If Gen Z is Weird, it's Your Fault, Old Timer!

Though I try hard to avoid the MSM, I do see their headlines while posting on my social media, and I do speak with older Americans through my daily activities. And it seems that both Boomers and MSM agree wholeheartedly on one overarching theme: 'Gen Z is weird.'

They have a weird 'stare.' They don't know how to interact or socialize in the workplace. Their work ethic is poor, and their connection to the corporate machine is tenuous. They are not motivated, or poorly motivated at best. These observations are causing employers to terminate them or pass them over entirely.

Everyone seems surprised, shocked, and perplexed!

Well, not me. On the contrary, my response to those scratching their heads is a loud and frankly unapologetic: "Well, what did you F#4@NG expect, Old Timer?"

If you don't know what I'm getting at, think back to 2020-2022. True, these years were uncomfortable for everyone, but for our youth, they were especially horrific. This is because tweens, teens, and young adults need social interaction for their brains to develop normally, and the brain isn't fully developed until age 25.

The famous psychologist Erik Erikson identified several stages of struggle that humans encounter throughout their lives. You can easily find them on the internet, but I'll summarize the relevant ones.

According to Erikson, ages 11-18 must deal with "identity vs role confusion;" tweens and teens must try out different "identities" and decide what type of person they will be. This requires social interaction and exposure to different kinds of people. Thus, why their friends are so important to them.

Ages 19-29 struggle with "intimacy vs isolation." Again, this stage requires social interaction to navigate successfully. The challenge of this stage is whether a young person will be alone their whole life or form deep relationships up to and including marriage. This is why dating, clubbing, bar hopping, and other social activities are so important to them.

As you can see, dear reader, both stages require exposure to others their age, and for two whole years, this was not allowed to happen. We deprived our youth of what they needed to grow up normally, of what their brains needed to become fully formed....and now we want to complain that they are 'weird?'

But that's not all.

Generation Z watched their parents lose their jobs and their relatives forced into a science experiment. Some of our youth suffered abuse at the hands of guardians when the schools closed down. Even their elders, who should have protected them from such abuse, did not speak out, choosing selfishness and fear over the welfare of their children. They were so afraid of the sniffles, they didn't care about what was best for the kids, who it was proven time and again, were NOT at risk for death from COVID!

The lives of our youth NEVER should have been interrupted. Yet, Generation Z didn't get graduations, proms, dances, homecomings, or football games. They got called 'grandma killer', and doors slammed in their faces.

As such Gen Z learned that nothing is certain, guaranteed, or steady, and that when given the chance, their elders and society will quickly and happily betray them.

Why would they want to contribute to a society that treated them this way? Why would they be loyal to something that wasn't loyal to them or their families? I can think of no reason, and I don't blame them for flipping society the proverbial bird.

Gen Z might be weird, they might be different, and they might be incompatible with your corporate world.

But if they are, it's because you made them that way, Old Timer!