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If you find yourself frowning upon something someone younger is doing, that most likely means one of two things: you’re either too old to understand what the current youth is up to—as most of us probably are—or you’re simply a grumpy person in general, which is an entirely different matter.

If you belong to the former category, find comfort in the fact that you are far from the only one baffled by all sorts of youngster trends. Be it a new hairstyle every other male under insert a certain age here is walking around with or activities teenagers are taking part in, it might not be easy to identify with a generation that grew up in an entirely different world. But we should probably at least try to understand them, no matter how confusing it all is. (Goodness knows, we’ve gone through a phase of trends our parents found odd, too.)

If you’re curious about what are some of the things young people do that absolutely baffle those older than them, scroll down to find netizens' answers to an ‘Ask Reddit’ thread on the matter started by u/Fyre-Bringer to find out.

If you scroll down, you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center of Innovation in Social Science, Dr. Deborah Carr, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions regarding generational differences.

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Just fully watching videos in public with no headphones. Where are your headphones? I don’t want to hear your TikTok clips.

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#2

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Gen X here. I don't understand the eyelash thing where they're so long and fluffy that you look like Snuffleupagus. I also don't understand the nails that are so long you can't function. Like, how do you wipe?

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#3

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Not knowing how to use punctuation. The lack of punctuation drives me nuts. I shouldn’t have to read something 50 times because you don’t know how to place a period or a comma when needed.

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Sky Render
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You shouldn't skip periods. If you skip too many... BAM! Babies.

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Discussing the topic of generational differences, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center of Innovation in Social Science Dr. Deborah Carr told Bored Panda that every generation tends to critique “the youth of today”, implying that the way they did things as young people is superior to what young people are doing nowadays.

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“During periods of very rapid change, those generational gaps are the largest,” she noted. “If two generations were raised in very different social or economic consequences, the attitudinal gaps will be the largest.

“For instance, we have witnessed tremendous advances in recent years with respects to the rights and visibility of LGBTQIA persons – younger people are thus much more accepting than past generations. It’s important to recognize that generations can educate one another and help to expand each other’s horizons, and that education can go up and down the generational ladder.”
#4

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Assaulting people as a prank.

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#5

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Grammar. I'm not even talking about missing commas and s**t I just want them to know the difference between "you're" and "your"

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According to Prof. Carr, some of the reasons why older people find certain youngster trends or habits difficult to understand are based on the fact that said people are unfamiliar with them, the trends conflict with their personal values, or they don’t see any value in them.

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“For instance, older people may judge younger people for spending money on expensive coffees, clothing, or computer gadgets because they view it as wasteful. However, it’s important to remember that young people today often are strapped with educational debt, health care bills and other factors that are eroding their savings. The occasional luxury purchase can be a short-term way to exert autonomy and personal choice.”
#6

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Making every single phone call via speakerphone, especially when holding the phone directly next to the side of their head because they can’t hear.

veni_vidi_vici47 , Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels Report

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CrazyKnitter
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate anyone who does this. I don't care about your conversation. I don't want to hear it.

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#7

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Literally commiting crimes as part of social media trends. Especially the "licking ice cream at the store and putting it back" challenge, that's a straight up health code violation.

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AisForRebel
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's more of a "the f is wrong with you" smack alongside the head thing.

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#8

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around For a generation that loves social media, we are very anti-social. Lots of us cannot hold conversations or try to avoid them entirely. Another thing is how terrible literacy is amongst this generation while also loving social media. Cell phones have caused pure brain rot as people cannot function without them at all which baffles me. My parents didn’t buy me a phone until I was a sophomore in high school and it drove me nuts when people asked me how to do this or that without thinking prior to use common sense and figure it out. Critical thinking hit a massive decline from what I have noticed as well. Hope this comment isn’t harsh but being a part of one of the young generations I’m frustrated and annoyed. Please enlighten me if I am just wrong about any of this.

