Okay, let’s be real. To my fellow millennials, there’s a part of us that looks at Gen Z with a mix of amusement, admiration, and just a dash of existential crisis. “Ah, these youngsters,” we say, clutching our overpriced iced lattes, remembering a time when our biggest problems were T9 texting and surviving the dial-up internet era. “They’ll never know the agony of waiting for someone to get off the phone so we could go online.”
But after a nostalgic chuckle, we have to admit—would we really want them to? Sure, we love to glorify our battle scars, whether it’s the questionable fashion of the early 2000s or the sheer trauma of buffering YouTube videos. But if we’re honest, didn’t we once wish for a world where things were a little easier, a little kinder?
It’s easy to poke fun at Gen Z—their TikTok trends, their obsession with niche aesthetics, their ability to make or break an entire brand overnight. But let’s take a moment to appreciate this: they are growing up in a world that encourages them to express themselves without fear of being called ‘too sensitive.’ Meanwhile, we were busy curating angsty MSN Messenger statuses that read like tragic poetry.
And yeah, we joke about them being ‘soft,’ but isn’t it a good thing that they’re prioritizing mental health in ways we never could? Instead of bottling up emotions like a shaken soda can, they have communities, platforms, and actual conversations about things we were told to just ‘get over.’ That’s not weakness—that’s progress.
At the same time, we can’t pretend we don’t feel a little out of place sometimes. The internet that once felt like our playground now belongs to a generation fluent in trends that come and go faster than we can blink. And while we might cringe at their slang and wonder why cargo pants made a comeback, we know this for sure—it’s not our time anymore. And that’s okay.
Because here’s the truth—every generation paves the way for the next to have it a little better. We walked so they could run (and make viral dances out of it). Strength doesn’t always have to come from struggle. Sometimes, it comes from learning, evolving, and refusing to accept unnecessary hardships as a rite of passage.
So, Gen Z, this is your moment. Your trends, your culture, your rules. And while we might not always get you, we genuinely wish you the best. May you continue to be bold, to speak up, and to redefine what success and happiness look like. We had our time, and now it’s yours.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to Google whatever dance trend is taking over TikTok. Again.
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