Rec
Using generations as a cultural container is a product of marketing and media. They categorize us based on trends to better sell to us and shape our consumption habits, so we get boxed into these deterministic labels of Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, Gen Z.
While there is value in sharing in the experiences of your peers, generations flatten our experience and create arbitrary divisions between age cohorts—as though someone born in 1994 and 1998 are that different.
So we criticize Boomers for wrecking the planet, while Boomers blame Millennials for wanting to cancel everybody. And guess what?
I don’t care if you’re Gen Z or a Boomer, so long as you’re in the Working Class. We can serve avocado toast and viral mango ice cream at the pot luck, so long as we can talk about how to fight these fucking fascist billionaires.
Then again, maybe this whole rant is the most Millennial thing I could’ve done 💁♀️
While there is value in sharing in the experiences of your peers, generations flatten our experience and create arbitrary divisions between age cohorts—as though someone born in 1994 and 1998 are that different.
So we criticize Boomers for wrecking the planet, while Boomers blame Millennials for wanting to cancel everybody. And guess what?
I don’t care if you’re Gen Z or a Boomer, so long as you’re in the Working Class. We can serve avocado toast and viral mango ice cream at the pot luck, so long as we can talk about how to fight these fucking fascist billionaires.
Then again, maybe this whole rant is the most Millennial thing I could’ve done 💁♀️
1d ago
Comments (2)
Halfway through reading this, i thought… this better talk about how we are alllll working class. And that generations are another way to keep us apart. but yes, lets keep thinking about what Gen Z is up to.
1d ago
@SALAD_VALET It’s actually good and useful to keep blaming the next generation below you, even when your generation has been around longer and had more influence. Rinse, repeat. Labubus all the way down.
1d ago
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🫂I posted a similar anti-rec months ago, but the topic has come up again, this time with the "gen z stare". I'm sure there's a good mix of ages on PI so there are a lot of perspectives on this, but personally I am on the older side of gen z (2002), and this is my take on this. I don't mind the videos that people are making coming at this from a place of empathy, discussing how the pandemic could have stunted people's social skills, especially young kids. that's a valid take, and it's one I agree with. my boyfriend and I have had plenty of discussions about how concerned we are for the people younger than us, growing up in the environment that they did and are now. but the number of videos being straight up nasty are where I draw the line. people are trying to say that "we all went through COVID at the same time, and I adjusted back so they should be able to!!!" as if going through a years long pandemic when you're a younger teen or child would have the same effect as a years long pandemic on a 30 year old. take the youngest millennial, who would have been born in 1996 and started the pandemic at 24 and compare that to the youngest zoomer, who would have been born in 2012 and gone through the pandemic at 8. say you don't want to go to the youngest, let's say the median instead: ages 31 vs 15. like they're in completely different stages of life during a world stopping pandemic, no shit it affected them differently than you. I personally don't think that I was too affected socially by the pandemic, as it started during the last semester of my senior year of hs. I can't say that it didn't affect anyone my age or on the upper end of this generation, just like I'm sure it affected younger millennials- but it probably was not as detrimental as it would be for a child.
and, like usual, a lot of these conversations are turining into circle jerks of people saying "back in my day, I made half the wage they do and I was never like that!!", "I would have gotten fired if I ever acted like those lazy kids!!", and, my favorite comment so far, "when they say they don't understand what we mean when we talk about this they're using DARVO tactics!!! they're gaslighting us!!!!!". ultimately, the world has changed. things were not the same as they were pre-2016 especially. I've talked on here before about how apathy is a big issue within people my age and younger- and I get why. it's very easy to slip into apathy when your future seems so bleak and it's not even your fault- it's just the world you were born into at the wrong time. personally, if teens are socially awkward or seem like they don't care about work (which is not a gen z thing, every generation gets the "you're lazy and ungrateful and blah blah blah" thing when they're this age), I can see why. does that make it okay? no, but ultimately I see it as a symptom of our society and empathize with them rather than make videos making fun of them. let's also not pretend that the only people who give bad customer service are under the age of 29. let's also not pretend that the cost of living wasn't much lower when the older gens (who are saying that these people don't deserve a living wage) were entering the work force.
ultimately, I think that if we come at these topics from a place of empathy rather than lashing out, it would be a lot more productive. if you're participating in this rhetoric, I implore you to think about what people were saying about your generation when you were younger. I remember growing up hearing the same talking points about millennials from gen x and above. perhaps we break the cycle this time instead of being nasty online. discussing how younger people's social skills were stunted by the pandemic is something that should be talked about, however it should be done with care. they didn't ask to be in their developmental years during the pandemic. I do also think it's unfortunate that many people are saying that being mean about this is "revenge" for pointing out the "millennial pause", which I had for a bit because I too used snapchat when there was that one second delay at the start of a video. but when it's said like that, I think that shows exactly the motivations behind some of this discourse: pettiness. yes, a teenager may have made a skinny jeans joke, but does that mean you should say that everyone ages 13-28 is aging like milk and has no social skills?
