How To Deal When Older Gens Say Something Highkey Rude To You

As Gen Zers, we’ve been told our whole lives that we’re entitled, rude, and have no respect for our elders. But in reality, it feels a lot like older generations get away with being way ruder than necessary for absolutely no reason. 

I recently went to a family friends’ birthday dinner and had a bit of a mo growing on my top lip. There I was, just sitting down and minding my own, when one geezer comes up to me and no joke says, “What are you doing walking round with a slug above your lip?” Like buddy, at least ask me my name before we get into the degradation. 

Now, I’m not out here tryna start anything with our preceding generations. Because for the most part, they’re absolute sweeties. But it can be especially frustrating when someone starts trying to tell you that Gen Z has it easy compared to them. Just because we don’t have to spin a tyre around with a stick for fun doesn’t mean we have it easy. 

We all know that house prices have increased by a scream-into-the-abysse-worthy amount since our parents were buying houses, but I’ve crunched some to give you an actual figure. According to the ABS, the average price of a house in Sydney has increased by more than 1,450% since 1980. To make things worse, the average wage has only gone up by 401%. So basically it’s more than 3 times as difficult to buy a house than it was when Gen X were still bopping to Devo.

On top of that, the number of Gen Zers battling mental illness is higher than any other generation to date. Some boomers would say it’s because we’ve gone soft. But let’s be honest, they’re probably the same people that really would have benefited from a couple of therapy sessions.

So next time a boomer hits you with some garbage about how easy your life is, first up, remember that it’s absolutely not true. You’ve entered the world at a weird time and despite that, you’re doing great. 

If they’re stooping low enough to make fun of your appearance, try and have a bit of pity. Like, come on, get some better material. They’re probably jealous that you’re pulling off looks they could only ever dream of. 

But most importantly, stay classy. Don’t give them the reaction they want. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the, “you don’t know how easy you’ve got it” type of people, it's that they love an argument. Just hit ‘em with the facts and if they don’t want to listen, they're not worth your time.

If you need mental health support, help is available.

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