machine’s embrace.

And not being able to afford having someone cook for you and serve you is not equivalent to subsisting on gruel. I could not even conceive of a word in which my parents or grandparents casually paid people to cook for them. People whining about this just comes off as entitled and out of touch.