Will the Millennial-Gen Z war ever cease? The latest fight is over something called the “Gen Z stare.” Ever since the debate over side versus middle parts erupted like a decade ago, it seems those of us who grew up with Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man and those of us in the Tom Holland camp (sorry, Andrew Garfield) will never get along, and now we’re in the trenches over eye contact.
The conversation is happening, of course, on TikTok, where everyone has their own interpretation of what the “stare” means, where it came from and why people do it. The Times Is On It.
Here to explain, to the best of our ability, why your younger cousin responds to your questions about her dating life with [eye emoji] [eye emoji], is another edition of TL;DR.
Give me the TL;DR.
The “Gen Z stare” is an apparent tendency by young people in customer service positions to respond to innocuous statements with a blank look instead of a regular comment.
Wait, I need more. What’s the background here?
It’s unclear how the convo got started, and there seems to be two interpretations of what the stare even is. Recipients of the stare, ie, non-Zoomers, believe it is an inability to make smalltalk, like the brains of twentysomethings are buffering when confronted by strangers who simply want to exchange pleasantries.
TikTok content
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Starers, ie Zoomers, say that it’s the look they give people who are being stupid while waiting for them to realize they are being stupid.
Why should I care?
Well, once you start noticing it happening in real life, it’s kind of hard to stop, and you may wonder why it’s happening. The videos provide at least some explanations.
TikTok content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
As one commenter on TikTok wrote, “I think it’s hilarious that Gen Z thinks they’re the first generation to ever deal with stupidity or difficult customers, and that’s how they justify the fact that they just disassociate and mindlessly stare into space whenever they are confronted with a difficult for confusing situation, instead of immediately engaging in the situation like every other generation has ever done before them lol.”
Many responded to this person pointing out that as Gen Z enters the workforce, they are getting their customer service “sea legs” and will likely grow out of this annoying but harmless habit and get better at thinking on their feet. So uh…let’s all be a little more patient with each other?
Will anyone still care about this in two weeks?
No. It might still be happening but we will certainly have found some other social micro faux pas to dissect, so this will not be top of mind for anyone.
The post The ‘Gen Z Stare,’ Explained appeared first on Glamour.
