I see my fellow millennials panicking because we're not cool anymore (if ever we were) and here's the thing: THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL. Things would be truly fucked if a bunch of 21 year-olds thought a bunch of 37 year-olds with crippling student debt, jobs, and no houses were cool.
Some Millennials in my timeline are insecure because Gen Zs are telling them their ankle socks age them.
I can't stress enough that you don't need to care about what a bunch of 20-somethings think about your clothes, mainly bc you don't have to care about what ANYONE thinks about your clothes.
The best way to seem cool across generations is to be open to their cultural touchstones: listen to their music, watch their stuff, etc. Don't try to talk like them but at least be able to talk with them.
I don’t really believe that there’s a monolithic “cool” to begin with. I think you’re cool, but you share a bunch of my interests and hobbies. I think there are multiple versions of the idea floating around, some overlapping and some competing, and worrying about fitting into one is a waste.
Aren’t we really panicking because it turns out that we’re getting old? In the exact same way Gen X was panicking 10-15 years ago. Same as it ever was.
Every generation expects that culture will revolve around them at some level; they just express it differently. Boomers assume that their version of the 1960s is reality’s default setting, Gen X is always being forgotten, and Millennials still think they’re at the vanguard of online culture.
