Woman Hilariously Illustrates The Age Gap Between Millennials And Gen Z
Time marches cruelly on and the width of our pants is ever-changing.
Ketut Subiyanto / Pexels There’s no shortage of proof that how we live changes from year to year. As new technology is invented, people from older generations have to learn new ways of doing things, just to keep up.
Those of us who lived through Y2K might think we’re still with it, yet certain things prove just how deep the divide between ages really is.
One woman hilariously illustrated the age gap between millennials and Gen Z.
Katy Elliot shared a video of a millennial (herself) and a Gen Z-er acting out ways of doing daily things, and the contrasts in their approaches showed that we really do come from different eras.
First, a woman off-camera posed a situation that happens every day, asking how they pick up the phone when someone calls. The millennial made the shape of an old-fashioned, curved landline phone, the kind that came with a spiraling cord attached, meaning if you tried to walk around while talking, you’d get tangled up or disconnected.
The Gen Z-er put her hand up to her ear held flat, shaped like an iPhone. When asked how they would hang up the phone, she said, “Just hit the power button” while the millennial mimed putting the phone back on the receiver.
“How do you make a heart with your hands?” she asked next, and the differences in the heart shapes were staggering.
“How would you take a picture of me, from here?” she asked, and the two girls pretended to snap a pic, only the millennial did so mimicking an actual camera, and the Gen Z-er did so with her phone.
Photo: Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels
The woman asked the millennial and the Gen Z-er how they roll down a car window: One did so by manually rolling down a lever that would open a window. The other one hit a button.
The differences between the two generations' way of doing things highlight how quickly technology — and our behavior — changes.
For her last magical example of how millennials and Gen Z-ers are different, the woman had both girls stand up and show her what pants they were wearing. The millennial wore the go-to skinny jeans of the early aughts. The Gen Z-er wore a baggy, ripped-up pair of jeans, a la Kurt Cobain, and the grunge look of the early 90s, way before she was born.
Someone who’s a millennial was born between 1981 and 1996, meaning that they’re 28 to 43 years old. Some people, like the one writing this article, might qualify themselves as an elder millennial — we’re old enough to remember life before the internet when being bored and not having instant access to crucial information were commonplace. We spent our weekends wandering through malls, yet there were no Sephoras for us to trash and terrorize.
Someone belonging to Gen Z was born between 1997 and 2021, which means that they’re anywhere from 12 to 27 years old.
Photo: Julia M. Cameron / Pexels
A major difference between being a millennial and being part of Gen Z seems to be the level of access and connection we have to the newest versions of technology.
It’s interesting to note that while technology is always pushing forward, so much of fashion seems to be cyclical. This elder millennial sees Gen Z-ers wearing the same outfits she wore in middle school, minus the over-plucked eyebrows.
If there’s anything that holds true, life will never stand still. Who knows what shape Gen Alpha will make with their hands to imitate a heart? Only the cruel passage of time will tell.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture analysis, and all things to do with the entertainment industry.