this turned into a yap, but you get the point. we need more empathy in the world. please don't turn into the same people in older gens who bullied the ones younger than them.
and, like usual, a lot of these conversations are turining into circle jerks of people saying "back in my day, I made half the wage they do and I was never like that!!", "I would have gotten fired if I ever acted like those lazy kids!!", and, my favorite comment so far, "when they say they don't understand what we mean when we talk about this they're using DARVO tactics!!! they're gaslighting us!!!!!". ultimately, the world has changed. things were not the same as they were pre-2016 especially. I've talked on here before about how apathy is a big issue within people my age and younger- and I get why. it's very easy to slip into apathy when your future seems so bleak and it's not even your fault- it's just the world you were born into at the wrong time. personally, if teens are socially awkward or seem like they don't care about work (which is not a gen z thing, every generation gets the "you're lazy and ungrateful and blah blah blah" thing when they're this age), I can see why. does that make it okay? no, but ultimately I see it as a symptom of our society and empathize with them rather than make videos making fun of them. let's also not pretend that the only people who give bad customer service are under the age of 29. let's also not pretend that the cost of living wasn't much lower when the older gens (who are saying that these people don't deserve a living wage) were entering the work force.
ultimately, I think that if we come at these topics from a place of empathy rather than lashing out, it would be a lot more productive. if you're participating in this rhetoric, I implore you to think about what people were saying about your generation when you were younger. I remember growing up hearing the same talking points about millennials from gen x and above. perhaps we break the cycle this time instead of being nasty online. discussing how younger people's social skills were stunted by the pandemic is something that should be talked about, however it should be done with care. they didn't ask to be in their developmental years during the pandemic. I do also think it's unfortunate that many people are saying that being mean about this is "revenge" for pointing out the "millennial pause", which I had for a bit because I too used snapchat when there was that one second delay at the start of a video. but when it's said like that, I think that shows exactly the motivations behind some of this discourse: pettiness. yes, a teenager may have made a skinny jeans joke, but does that mean you should say that everyone ages 13-28 is aging like milk and has no social skills?
this turned into a yap, but you get the point. we need more empathy in the world. please don't turn into the same people in older gens who bullied the ones younger than them.
Jul 17, 2025
Rec
😃I kinda feel like I lucked out even though there is draw backs (one of the smallest demographics with political power and caught between two generations which causes chaotic organization in political causes but ya know!!!!). You get dunked on by both but you also can dunk on one or the other of your choosing. I had some of the benefits of millennials like not living in fully tech world and having a very unplugged childhood while also adapting extremely fast to the technology and having the CHOICE because I was so young. I would probably say I belong in the Gen Z camp but sometimes idk what they are on about.
This is my morning burst of caffeine and ADD med post.
This is my morning burst of caffeine and ADD med post.
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👦I’m not a parent and do not plan to be. Kids can wear me out fast with their high energy and noise level; it leaves me very over-stimulated. But it’s pretty extreme when people say they ”hate kids” and I often feel it’s a reflection of their childhood and beliefs around how kids “should be.” That they were expected to be quiet, obedient, and out of the way by their parents when they were little.
It’s fucking hard to be a kid. You’re dealing with a rapidly-changing body and underdeveloped brain, managed by flawed adults who are enforcing boundaries that you do not understand. It’s confusing and hard to manage your feelings and honestly just a lot.
People are impatient with kids when they‘re brand new to the world and figuring it all out, and this is a time kids need a friend the most. Children can also be teachers to adults with how they are less habituated to the world. They teach us how to be free and open-hearted and silly and imaginative.
A good practice is to be kinder and gentler with kids. If that feels difficult, start with gentleness toward your inner child. Maybe that’s the child in your life that needs your attention and kindness most.
It’s fucking hard to be a kid. You’re dealing with a rapidly-changing body and underdeveloped brain, managed by flawed adults who are enforcing boundaries that you do not understand. It’s confusing and hard to manage your feelings and honestly just a lot.
People are impatient with kids when they‘re brand new to the world and figuring it all out, and this is a time kids need a friend the most. Children can also be teachers to adults with how they are less habituated to the world. They teach us how to be free and open-hearted and silly and imaginative.
A good practice is to be kinder and gentler with kids. If that feels difficult, start with gentleness toward your inner child. Maybe that’s the child in your life that needs your attention and kindness most.
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I meant to post this yesterday. Absolutely beautiful morning for walk.
This morning is also beautiful but in a spring rain kind of way.
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