Enjoy your youth while you've got it, Gen Z.
Reddit has a thing or two to share with you and we'll be honest, it's a little bit of a buzz kill. So if you're currently enjoying being young and cool, you might want to just keep right on doing that.
But if you're already jaded and feeling hopeless, then sure why not pile some more on that?
Reddit user TreatAlternative6908 asked:
"What’s something Gen Z isn’t ready to hear?"
and yeah ... some truth bombs were dropped. Thing is, we're not really certain any of this is stuff Gen Zers don't already know.
It's very possible they just don't care, which is honestly kind of admirable.
Expiration
simpson abe GIFGiphy"That one day you too will be outdated"
- yesiknowimsexy
"I used to be with 'it', but then they changed what 'it' was. Now what I'm with isn't 'it' anymore and what’s 'it' seems weird and scary. It'll happen to you!"
- heridfel37
"Oh this! Clothing style, vocabulary, everything of me is outdated. I'm the crotchety old man complaining about people whipping their phones out to twittledee twat this and that... and I'm only 35."
- Kuli24
Guilt-Free
"Just like harry potter/disney/anime/lol comic bacon culture millennials, you, too, will one day be an embarrassment in the eyes of teens and anyone else who isn't chronically online."
"Quit seeking the most moral and respectable of interests - just be f*cking cringe! Just enjoy sh*t even if it's not cool!"
"Be a decent person, but enjoy tiktok, or youtube gamers or sh*tty music or anime, or whatever."
"Nothing matters! Enjoy your hobbies and shed guilt from your guilty pleasures"
- puzzlekitty
"Best thing about growing up is enjoying hobbies and interests more openly, not giving a f*ck what others might think."
"As a bonus, you'll also meet people with shared interests since you're broadcasting instead of hiding it."
- MoistDitto
"💯 This is literally THE BEST thing about being an adult."
"I'm 45 and I like comic books and Halloween. And IDGAF who knows it because I'm happy when the pumpkin spice comes out!"
- Icelegion3000
Choose Wisely
"The choices you make today matter. You are not invincible."
- YourFatherHere1
"Especially bad health choices."
- Academic_Snow_7680
"Yes please take care of your teeth too."
"You don’t want to be 25 trying to get braces or fillings and have to pay it yourself. Things get really expensive and you’ll find ways to put that on the back burner. Which only makes it more costly"
- idk-though1
"I’m in my late 20s now and my friends who have neglected their health have night and day different living experiences compared to others who try to eat healthy and exercise."
"I’ve seen some friends who were fit and healthy leaving college turn into big unhealthy lazy slobs because of the poor choices they made."
- TGrady902
Yay For Average!
What Are You Celebrating Fred Armisen GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy"You don’t have to strive to be famous or to go viral. It’s perfectly ok to be average."
- AHotColdBrew
"Average is ok. Ok is average."
''You should be so lucky as to live an average life with a family, job, friends, home, etc."
- the-zoidberg
"Totally agree. Being average is underrated"
- SalmonellaPox
"This is actually very comforting advice."
"I feel like everyone my age is obsessed with being famous or making a name for ourselves and that causes a lot of anxiety for people. Especially when they don’t have a lot of followers or don’t 'make it' by a certain age."
"This is definitely something myself and a lot of people needed to hear."
- RedQueenoftheGay
Fashion
80S Dancing GIFGiphy"The 'cool' clothing you’re wearing now will look silly in five years."
- jessek
"But might be cool again in 30 years."
- chillin1066
"And silly in 32 years"
- CaptZombieHero
"I feel like the actual stuff that was in style didn't really come back, just the niche subculture stuff."
"Like Emo style is huge now but you're not seeing too many people walking around with cargo shorts and pink polos with the collars popped, or cartoon characters drawn like gangstas."
"Come to think of it, studded belts were almost universally seen as cool and those aren't really back either."
- Maninhartsford
Happy Is Good
"It's not uncool or irresponsible to be hopeful, joyful, gracious, or to happy with yourself."
"Take a break from the news and the internet if it's making you too anxious to really live. It's cliché, but I mean it! "
"Turn to your community and make change and relationships where you can see them in real life. Let yourself be inspired and don't listen to older grumps who want to yuck your yum just because the world keeps turning."
- Material_Marzipan302
"Lead with light and love."
- cynbad89
"As a gen z kid, I actually really needed to hear this. Thanks."
- CrazyComedyKid
Think
Will Ferrell Lol GIF by NBAGiphy"I’m in gen Z, and I would say that one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that it’s okay to not be opinionated."
"It is far more beneficial to yourself and others if you take time to listen and understand multiple viewpoints instead of seeking to form a concrete opinion."
"Along those same lines, it is okay if your opinions change. That shows that you are growing and learning about what you value most in life."
- megstheace
"Yes people. You are not a hypocrite for changing your views."