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“Older adults also may have difficulty understanding actions or behaviors that were less common when they were young,” Dr. Carr added. “For instance, very casual dress, large tattoos and multiple piercings are more common and socially accepted today, yet it could be a difficult pill to swallow for older adults who were raised to present themselves more formally – especially at work.”
#9

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Creating GoFundMe pages for cosmetic surgery and/or procedures.

marcellad4d6dcad63 , Павел Сорокин / Pexels Report

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#10

Not being taught to tell time by where the hands are on a clock.

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#11

Millennial here: Baffled at the number of people having children with various "baby daddies" and "baby mamas" that all seem to be horrible people. Do they not vet their partners at all before making them parents? It's like there's not even the expectation anymore that two people would raise their kids together.

(Note: This probably sounds judgemental, but I genuinely am just baffled.).

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Gen x - AGREE! Why in the world would you purposely bring a child especially multiple children into a world where you know the kids are most likely going to grow up in poverty. 🤦‍♀️

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According to the expert, the thing that has influenced or shaped current youth the most is undoubtedly social media. “Young people today craft identities and tell narratives about their lives—whether fact, fiction, or somewhere in between—online. More importantly, they often derive their self-worth from others’ responses to the images they put out there. The number of likes, views, or followers they receive, the praise—or insults—they receive online, and other indicators of their online presentations are critically important to their self-views.

“In past generations, we certainly cared about what our classmates and peers thought about us, but we had less data and it was less pervasive and in-your-face. So, we probably felt better about ourselves,” she added.
#12

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Doing incredibly embarrassing things for social media attention.

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#13

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Mostly Im baffled by how poorly educated young people are these days. History, Geography, Sciences, Maths, Literature..so much knowledge is missing.

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Stephanie Did It
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What boggles my mind is how they seem so proud of their ignorance!

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#14

Face tattoos. I don't really have a problem with tattoos generally, but come on man, it's your face.

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't have a problem with cultural tattoos, but the other ones are just so dumb. There's no reason for words to be on your face.

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If youth trends baffle you too, and you want to understand the youngsters better, “talk to a young person,” Dr. Carr suggested. “Ask what’s important to them, and why. Or, ask them for a recommendation for a TV show, podcast, or influencer whom they appreciate, or a book that they found particularly influential, and then discuss it with them.

“The only way we can bridge generational rifts—or rifts more generally—is to get to know one another as individuals, rather than relying on false stereotypes.”
#15

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Broccoli haircuts.

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Every generation has to have haircuts that will embarrass them when they reach 30.

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#16

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around That literacy rates are plummeting. This one is so confusing! How can you be the chronically online generation unable to read?

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Candid Panda
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Constantly watching short snippets of videos and Tik Tocs has caused an attention deficit. Why read when you can watch c**p all day?

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#17

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Taking parents to job interviews.
Lincoln_Park_Pirate:
It just happened at my workplace for the first time (television). Blew my mind. Mom waited in the lobby but came in for the negotiations. Applicant was 26 years old.

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The professor continued to emphasize the importance of understanding one another by pointing out that every generation manages the best they can, managing the hand they’ve been dealt.

“Younger people today have faced highly distressing events throughout their lives – from rampant school shootings to vast political divisiveness to isolation during COVID. If we see younger people feeling anxious, distressed, or fearful of their future, we should understand where they’re coming from, rather than judging them or holding them against a standard that’s unrealistic.”
#18

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Becoming addicted to nicotine. I thought younglings would be a little less stupid than us.

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#19

Young people seek information by watching TikTok content rather than Googling the answers. If you have a lot of time to spare, you will often get good info, but I'm middle-aged, and I've always been a big reader. I will do almost anything to avoid having to watch stuff (or listen, for that matter) when I can more quickly visually skim and immediately determine if the information is relevant to me and seems legit.

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel like it depends on the topic. When I want to learn a new crochet stitch or method, I turn to tiktok because I can watch several quick, focused videos of different people doing the same thing and I can synthesize all of that different information and figure out which demonstration makes the most sense to me, instead of having to try and replicate written instructions with my hands or having to navigate through a youtube video's introduction, sponserships, and ads to try and find the 30 seconds of the video I actually need to see. But for facts and knowledge, I always put the effort into the research.

