I would think that the vast majority of people retiring now have seen periods of inflation. Maybe they forgot what it was like. But it shouldn’t be new to vast majority of people of retirement age. Same is true with market downturns. If you retired last year at age 30, maybe I can give you a pass on inflation or market downturns being a thing. 
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I think a lot of young people, in VHCOL areas and other areas bought homes with low interest rates but at fairly high market prices. Now with more money going to expenses with inflation, they might get a taste of needing to be thrifty in order to hang on to what they have.
There are a lot of people that spend quite a bit of money on their pets/care. High end pet food, care for when they are out of town. Some have their pet replace humans, or have a dog to delay having kids - kind of graduate in responsibilities.
Also there are people that commute a distance from their employment, as that is where they could better afford housing. Now they are paying more to fill their gas tank. Of course quite a few are able to work from home and save on transportation, clothing, etc.
A new paradigm.
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Way to insult Tom Brady. 44 is not old.
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For elite sports it is.
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And he lives in Florida. 
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Florida is one of the best states tax-wise for a top 1% income person, according to Appendix A on page 26 of https://itep.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/whopays-ITEP-2018.pdf .
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And Tom Brady and his wife’s income likely qualify to be in the Top 1% too. 
I’m not sure if my children live in VHCOL places but they do live in larger cities. Both of them will pay less in their mortgage than they would they if they rented. Both have decided to buy instead of rent. Both were able to find housing that was less than they were qualified for. Not possible in those areas such as the Bay Area where housing prices are very very high. But there are still cities in the US where young people can afford homes. Especially two college educated young professionals which my kids are.
My personal opinion is that inflation is a talking point for news agencies and politicians. For those like me who are upper middle class and live within my means. I can afford the extra $12/week that gas increased. I’m still not back to my pre pandemic spending, still not eating out and traveling like I was 2 years ago.
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Inflation and high gas prices hit those who rely on heavy machinery in their businesses. Like farmers… we all will be seeing the results of this soon at the dining table.
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We retirees rented a car while on vacation for 9 days. We used less than 1/2 tank of gas, And it cost over $40 to fill…and it was a small, not fancy car.
It’s not just gas price alone, inflation affects everything, my husband pays $15 more per month, yes it’s MONTH, and not week, it’s not always about us, it’s about other people. While it maybe a fraction of what we spend, it may take a bigger chunk out of the young generation and their budget. And that’s just gas.
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My D and her BF put an offer in on a condo this weekend. It went for over $100K over asking - almost 20%.
No one likes higher gas prices or higher food prices, but that’s dwarfed by inflation in the housing sector, both to buy and rent.
I feel bad for them, it’s very discouraging.
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Our zoning and development policies are ridiculous and I can never understand America’s aversion to high density housing.
Since the price of oil went down, I’ll wait for the gas prices to go down 
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I certainly understand the complexity of inflation, the disruption of the supply chain from the pandemic and now global world events.
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Inflation hurts the poor the most, and those on fixed incomes. Those that live paycheck-to-paycheck can hardly afford to pay $60 to fill-er-up, much less the $40k to buy an EV.
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Inflation isn’t really a problem for upper middle income folks. It is certainly an issue for many lower income people and especially those retirees on a fixed income. Many of us here are extremely fortunate. The average American is mostly not as fortunate. Inflation is hitting many hard and it looks like it will get worse. I feel for those that have such limited resources.
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Some subset of people in lower paid jobs did find better jobs, and the shortage in that part of the labor market has resulted in rising pay for some of those remaining in some of those jobs. But that is also a contributor to inflation as retail, restaurants, etc. cannot keep prices as low as they used to on cheaper labor.
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I don’t know if it’s good for them either, when I went shopping for meat, the guy behind the meat counter complained to me, he said he brought $100 to go food shopping and it’s gone in no time.
The waiters at a local restaurant that I frequent complained the same thing. If these so called low income people feel the pinch when they didn’t before, then it’s bad for everybody.
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Hit the nail on the head about the large farms/large equipment using lots of diesel fuel while produce a lot but have slim to no profit (and maybe losses) due to weather or the price of what they produce. However the world markets has often had big grain exporting.
The family farms are dwindling. I know a lot of techies who grew up on farms. The risks are enormous - due to weather, the markets, operating costs, staying healthy to do the work, etc.
Some people can buy organic and items produced nearby and eat healthy. Due to refrigerated transportation and growing seasons in FL and CA (and hot houses as well as international shipments) we all have fresh produce readily available in comparison to earlier times.
We are in an evolving paradigm.