- GrimKreeper098
"And you don't have to form an opinion right away."
"You can do the research, listen to those multiple viewpoints, and meditate on how you really feel about the issue. It seems that we are judged on how quickly we can make snap-judgements, which often leads to just conforming to public opinion out of fear."
- RasaraMoon
Positive Isn't Positive
"Toxic positivity isn't positive."
- Punkstarbabe
"Can you help me wrap my head around the idea of 'toxic positivity'."
- Amethoran
" ' Good vibes only '."
" 'But my dog just died and I'm worried about-' "
" 'GOOD VIBES ONLY '✌️"
- camp-void
" 'Good vibes only' people stunt emotional growth and healing. Not every experience is a good one. Things can be traumatic and we need to be honest about them to process and move forward, otherwise we stay stunted and in denial."
"That can make a person really unstable, especially when their perfect 'good vibes' world is shaken a bit."
" 'Good vibes only' people have decidedly bad vibes, honestly."
- [Reddit]
"Ironically, the exact same people that do this also make long virtue signaling posts about the importance of mental health."
"Like 'Don't be afraid to speak up, but also I'm going to bully and shame you if you do. Good vibes!' "
- Blahblkusoi
"THANK YOU as a member of the Gen Z I know too many people like this and they all think I’m a d*ck because I won’t go along with"
- SVWOH_L-3H_L
Hustle Culture
frustrated homer simpson GIFGiphy"Do not kill yourself a la hustle culture. Once you've damaged your mental and or physical health, it's very hard to get back to where you were."
- Educational-Candy-17
"So much this. I burned out three years ago, just at the beginning of COVID. In spite having the luxury of being able to rest as much as I needed to to recover, I am now only say 75% back to the energy levels I used to have, and it's much harder to just 'roll with the punches' in the way I used to."
"Do not do it to yourself."
- Jiktten
"I’m a millennial and this is the mentality my father planted on me. Mental health wasn’t a thing in his vocabulary."
- 1millionkarmagoal
"I've never seen anyone benefit from the hustle culture. Eventually they burn out and mad/sad how all that work didn't do sh*t to their lives and what they really wanted they never got."
"They eventually quit that job and find a better one in their mid 30s believing they ruined their life doing non-stop work in there 20s and ruining every relation they had in the process."
- ghigoli
Powerhouse
Secrets Of The Dead Biology GIFGiphy"The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell"
- nanorhyno
"And dissociation of BCL2 results in the formation of a BAX/BAK channel that releases Cyt-C from the mitochondria, which result in activation of the apoptotic pathway."
"Thus the mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell as well as the bringer of destruction."
- mh078
"Knowledge is knowing mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell."
"Wisdom is knowing mitochondria ARE powerhouseS of the cell."
"Oh I’m sorry, let me rephrase so people can understand!"
"The commonly repeated phrase 'the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell' is wrong because ‘mitochondria’ is actually plural."
"So people who repeat this phrase while rolling their eyes saying that they didn’t learn anything useful in school are actually revealing that they didn’t pay enough attention and don’t know as much as they think they know!"
"Moral of the story, for further on-topic discussions, is this: Gen Z, you may think you know something, but it often will be wrong."
"Don’t get overconfident. Stay humble and curious because making assumptions will lead you astray in this world."
- ghostly-smoke
"You are my hero this day good person."
- MusicalAutist
Let's flip the script a little in the comments.
Now that Reddit has dropped some wisdom for Gen Z - what would Gen Z like to say back?
Sound off!
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Reddit user Janine_18 asked:
"What's the one thing you'll never tell your SO?"
Love/Hate Relationship
"She loves her siblings and hates her parents."
"I hate her siblings and love her parents."
"They were very tight with their parents for the first 3 years of our relationship, and in 2017-2018 all hell broke loose so to say. My partner has no personal animus towards her parents, she is however extremely close to her older sibling who has a heap of problems with their parents."
"My partner follows their lead and it guides her own relationship with their parents. And the reason her siblings have huge problems with their parents is that they retired, moved 20(!) whole minutes away from their childhood home and went on a vacation for a month.
"They are apparently 'selfish', 'inconsiderate', and 'don’t think of themselves as parents'. This despite the fact that they call and visit for every holiday, birthday, promotion, celebration of any kind. Dog and babysit. Frequently host. Communicate well."
"No the absolute truth is that my partner's siblings are black holes and not great."
"Would 'I radically dislike your one sibling and don’t trust the other at all” be a viable middle ground?'."
~ Agreed_fact
Sweet Tooth
"A few years ago, my girlfriend put a candy bowl in our hallway at our apartment for Halloween. She came home that day to discover that nobody took any candy, and she was a little bummed."
"Over the course of that week, I'd take candy out before work or when she was asleep."
