I remember this one time when I was chatting with a millennial guy. He was awful at texting, no emojis, gifs, nothing! I was always trying to decode his feelings behind the messages he sent me. Safe to say I could never fully relax.
Although there wasn’t much chemistry going on, I decided to go out with him and give him a chance because he seemed sweet. God, I made such a mistake.
I never expected a few years of age gap would be such a challenge! He didn’t understand any of the slang I’m used to saying so I spent half of our date just explaining Gen Z terms to him. I felt like a fricking dictionary!
And just imagine my pain when he said he never used TikTok. Great, I thought, now I can’t even reference viral trends and he won’t understand my humor!
So yeah, after this date I realized that maybe Gen Z and millennials aren’t so compatible after all. However, it turns out I’m not alone in this thought…
“Is he a bad texter or is he 35?”
A TikTok creator, Elizabeth Castaldi divided the internet with her 7-second video! She went on a date with a 35-year-old man and ended up shocked after receiving his text the next day. Imagine waking up the day after your date all excited only to get this message:
“Hey, had fun last night. Have a good day.”
Yeah, I would be confused too, but maybe that’s only because I’m Gen Z too? Well, after all, a simple emoji never hurt anyone.
Honestly, he had me in the first half. But then what’s with this passive-aggressive second sentence? I feel like even the emoji wouldn’t be able to save it from sounding so formal.
Elizabeth caused the whole war between Gen Z and millennials in the comments! Her peers related to her saying he’s texting with that dad energy. Some even shared their struggles of desperate attempts to decipher the messages of their millennial boyfriends.
Others however stood on the side of their fellow millennial:
“35 here. I see no issue with that. Because it’s what I send. I want to gauge if you had a good time. To set up another date.”
They also said she shouldn’t overthink it because it’s simply the way they text everyone.
This TikTok was also a wake-up call because some people realized they were getting old since they genuinely didn’t understand what was wrong with the message.
A lot of millennials in the comments (bless their soul) were even brave enough to accept their fate and simply ask for advice on how to text better. Gen Z users of course saved the day with all the tips!
Since Elizabeth intrigued everyone with her love life, it was only fair enough to give others a follow-up of her story!
Some texts are not so hard to decipher after all
She admitted she didn’t mind the first message as much but she was confused if he wanted to see her again. Without waiting for her date to break the ice, she took advice from her followers and invited him out.
At this point, I became so invested, but luckily, she shared another TikTok.
After expressing her wish to see him on Wednesday, he responded:
“Next week might be a little crazy with work as I have some deals closing. Basically not sure I’d be able to make it to RI. So maybe we play it by ear a little.”
Okay, let’s address the elephant in the room – “play it by ear”? I mean, who speaks like that to their date?! This is probably Gen Z speaking out of me, but still…
After seeing this conversation, her followers finally agreed on the same thing – he’s not interested. One girl gave her friendly advice:
“If he’s not organizing a second date it’s simple, he’s not interested in you, and that’s ok, move on girl.”
It looks like sometimes some texts send a clear message, we just need to open our eyes and be real with ourselves. However, even if you’re dating someone with an age gap, don’t lose hope!
You can always teach them how to text better and be direct with your needs. If they really care about you, sending an emoji here and there, and leaving formal texting for work colleagues shouldn’t be an issue!