Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Generation Z at war with Millennials — who cares?

That’s so Gen X of you

Don’t let ‘em push your button.
Don’t let ‘em push your button.

Dear Hipster:

So, my news feed has been blowing me up all day with stories and tweets etc. about how Generation Z (mostly a bunch of teenagers and people in their very early twenties) has been at war with Millennials (mostly a bunch of 20 and 30 somethings) over skinny jeans, side parts, and how Millennials aren’t cool anymore. I’m pretty sure I could summon up the energy to have an opinion on this clearly super important issue, but, then again, I kind of want to know, as a threshold question before I get too involved in caring about this, why should I care? Why should anyone care?

Sponsored
Sponsored

—Kelle, Generation X, Normal Heights

May I observe how that’s so Gen X of you: wanting to care, but not being able to bring yourself to care unless there’s a really good reason for it. I bet if you could somehow siphon off a tiny fraction of the cynicism from an average Gen X’er and funnel it into the minds of the average Gen Z teenager you would render this entire inquiry moot. Too bad it doesn’t work like that, eh?

In any event, you shouldn’t waste your brain space caring what one group of people thinks about another group of people, at least when the ostensible feud amounts to little more than harmless taunts that we’ll all forget about in a week. Save the energy for something that might matter. If Gen Z starts sounding suspiciously patricidal (or any kind of -cidal), then maybe we’ve got something to worry about.

While we’re on the subject of feuds, and if you want something more useful for your mind, I have always wondered why the word ‘feud’ wasn’t spelled ‘fued.’ If you think about it, ‘feud’ rhymes with both ‘hue’ and, even more pertinently, ‘fuel,’ both of which place the ‘u’ in its rightful spot before the ‘e,’ so there’s no reason to reverse the order of the vowels. I think we can all agree the word ought to be spelled otherwise, but there you have it.

Now, you are probably thinking about how you didn’t come here for a grammar lesson, but stay with me. If my plan worked, you have now begun to obsess over the needless transposition of the vowels in the word ‘feud.’ Because I will never get back the minutes of my life that have been spent pondering this exact question, I have chosen to drag you along with me for this meaningless diversion that yields no answers. It eases my existential angst to know that I am not alone here. However, because this is an absolutely pointless exercise in mental gymnastics, my motivations can only be perceived as selfish and solipsistic in the extreme.

Such is the nature of a fued between Gen Z and Millennials, and any attention you shouldn’t pay to it. Two separate cohorts, each trying to show the other how much they don’t care about each other’s norms; while onlookers from other cohorts want to position themselves as removed from, and therefore superior to, the whole stupid thing. It’s nothing more than passing existential angst back and forth like the last wine cooler at a Fourth of July party on the fast track to its nadir... and I wonder if you even noticed how I put that final ‘u’ and ‘e’ in their proper places.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Next Article

Raging Cider & Mead celebrates nine years

Company wants to bring America back to its apple-tree roots
Don’t let ‘em push your button.
Don’t let ‘em push your button.

Dear Hipster:

So, my news feed has been blowing me up all day with stories and tweets etc. about how Generation Z (mostly a bunch of teenagers and people in their very early twenties) has been at war with Millennials (mostly a bunch of 20 and 30 somethings) over skinny jeans, side parts, and how Millennials aren’t cool anymore. I’m pretty sure I could summon up the energy to have an opinion on this clearly super important issue, but, then again, I kind of want to know, as a threshold question before I get too involved in caring about this, why should I care? Why should anyone care?

Sponsored
Sponsored

—Kelle, Generation X, Normal Heights

May I observe how that’s so Gen X of you: wanting to care, but not being able to bring yourself to care unless there’s a really good reason for it. I bet if you could somehow siphon off a tiny fraction of the cynicism from an average Gen X’er and funnel it into the minds of the average Gen Z teenager you would render this entire inquiry moot. Too bad it doesn’t work like that, eh?

In any event, you shouldn’t waste your brain space caring what one group of people thinks about another group of people, at least when the ostensible feud amounts to little more than harmless taunts that we’ll all forget about in a week. Save the energy for something that might matter. If Gen Z starts sounding suspiciously patricidal (or any kind of -cidal), then maybe we’ve got something to worry about.

While we’re on the subject of feuds, and if you want something more useful for your mind, I have always wondered why the word ‘feud’ wasn’t spelled ‘fued.’ If you think about it, ‘feud’ rhymes with both ‘hue’ and, even more pertinently, ‘fuel,’ both of which place the ‘u’ in its rightful spot before the ‘e,’ so there’s no reason to reverse the order of the vowels. I think we can all agree the word ought to be spelled otherwise, but there you have it.

Now, you are probably thinking about how you didn’t come here for a grammar lesson, but stay with me. If my plan worked, you have now begun to obsess over the needless transposition of the vowels in the word ‘feud.’ Because I will never get back the minutes of my life that have been spent pondering this exact question, I have chosen to drag you along with me for this meaningless diversion that yields no answers. It eases my existential angst to know that I am not alone here. However, because this is an absolutely pointless exercise in mental gymnastics, my motivations can only be perceived as selfish and solipsistic in the extreme.

Such is the nature of a fued between Gen Z and Millennials, and any attention you shouldn’t pay to it. Two separate cohorts, each trying to show the other how much they don’t care about each other’s norms; while onlookers from other cohorts want to position themselves as removed from, and therefore superior to, the whole stupid thing. It’s nothing more than passing existential angst back and forth like the last wine cooler at a Fourth of July party on the fast track to its nadir... and I wonder if you even noticed how I put that final ‘u’ and ‘e’ in their proper places.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Ramona musicians seek solution for outdoor playing at wineries

Ambient artists aren’t trying to put AC/DC in anyone’s backyard
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader