I think more men are aware of the existence of toxic masculinity than before and many of them are trying to get out from under it. A lot of young men still are unsure of how to fit into the world, though, which is how the alt-right snaps them up with easy “answers” to complex problems.

I definitely see a lot more women fighting against traditional gender roles than men. They’re killing it, it’s really great to see.

Much of my exposure to younger adults is through my work. It definitely attracts more progressive candidates, although nothing like fields such as social work, psychology, etc., so take all of this with a grain of salt. I do work fairly frequently with more traditionally “macho” workers like the trades, and they’re starting to reject toxic masculinity simply because it’s bad for business.

Hell yeah. My experience may be skewed due to my field, but I’ve noticed my Gen Z peers are SO much better at critical thinking. If someone asks most of my millennial coworkers to do something, they generally just do it. Ask one of my Gen Z coworkers and they’ll usually ask you why, often followed by probing questions to better understand what they’re doing. They’re full of healthy skepticism.

As a cohort, they’re also better at enforcing work/life balance. I’ve been fighting for employee rights for years but for so long felt like I was alone. Now I’m at home with the newer coworkers who (politely) tell their bosses to fuck off when asked to do extra unpaid work (we’re all salaried) or to work outside of their job description.

While many aren’t technically advanced - many couldn’t build or troubleshoot a broken PC - they are as a group fairly technically capable, having uniformly been raised using technology. Teaching my computer illiterate boss to use Excel is so frustrating that it feels like repeatedly punching myself in the side of the head. Teaching my equally Excel-unskilled, twenty-something coworker the same is a breeze. He has no fucking idea what he’s doing, but he picks it right up. He knows how to use a PC, just not how to use Excel in particular. My boss knows neither.

I absolutely love working with them, Gen Z is the best.

I think their metaphor is referring to ease of use and the knowledge required for use. I have a few personal anecdotes as examples.

I’m an eighties kid. My first PC was a Commodore 64 and my first car was a 1966 VW Bug. Neither was reliable nor easy to use. I had to learn to utilize interfaces that were more finicky and complex than modern equivalents, and I spent a great deal of time learning how to make them work when they glitched out or were broken. The alternative was not having them at all. It was hard to get BBS advice when your PC took a dump and no one else you knew had one you could use, and then where would you get car advice? Certainly not from my dad!

A kid growing up with an Apple anything and driving a 20 year old car doesn’t face the same kinds of difficulties. Many things just work more reliably and aren’t as difficult to use. One can easily buy gaming systems now where we often had to build our own to get what we wanted. My buddy’s 23 year old daughter had never even heard of CLI. That’s all I had!

It doesn’t make one generation better than the other - younger people today are skilled in ways I could have only dreamed of. We just have different opportunities for excellence.

Oh shit, no puffins for me after all. Thanks for sharing this.

The United States in the Seattle, Washington area, land of the million dollar starter home and $8.00 cup of (shitty) coffee.

I’m totally into that, we’ll check it out. Thank you for the recommendation!

It helps that we’re from a high cost of living area. Honestly, we’re paying less to eat out here than where we live. The tourism industry is absolutely gouging, though, and I hate what that’s doing to the economy for locals.

Great so far! There are a ton of fellow tourists and it’s a bit pricey, but it’s beautiful and the people are very nice. Plus where else can you eat a puffin?

Dog slobber. We have two dogs. One loves to take a big mouthful of water and run up to my wife and me with it, splashing drool water everywhere on the way. The other has recently learned this trick from him and now we have double dog drool. We don’t go barefoot much anymore.

I have stout, wide, “Fred Flintstone” feet. Is there a market for my people?

Idaho, the South of the North. I now live in Washington, where that kind of shit doesn’t fly.

No, you’re fine! I didn’t specify. I lived with it for so long, it didn’t even occur to me to outline the process.

We had to fix it or arrange to have it fixed, then the landlord would verify it was fixed to their satisfaction. The landlord was otherwise hands off until it exceeded the cost limit. This was the norm for the area.

They provide maintenance free housing…

Keep in mind this isn’t always the case. Landlords where I used to live are increasingly requiring tenants to pay for some maintenance costs. A past landlord had us pay for anything $300 or less.

It’s WAY too over the top for me. I feel like I’m going to stroke out from overstimulation after a few minutes.

Although I think it’s fair to think about getting rid of those who want to get rid of others. Just make it a hard line: only those, no others.

I also use Nova Launcher and had no idea you could do that! Thanks for letting me know.

I keep all my Google icons quarantined in one folder. Case in point:

Does 996745 or 99645 have some sort of meaning? I’m a little lost.

As someone who struggles with chronic illness and depression, I believe you’re right.

I’m not a psychologist, but I’ve spent a lot of time with them learning about depression and how to live with it. It’s all about incremental change. When I realize I’m slipping back into a depressive funk, I have to figure out what I did to dig this hole and start addressing that to get myself out. It’s a matter of days or weeks. I’m not special. If I was special, I wouldn’t get depressed. I just found what works for me through trial and error.

On the flip side, I have a friend who has been mired in depression for years now. He doesn’t try to change his behavior. He has an inconsistent sleep schedule, rarely goes outside his house, eats poorly, doesn’t exercise, plays video games 12+ hours most days, and, what I’d say is most important of all, won’t see a therapist to deal with his current and early childhood issues. He seems to think that playing more video games, sleeping more, and avoiding any and all unpleasantness will make him better.

I’ve run into a few people like this and they seem to reflexively write off helpful advice for incremental change. You suggest something like starting out with a 5 minute walk, once a day, just to establish a healthy habit. The response? “A five minute walk isn’t going to cure my depression”. No shit, no one suggested it would. It’s just a start to managing it.