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Best of 2025: Ryan Bridge - The Gen Z stare · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I went out for lunch to a cafe the other day,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: and our table was served by a couple of waiters,
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  Speaker 1: different waiters who all seem to have a similar vibe
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: about them. They just did not seem to care. No smiling,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: no banter, no small talk, no polite conversation, just this
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: blank look on their faces. And you sit there and
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: you think, did they hear me? When you know, what,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: did they? You ever so politely repeat yourself in case
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: they didn't, But they did, They got it. There's just
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: not really any engagement. Face colder than a witch's tit,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: you know, riching beeface. They call it. No refills on
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: your water? No would you like another coffee? That sort
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: of thing like hello, is anybody in there? Is anyone home?
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  Speaker 1: Why is everyone moving around so slowly? Shouldn't you be
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: rushing around the joint taking orders and filling coffees? When
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  Speaker 1: I was young, it was drilled into us. When you're
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: waiting tables and you're taking orders, you work your way
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  Speaker 1: from I was the dishpeg out the back. You work
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: your way up to your front of house. You feel
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: pretty good about yourself, and you basically run around busy
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  Speaker 1: as a bee, trying to impress your boss, trying to
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  Speaker 1: win your guests over, taking wages on who might get
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  Speaker 1: the tip? Can I help you, sir? What more can
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I get you? You would help the elderly into their seats,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: you'd bend over backwards, basically to make everyone happy. And
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: these guys are getting well at least twenty three dollars
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: an hour. And I know what you're thinking. Maybe I'm
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: the ahole, right, Maybe I've forgotten Mum's many sermons on
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  Speaker 1: good manners and etiquette. So I asked the people that
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: I was out to lunch with. They all thought the
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: same thing. And I asked friends who are teachers, I
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: asked parents with kids around that age, and guess what,
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: they all noticed the same thing. Hell, there's even a
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: TikTok trend called the gen z stare, which describes basically
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: what I saw at the cafe, the vacant look at
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  Speaker 1: a gen za that they give you in response to
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: a question or a statement. And so if it's on TikTok,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: then obviously it's a real thing, right, So the question
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: why was it? Covid? Was it? Everyone wearing masks? So
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  Speaker 1: much of how we communicate is through facial expressions. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: they've missed out on years of social cues and social norms.
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  Speaker 1: And then you think, well, is it smartphones? You know,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: they people don't really know how to interact anymore? Or
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  Speaker 1: is it both? Or maybe just maybe they just don't
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  Speaker 1: give a shit, you know, maybe they just don't care.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Maybe we have our on our hands, a generation of
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  Speaker 1: young people who don't really think they need to be
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: bothering with mundane things like work. Quick disclaimer for you
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: before the gen z has come for me, obviously, not
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: an entire generation of young people. There are great young
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: people out there, and not every cafe experience is the same.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: There are good ones too, but you know, is this
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: a thing you have noticed? For more from Early Edition
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: with Ryan Bridge. Listen live to News Talks it Be
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio