Your kids belong to Generation Z (1997 - 2012), Generation Alpha (2013 - 2024), or maybe Generation Beta (2025 - 2039)? And f you want you can tell me more about them. And if you havent kids you can tell just if you want or dont want to have. Im excited to all your answerds.

My 20s were a "life is sposed to fun" mentality, due in part to family influence, but I suppose I can't blame it all on them. I partied and drank my 20s away, early 30s were still stupid decisions. Early 40s, I finally am using my brain. In school again, this time for "real"...but it seems, I dunno...not as meaningful.

I'm single, no children, not that I ever pined for kids, but my chances are almost up.

I gave up on dating apps, and people won't even make eye contact with others in the street. If I would have known life would be like this, I suppose I would've settled years ago. Does anyone else feel like this?

(Artificial Intelligence, Steven Spielberg - 2001)

This movie was upsetting and hard to watch in 2001. How are we feeling now? Yassified jude law is the only comic relief. Some highlights, gonna trauma dump bc I need to sleep tonight and I am completely wrecked:

- Haley Joel Osment's acting in this film recalls the emotions of all of his others from this time, and in the context of this film, it is gut wrenching. Like is the actor of our generation who completely froze time.

- My son is Davids age in this movie and that has done something to me that makes me want to go wake him up and tell him I love him.

- What the fuck are we doing to the planet?

- A striking self awareness in this movie, on a human level, as if it was decided a long time ago that AI would be ushered in to destroy humanity.

- Disguised misogyny typical of 90s movies, of course sex robots... but it has a modern cruelty that is super detached and very very sad.

- Strong commentary on the mental and emotional load of motherhood.

- We are only here for a brief moment, but our actions, our consequences, our refuse will be our legacy.

I’m trying to settle an internal debate I’ve been having with myself, mainly because I keep reading about MySpace, Xanga, early Facebook, stuff like that. I swear when I first signed up for MySpace, you had to be at least 13 (I lied about it that because I was 12, close enough) and there was only a Top 4 option. Not 8, not 12, only 4. Is that how it actually was or am I having a Mandela effect going on in my brain?

"When I was young you could buy a carton of Marborol Reds as soon as you became 18" and that whole shpiel is what I'm imagining the conversation would go like as a grandparent

The 90s and early 00s were a childhood golden age. Between pokemon and mcdonalds play places it was like the entire world was catered to kids. You could go to any store and find pokemon themed suckers, gum, bouncy balls, figurines, then go to the flea market and the cards and games were everywhere. You couldn't escape it at school, everyone had their gameboys or binders out. I want into a music store and this track was playing for the whole store.

Yes my living room is small but I'm doing my best 😭

Following the datacenter attacks, full post and dataset after the link https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1x4hhff/oc_subreddit_activity_during_russian_datacenter/

Back before discord or zoom, when your phone plan offered the ability to have 3 or more friends on the same phone call but you had to go through this weirdly anxiety inducing process to get it to work and half the time you'd lose at least one person on the call cause you pressed something in the wrong order.

And it was so awkward too because one person had to pull everyone into the same call while being in separate calls with each person at the same time (or something like that, I can barely remember anymore) but I feel like it always went like this:

You (already on call with Person A) okay let's get everyone together... I just gotta... Button pressing... okay... Person b? You there?

Person: no this is still person A.

You: okay shit one sec *button pressing intensifies*

You: person b?

Person: yeah hey what's up

You: okay cool! Person A you still there?

Person A:

Person A:

You: fffff-

At least that was always my experience 😂

It was a quiz i found in the early 2000s around 2003-4 it had an evilometer and if you tried to get the most evil options the answer was you are insane. It seems to be gone as I have not been able to find it in years but does anyone have a wayback machine link?

to help spark your memories, some of the questions included what type of music you like and what internet provider you are using. one music answer was "what is this music of which you speak"

Edit: Now that its been found I want to say, now that I am in my 30s I thought I would know more of the names listed but I still only know the last one:

Fredrick Engels
Habakkuk
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Karl Adolph Gjellerup
Michael Palin
Roman Dirge
Little Hamster in my Head

Mine call me Unc Giga Chad 🤷🏿‍♂️

I had trouble editing my last post, so here is what I was trying to talk about.

🚬

If you had these, then you most likely had a dope childhood too. My mom saved EVERYTHING

I can't believe they used to actually print out paper currency for 5¢ of Canadian Tire money.

I’m 37, born in 1989. Growing up, my understanding was that you tipped at restaurants where somebody came to your table and served you. The way I was raised, 10% was normal, 15% was generous, and 20% meant excellent service. That’s what I grew up with, before anyone turns this into an argument about restaurant percentages.

Outside of that, tips were mostly optional. Tow truck driver helps me late at night on a difficult job? Here’s an extra $20. Repairman goes above and beyond? Maybe $40 or $50. Something you chose to do because you appreciated somebody.

Now I can’t even order a coffee without feeling like I’m having a fucking moral dilemma.

Dutch Bros is the worst about this in my experience. They take your order, hold out the tablet, look you dead in the eye, and ask, “Would you like to leave a tip?”

Bro. You just took my order. I haven’t even gotten the coffee yet.

Sometimes I’m going straight to the window, so nobody even came out to my car. Same question. I say no, and now I’m sitting there waiting for my drink in this awkward silence, feeling guilty over something that’s supposedly optional.

It’s not that I’m broke. It’s not that I can’t afford an extra dollar or two. I just don’t like being put on the spot every time I buy something. Having the money doesn’t mean I want every transaction to come with a guilt trip.

Starbucks feels a little less awkward, especially when I order through the app. Scan, get my drink, move on. But at the window, that tip screen still gets put right in front of you. One dollar, two dollars, three dollars… dude, I just wanted a coffee. How did this become another decision I have to justify to myself?

And my frustration is mostly with the corporations setting this up. Why make employees ask customers directly? Why create this uncomfortable interaction between the person buying a drink and the person making it? It feels like these companies want customers to take responsibility for making sure their workers get paid enough.

Pay your people properly. If I want to leave something extra, let it actually be extra.

Maybe nobody behind the counter gives a shit when I hit “no tip.” Maybe some of that awkwardness is in my own head. But the way the question gets asked absolutely makes it feel like there’s a right answer, and “no” isn’t it.

Yes, this is a first-world problem. I know. But it’s getting to the point where I’d rather skip going altogether than deal with it.

I just want a motherfucking coffee.

Are other millennials feeling this? Where do you draw the line between something you’re happy to tip for and being asked to tip just because you bought something?