Best of 2025: Ryan Bridge - The Gen Z stare

I went out for lunch to a café the other day and our table was served by a couple of waiters who all seemed to have a similar vibe about them.

They just. Did. Not. Seem. To. Care.

No smiling. No banter. No small talk or polite conversation. Just this blank look on their faces.

You sit there and think “did they hear me”? You ever so politely repeat yourself in case they didn’t. 

But they did. They got it. There’s just no engagement. Face colder than a witch's tit. No refills of your water. No "would you like another coffee?"

Like, hello!? Is anybody in there? Is anyone home? Why are you all moving so slowly? Shouldn’t you be rushing the joint taking orders and filling coffees? 

When I was young it was drilled into us: when you’re waiting tables and taking orders. You work your way up from "dish pig" to front of house. You basically run round busy as a bee, trying to impress your boss, trying to win your guests over. Taking wagers of who might get a tip. 

"Can I help you, sir? What more can I get you?" You’d help the elderly into their seats. You’d bend over backwards to make everyone happy. 

And these guys are on at least $23 an hour. 

And I know what you’re thinking, maybe I’m the a-hole. Maybe I’ve forgotten mum’s many sermons on good manners and etiquette.

So I asked the people who I was out to lunch with - they all thought the same thing. I asked friends who are teachers, I asked parents with kids around that age.

Guess what? They’ve all noticed the same thing happening.

Hell, there’s even a TikTok trend called ‘the Gen Z stare', which describes what I saw at the café - the vacant look a Gen Zer gives in response to a question or statement. If it’s in TikTok then it must be a thing, right?

So the question is why?

Was it Covid? Was it everyone wearing masks? So much of how we communicate is through facial expressions, maybe they’ve missed out on years of social queues and norms? Is the smartphones? Is it both?

Or, maybe, just maybe, they just don’t give a shit?

Maybe we have on our hands a generation of young people who don’t really think they NEED to be bothering with mundane things like work. 

Disclaimer: this is is obviously not an entire generation of young people. And some people are just shy. I get that. We've all had excellent experiences. But, y'know. Is this a thing you too have noticed? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I went out for lunch to a cafe the other day,
and our table was served by a couple of waiters,
different waiters who all seem to have a similar vibe
about them. They just did not seem to care. No smiling,
no banter, no small talk, no polite conversation, just this
blank look on their faces. And you sit there and

(00:21):
you think, did they hear me? When you know, what,
did they? You ever so politely repeat yourself in case
they didn't, But they did, They got it. There's just
not really any engagement. Face colder than a witch's tit,
you know, riching beeface. They call it. No refills on
your water? No would you like another coffee? That sort

(00:41):
of thing like hello, is anybody in there? Is anyone home?
Why is everyone moving around so slowly? Shouldn't you be
rushing around the joint taking orders and filling coffees? When
I was young, it was drilled into us. When you're
waiting tables and you're taking orders, you work your way
from I was the dishpeg out the back. You work
your way up to your front of house. You feel

(01:02):
pretty good about yourself, and you basically run around busy
as a bee, trying to impress your boss, trying to
win your guests over, taking wages on who might get
the tip? Can I help you, sir? What more can
I get you? You would help the elderly into their seats,
you'd bend over backwards, basically to make everyone happy. And
these guys are getting well at least twenty three dollars

(01:23):
an hour. And I know what you're thinking. Maybe I'm
the ahole, right, Maybe I've forgotten Mum's many sermons on
good manners and etiquette. So I asked the people that
I was out to lunch with. They all thought the
same thing. And I asked friends who are teachers, I
asked parents with kids around that age, and guess what,
they all noticed the same thing. Hell, there's even a

(01:45):
TikTok trend called the gen z stare, which describes basically
what I saw at the cafe, the vacant look at
a gen za that they give you in response to
a question or a statement. And so if it's on TikTok,
then obviously it's a real thing, right, So the question
why was it? Covid? Was it? Everyone wearing masks? So

(02:05):
much of how we communicate is through facial expressions. Maybe
they've missed out on years of social cues and social norms.
And then you think, well, is it smartphones? You know,
they people don't really know how to interact anymore? Or
is it both? Or maybe just maybe they just don't
give a shit, you know, maybe they just don't care.

(02:27):
Maybe we have our on our hands, a generation of
young people who don't really think they need to be
bothering with mundane things like work. Quick disclaimer for you
before the gen z has come for me, obviously, not
an entire generation of young people. There are great young
people out there, and not every cafe experience is the same.

(02:47):
There are good ones too, but you know, is this
a thing you have noticed? For more from Early Edition
with Ryan Bridge. Listen live to News Talks it Be
from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio