Gen Z Does Not Have Time For Your Silly Games

Gen X may have found their partner in Gen Z

Gen X me used to feel bad for Gen Z.

They have grown up with an extraordinary amount of technology. They are quick and savvy but all of that comes with a price. Their parents can find them no matter where they are. They can’t sneak out of the house or drive too fast without everyone knowing. Adults are watching them all the time.

Every part of their life is documented.

As Gen X kids, our parents had their own shit to deal with. They figured we could take care of ourselves or we would ask for help. They had done it, we could too. They didn’t check in on us very much.

It was nice to disappear. To feel fully independent. To know that no one knows where you are except for the people you are with. That’s a good feeling.

The phone doesn’t ring. It doesn’t buzz with a text alert. Just nothing.

You also have to know where you’re going. Navigation does not exist.

Gen X high school life

As teenagers, we would roam around. We would find deserted home developments. In one part of town, they had bulldozed enough desert away and had created dirt roads. Even built curbs. But that was it. For whatever reason, the funding dried up so there were just dirt roads out there and regular-ass cement curbs.

We would trudge out there late at night and throw desert parties. Sit on the curbs in the dirt. No one around. We called it The Roads.

There are no photos to document that it happened. No social media. If you weren’t there, you missed it. End of story. I can’t explain it, but that is an amazing feeling. All you are left with the next day is a hangover, hazy memories, and ant bites.

Two generations linked in pragmatism

I asked the Gen Z kids I work with about how they feel about being tracked through technology, and I got a mixed response. Most of them felt creeped out about location services. They all knew to turn most of that stuff off and only share their location with a parent or sibling. Other kids were aware of it but felt like it was just a fact of life — you know about it, but it’s not something you think about a lot.

One guy was worried that The Man was monitoring what he bought and judging him. (I honestly don’t think he’s being too paranoid).

Gen Z has figured out ways to get around it, though. They know how to trick their parents. They know how to sneak out. I won’t tell you how they do it because I respect them for it.

Gen Z may have more in common with Gen X than I thought.

They are self-sufficient and rebellious. They have just found new ways to do it. They use technology to their advantage. They can wield it better than any of us.

I don’t give too much oxygen to Millennials. Enough has been written about them, anyway. I can’t relate much to that generation. I think I now know why.

Millennials were an optimistic generation that’s often seen as being pandered to by parents and adults in their lives. Evidence: the proverbial millennial participation trophy. Meanwhile, those in Gen Z are more pragmatic. While Millennials were raised during an economic boom, Gen Z grew up during a recession.

Gen X is pragmatic as well. Our parents were off working, getting divorced, or getting drunk. We thought all that shit was normal, so we just lived our collective kid lives. Coming home to an empty house. Taking care of younger siblings. Cooking our meals.

I was doing my laundry and making boxed mac n’ cheese for lunch by the time I was 8. It’s just what we did. We were not given a prize or even told thank you for doing it. To grow up in that generation was to grow up with grit.

We watched as our parents and grandparents fought wars and fought for social justice. Doing our part for the family was the least we could do. Complaining was not allowed. Hence, grit. If you wanted something, you worked for it.

The optimism of Millennials has had me giving them the side-eye most of the time. What are you all so happy and carefree about? I never could understand it.

Gen Z can see that everything is not okay, but they are also not going to dwell on it. They will use the technology they have at their fingertips and they will carry on. They will make a difference however they can. They are scrappy. Case in point, how they sank a Trump rally in 2020 by registering hundreds of thousands of tickets as a prank. Most of them were not old enough to vote, but they figured out a way to be heard. It made my Gen X heart burst with pride!

When a situation is dire, you come together and find the best solution. Gen Z has already figured that out.

The takeaway: Z is fierce

Gen Z has been monitored their whole lives. Adults watch their every move. Corporations are trying to figure out how to monetize them. They see you and they kind of don’t care. They will find a way around whatever you have put in place, anyway. You won’t know it though until it’s too late.

You can’t out-organize them and you can’t out-technology them. They’ve got that covered. Just when you think you may have them figured out, you realize you don’t. That is their superpower. You think you have them on lock and then they make you look like a fool.

Man, I’m so proud of them. From one generation raised with grit to another, I see you. Let me know if you ever need anything. I know you won’t though, and that’s okay. I kind of love you for it.