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#20

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around I guess there’s like elementary schoolers with a skincare routine now?? That’s nuts….
Electric-Sheepskin:
I saw some people in the skincare addiction sub today recommending that a 17-year-old get Botox and retinol for the lines on their forehead. Insanity.

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Anyone here's heard of these "Sephora Kids" before? Young girls that buy anti aging creams and stuff like that for their skin. A 12 year old doesn't need this stuff, and it's bad for their young skin as well

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#21

Anything Andrew Tate.

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Google: Who is Andrew Tate and what did he do? Andrew Tate, an online influencer known for his displays of wealth and his misogynistic views, is facing criminal accusations over sexual misconduct in two separate cases. Mr. Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, have since 2022 been battling charges from Romanian prosecutors that include human trafficking. Apr 26, 2024

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#22

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around I've trained 3 early 20s co-workers now that don't use the Shift key to capitalize letters. They hit caps lock, type the letter to be capitalized, then hit caps lock again.

I can't wrap my head around it.

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#23

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around I run a restaurant, and employ a bunch of young people. EVERY dude under 25 has bangs, some significantly longer than the rest of their hair. I call them *Flock of Seagulls*. They don't get the reference.

OldTimeyFappingGhost , icanthavepeopleknow / Reddit Report

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

🤣 they ran so far away but they just couldn't get away

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#24

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Binge watching short videos compiled so you never watch anything with a plot or storyline. Just tons of 10-60 sec videos and most of them suck.

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#25

There was a group of teenagers in the parking lot talking about scientology, and they were thinking it was a neat religion, like a bunch of them were genuinely interested.

I've never hit a child before...but holy hell their brains needed to be reset.

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#26

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around I'm not really too baffled, I just see a lot of worrying trends.

The main thing that concerns me is the steep decline in mental health among young people since smartphones went mainstream and we got the internet in our pockets. I'm not shocked at all to see it but it is very bad.

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5 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i love my belly-button, so why don't people acknowledges me. Me me me me me me edit : doesn't ?

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#27

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Vaping. Isn't it clear by now that inhaling fumes is not really a good idea?

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The part that I found the most troubling is how many adults are introduced to nicotine through vaping. I started smoking cigarettes as a teenager (as teens do) and smoked for 9-10 years. Vaping was a less destructive alternative for me. I'm sure it's not good for me but it can't be worse than cigarettes. Of course I wish teens/preteens wouldn't pick up the habit but adults should know better.

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#28

The popularity of "nuisance streamers" with younger folks. I don't find being a public nuisance even a little bit entertaining or funny, especially when its being filmed.

Also just in general the trend of filming, photographing and trying to make "content" out of their entire life in some vain hope of becoming internet famous. I don't get it. Last thing i'd ever want to do is have my entire life posted on the internet.

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5 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Get rich quick schemers, Youtube style.

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#29

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around Allowing every one of their friends on Snapchat to know their location at all times. Like seriously. My 23 year old coworker and her friends are constantly revoking and then reinstating their visible location depending on if they're happy or mad with each other. If someone notices that they can't see where another person is, they'll actually bring it up, wondering what they did to upset them. Her best friend will ask her friend to check her boyfriends location, and whichever friend he told her he'd be with, to make sure they match. I told my coworker that it's weird for everyone you know to know where you are.

At least I can kinda understand family members knowing, but even then, my siblings don't need to know where I am at all times, and my parents should maybe stop constantly checking once I hit 18? 21 surely. Lol. Her sister will text her asking why she went certain places because she constantly checks location on her. They have an app on their phones specifically so they can always see where family members are. Her dad texted her once she got home and didn't come inside after 5 minutes. He knew she just drove up. She was simply typing out a reply a text to a friend before getting out of her car. Again...she's 23.