"She got so happy that 'the neighbors loved the candy'. She does this every year now, and I have to continuously swipe the candy and pretend it is the neighbors."
"It makes her happy, and I get free candy. Win win."
~ AlecsWebHair
GiphyIn It For the House
"That I know she cheated on me and the only reason I haven't left her is because the mortgage interest rates are a bit high so I can't comfortably buy her half of the equity we have in the house."
"I got a valuation, a mortgage pre-approval, and a lawyer all ready to go... But would only have about $21 per week to spare... I'd be screwed the first time a major appliance or the car breaks down..."
~ H_He_Metals
Mommy Dearest
"That her mother is a bad person in disguise of a caring and beloved figure."
~ Relative_Rich8169
"My pet name for my girlfriend is Bambi."
"She thinks it's because has big brown eyes, but really it's because I want to shoot her mother with a rifle."
~ airblizzard
Giphy"That's my mother in law. For her daughter, she'll do anything... to the point that it's overbearing and controlling and difficult to deal with."
"And for everyone else, she is one of the least empathetic people I've ever met..."
"She CRIED when Rush Limbaugh died, and she literally said the Proud Boys are like the Boy Scouts. But she'll drop $2,000 on Christmas presents for one person like it's nothing, so she thinks she's owed respect and kind words."
"I literally had to tell her at one point, 'If you want me to stop calling you a Nazi, buying me more presents or arguing with me isn't going to do it, you have to stop saying Nazi-friendly sh*t'. But she didn't stop, of course."
"She thought COVID was no big deal until a family member died of it."
"She also makes tons of snide comments about my work. I'm a lawyer in Big Law, I make great money but it's soul sucking and I never wanted to do this forever, I want to work for the government."
"She'll see a postal worker and say 'That'll be you one day, government worker, not a great way to provide for my daughter'."
"Her daughter, my wife, is a DOCTOR who is going to make more than I do no matter what job I work, and she herself is a dentist who worked until her banker husband could retire at the same time as her."
"She talks sh*t about how I made her daughter an atheist (I didn't, she did that on her own), but she herself has NEVER read the Bible and hasn't been to church in 20 years."
"She unironically believes in aliens, Big Foot, and ghosts, and thinks she saw Mother Mary in the sky."
"All the bad things I tend to think about Republicans (they don't care about an issue until it personally affects them, they have no standards except double standards, they use religion as a cudgel but don't actively live a spiritual life, they believe insane sh*t with zero evidence, they're old fashioned and judgy and can't accept that the world is changing around them, etc...) is her to the letter."
~ 2Charming-Fig-2544
Magic the Retirement Fund
"How much my Magic the Gathering collection is worth."
"They'll absolutely try to get me to sell some of it."
"It's my precious."
~ Ganthamus_prime
GiphyFirst Impressions
"When he and I first met, I was CERTAIN he was gay."
"He is very much NOT gay."
"And he will NEVER know I ever thought this."
~ ShinyIrishNarwhal
No Llama Drama
"When me and my wife first started dating, I had a dumb canvas painting with a llama and rabbit on it that I found at Walmart. I showed it to her and told her how much I loved it just because it was just such a dumb random thing to find."
"For some reason she took that as I love llamas and that they are my favorite animal. So now, every time she sees one or something with a llama on it I see her brighten up to show me and I get excited with her!"
"Llamas are not my favorite animal. Never have been. I don’t know how she made this connection, but i will never tell her otherwise because seeing her face light up every time is way better."
~ WhereTheChapstickAt
GiphyRelationship by Google
"I spend a couple hours doing research on how to make relationships work and keep her happy in the long run."
"She thinks I'm this awesome perfect guy but I just do what the internet tells me."
~ BadRobot___
Chemical Warfare
"He thinks I don’t fart around him because I’m too shy or polite."
"It’s really because they are so bad they could kill a horse."
~ Neonpantsuit
GiphyAre There Raisins?
"I don't like the potato salad she makes, and she always tries to make it as a treat for me."
"It's my mom's recipe, but doesn't taste like mom's."
~ Bean_Juice_Brew
*yawn* 🥱
"The spot you make me sleep in on the bed is uncomfortable but I lay there because you're comfortable where you are."
~ legacyrisky
GiphyConfessions
"We’re both in college, and last semester we both had a cold at some point. He had it much, much worse than I did, so I went to class and he skipped."
"Afterwards, I went to his dorm to share notes and take a nap. I was almost asleep, and I’m assuming he thought I was, because I felt him squeeze me and whisper, 'I love you so f**king much'.”
"It was the sweetest thing ever and I’m never telling him I know he did that."
~ scorpiomooon
Maybe a Farm Upstate?
"I definitely didn't kill that massive spider, and I have no idea where it went."
~ Cothak88
GiphySo, these weren't too awful, right?
What secrets are you keeping?