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Whether it's the sock rule, wearing high heels on a night out, or prom dress roasting, Zoomers and Millennials can never see eye-to-eye on certain topics.
If you've been scrolling on your TikTok For You page lately, no doubt you'll have come across all the discourse about the "Gen Z stare" that has the generations up in arms as to what this actually means.
Here is a breakdown of everything you need to know about the viral expression that's dividing people.
What is the "Gen Z" stare?
One thing both generations can agree on is what the "Gen Z" stare looks like, which is basically a blank, vacant and dissociative stare often used by Gen Z employees.
But beyond that, this is where all the agreeing comes to an end...
How do Zoomers define 'Gen Z stare'?
So the crux of the debate is who exactly is responsible for "Gen Z" stare, and according to Zoomers, it's the older generations, aka the boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials, who cause them to do this.
In particular, they said the "Gen Z stare" is used when an older customer asks a silly question or makes a ridiculous demand that gets on their nerves
"A lot of older generations talk too much, too rudely, and too proudly while being too stupid," TikToker Jenae @thisisjenae said in her viral video discussing the topic, which has over 11.2 million views.
"I've had a person get mad at me because their iced tea was too cold, I don't know what these people want from me, of course I'm a just start staring at you."
Meanwhile, creator Sumana (@samishere_99) demonstrated the "Gen Z stare" with an amusing example of when she would use it when a customer was not computing that a class they wanted to attend is fully booked.
@samishere_99 Gen z stare is permanently plastered on my face #genz #genzstare #fyp #trending #viral #fy
Or as amusingly depicted by TikToker @_kayluhbb_ when you're telling a customer to remove their card and they're not listening to you...
@_kayluhbb #genz #work #relatable #fy
But Millennials disagree and say Zoomers have hijacked the definition
However, Millennials have seen all the Zoomers chatting about the "Gen Z stare", and they say their predecessors are misinterpreting what it means.
They say it is when someone doesn't respond to react to something where you would expect some kind of response or reaction.
"What you guys are talking about is a universal customer service experience," said TikToker Christian (@xiandivyne), who says the stare is "not unique to Gen Z" in a video with 1.3 million views.
@xiandivyne #fyp #xiandivyne
He went on to say the "Gen Z stare" occurs as "responses to initial greetings."
Meanwhile, creator @k8orad3 similarly said, "The way that Gen Z is rebranding the Gen Z stare into something that it's not is so on brand - like no we're not talking when someone says something stupid and you have to take pause and just stare at them, we've all been doing that for years."
@k8orad3 y’all crack me up #fyp #foryou #genzstare
She goes on to explain, "The Gen Z stare is when I walk into Wawa and walk up to the cashier and say 'Hello' and I'm met with..." as she then blankly stares at the camera.
"Like hello? Do I need to clock in? What are we doing here? I need you all to accept that this is your version of the Millennial pause."
TikToker Dante (@dantejamees) posted a funny skit of what Millennials say is the "Gen Z stare" as he pretends to be a customer in every scenario like ordering a coffee, trying to find a product in a supermarket, getting a table at a restaurant and more, and they also depict the blank stare of the Gen Z employee in each situation too.
@dantejamees I’m used to being stared at but Gen Z’s hits different
And the comments section seems to agree as they share their experiences of the "Gen Z stare".
One person wrote, " 'The millennial pause is so cringe' while giving us the thousand-yard stare."
"It's like minor social interactions cause them to buffer in real time," a second person posted.
A third person said, "The Gen Z stare is when I’m trynna buy a coffee and y'all just behind the counter like ⚫️___⚫️."
"The Gen Z stare is a deer in the headlights look, and it's triggered by simple social interactions lmao," a fourth person commented.
Who do you think is right in this instance - Millennials or Gen Z?
Elsewhere, Gen Z share their 'unemployed' struggles in job hunt TikTok trend, and The 'my first war, kinda nervous' trend shows how unserious Gen Z is.
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