Idk, I guess if you grow up with it, you don't think it's weird. I'm 43, I certainly didn't grow up with people having the ability to know where I am at all times unless I told them or called them.

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#30

Not using condoms. My generation was raised hearing about Ryan White and seeing Very Special Episodes about why we didn't want AIDS and everything else. Apparently some younger people aren't worried about it anymore.

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

On the other end of that gambit, I recently learned of a retirement community in which the incidence of venereal disease is very high.

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#31

Making fun of another kid because they don't have a specific water tumbler. It sounds like somebody is trying to parody "making fun of other kids for having the 'wrong' brand of clothes or phone".

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, dammit, you have to be part of the In crowd! So it’s water tumblers now, is it? I suppose it makes a change from sneakers.

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#32

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around All the self labeling. When I was young, we avoided labels at all costs!

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What is defined as self labelling? I’m gay? I have ADHD? I have anxiety? Most of what people designate as labels are part of someone’s identity and their life. We just have more awareness of how many factors might be part of someone’s life than we used to.

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#33

Calling anyone with a different opinion a troll. I see it over and over and over.  I do not understand and I can only feel pity.

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#34

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around I use my phone a fair bit, but it's really hard to imagine it being my *only computer*. I need at least 20 inches of screen, a trackball and a keyboard with physical buttons just to *think* properly. I don't want to budget my battery to last all day in case an important text comes through. I want my internet signals sent over a hard wire. When my computer stops working, I want to open it up and swap the broken part with a better one.

But if my web analytics are at all a representation, more than half of everyone is only looking at the internet through their phones.

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#35

I listened to a 23-year-old (more than a decade younger than me) say she wanted to start 'preventative Botox.' Girl...

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If I ever get Botox, it'll be because I have migraines, nothing else.

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#36

50 Younger Generation Trends Older People Just Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around I know a girl that had plastic surgery by the time she was 19.
When I first met her, she was literally a ten. Now, she's funny looking.

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I guess the fact that people will refer to others as a "ten" kinda explains people's obsessions with their looks....

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#37

Being unable to read beyond sight words.

Like they CAN read, but not the same way you and I assumably can. They can read words but only because they are recognizing the word itself the same way you might recognize the picture of a bee as a bee or when you read now a lot of it IS sight reading in that you're likely not reading this comment sounding out all the letters- but if you came across a word you didn't know you'd likely have the skillset to read it anyways or at least give an educated guess.

I worked as a teacher and this past year I've been hearing more and more complaints from the higher grades/up even into highschool that their students by and large aren't able to sound out words/read like we were taught to. That's not to say NONE can but it's a significant issue that absolutely baffles me.

Like, I legitimately can't tell if this is some elaborate joke and they forgot to cue in the laughtrack to cue me in or what; but from the conversations I've had they know what letters make what sounds like "a" makes "ay" and "ah" but not how to USE this information functionally when presented a word they don't know before. This skill just.. apparently wasn't challenged and because the kids presumably COULD read (by sight) the issue wasn't recognized until recently. I'm honestly hoping this is JUST our small towns issue and not widespread as I don't even know where to begin dismantling such a profound oversight.

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Stephanie Did It
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Add to that, a frightening inability to write legible or coherent sentences.

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#38

Mullets, will we never learn?

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#39

The rising support and voting for extreme right parties/pundits among young people in the West. The people leading these parties will ruin everything resembling a future that you might have. These are awful times to become an adult in, but they do NOT care about you or your plight as a younger generation.

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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Look on the bright side. The recent Euro elections in the Nordic countries saw the far right lose a lot of support. Not bucking the trend, but ahead of the curve, they say: apparently it turns out that the far right are rubbish in government. They got votes, they had influence in government, then they lost votes. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/11/left-wing-nordic-nations-provide-ray-of-hope-in-europe

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#40

Today on reddit one told me they refuse to show up to an initial job interview that is in person. They demand the employer use zoom to interview them. It was baffling.

