Work is still work, right?

[Okonomoyaki]

This is probably TAAT but there seems to be a recent wave of people complaining about minor things regarding work (having to work on a work day, not being served food they enjoy at an occasional meeting). I know there are lots of theories around generational differences to work, so it may be that, but recent queries on here seem extreme.
(Xennial here, currently working miles from home, having travelled out of hours, but will get Flexi)

From my own experience it's not necessarily limited to the younger generations. I sadly just think people are generally more selfish these days - there is a strong I'm-worth-it mentality where people expect to have exceptions made just for them. We have 800 staff in our organisation and whilst we try to accommodate every eventuality policy wise, we simply cannot run on a person-by-person basis - we have to have general policies and we have to operate them so no-one gets different treatment than anyone else otherwise we'd have grievance claims all over the place - some people win with them, some people lose out. It's life to be able to handle that not everything goes your own way all the time.

I do get complaints from some younger staff though about 'the vibe' or atmosphere in the office. I have to remind them that this is the one of the prices you pay for hybrid working - some of my team members don't see each other in person for literally weeks on end due to WFH rotas/holidays so the side-effect is that it's going to take a very long time to build up those close work friendships that I remember from my 20s (in the late 90s, early 00s) when I was in the office with the same people 8 hours a day Mon-Friday. You just can't have it both ways. Personally I think it's a shame - I made some of my best friendships in my early work days - nipping out at lunch to the shops or for a walk/drinks straight from work/flat-sharing etc - young people seem so much self-isolating these days.