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Jaymi Leigh
Jaymi Leigh
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yah that would be an instant no for me, not hiring that person.

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#41

One thing that baffles me is how much time and energy the younger generation spends on social media. It's amazing to see how much they are constantly on their phones, checking notifications, posting updates, and scrolling through endless feeds. I can't imagine being so connected to technology all the time and not taking breaks to be present in the moment. It's a completely different way of living that I struggle to understand.

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Immortal Jellyfish
Immortal Jellyfish
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I once stood behind a person struggling to pay, pack do anything at the supermarket checkout because they had their phone in front of their face. They weren't talking to anyone or anything, could have just sat it down or put it in their pocket or something. Funny thing is they paid with cash..........

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#42

Giving up. I work with some twenty-somethings, and many of them are completely defeated. They don't think they'll ever own a home or have a meaningful career or get out of debt. They just throw up their hands and resign themselves to a life of drudgery, bills and the occasional weekend bender.

They don't want to be astronauts or engineers or rock stars, they just want to escape reality by way of d***s, videogames and endless screen time.

Who is going to rule the world?

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Reset Game
Reset Game
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unfortunately there's a lot of horrible things happening in the world so I kind of understand this. We've got a felon who is still running for president, over 600,000 homeless people, women's rights over their own body being taken away from them, the necessity to make four times the rent just to have an apartment and the cost of an education even trade school is extremely expensive.

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#43

Not dating someone bc of the phone they have....

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#44

Wearing earbuds at work during a shift on an active, collaborative team. (I think earbuds aren't a problem at all for quiet, focused work, or work where there's not much need to speak with others at a moment's notice.)

I understand that many of them can easily hear things, but in my brain, earbuds carry a strong "do not talk to me" message that makes it hard not to see them as inappropriate at work unless someone is hunkering down for a longer, quieter solo task.

At worst , I see them being a hazard in certain workplaces (my own workplace for example, a metal fabrication lab, a lack of full attention could lead to nasty consequences), and at best, I think they send a less than respectful message to coworkers.

I suppose that people have no obligation to treat their coworkers with more than the minimum of respect and courtesy, but I figure that having some friendly connections at work could make each shift more enjoyable for everyone.

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Jaymi Leigh
Jaymi Leigh
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a huge problem in the school where I teach. Our junior and senior high kids will not take their earphones off, and it's very disrespectful. I wish it was enforced as a rule that they stay in lockers during class time unless they are being used specifically with a device for class, for educational purposes.

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#45

Gen Z and their constant self-diagnosing.

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#46

I can't understand why today's kids want to watch YouTube videos of kids or adults opening up new toys and playing with them! Why would any kid want to watch someone else play with toys instead of their own?

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Yettichild
Yettichild
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To see if it's actually something they want. Or a way to discover new products.

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#47

Children as young as 12 drinking coffee before school. Wearing fake nails and fake eyelashes.

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CrazyKnitter
CrazyKnitter
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oops. I got into coffee when I was 2 by accident. My dad didn't think that I'd like his black coffee. He was very wrong.

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#48

Refusing to learn to drive. I absolutely understand not wanting to, preferring to live places where you don't have to because of good walkability/transit/bikability, etc. But just being unwilling to learn at all? It's an important life skill and there might be an emergency where you have to!

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Forrest Hobbs
Forrest Hobbs
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Learning to drive is expensive in lots of places, and in lots of places you don't need to drive yourself. Most big European cities, for example. When lessons, test fees, and insurance cost that much, when the roads are so clogged up, and when parking is so difficult and expensive, why bother with a car when you can use public transport?

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#49

Not knowing how to use a computer.

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Maggie Fulton
Maggie Fulton
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Does anyone in the current generation not know how to use a computer? I’m very surprised.

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#50

Bringing back those thin 90s brows again… its a lesson we all must learn the hard way, it seems.

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3 Otters 🦦
3 Otters 🦦
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well I kinda see this. We’ve been seeing the mustache brows for awhile now. Maybe a normal in between look?

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