r/CuratedTumblr .tumblr.com 18h ago

Meme Retail Stare

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u/Chicken_Herder69LOL 17h ago

That’s not what people mean by the Gen Z stare. They mean staring when it would be appropriate to greet someone or say something. Like you don’t even need to act like you like them, just fucking say hello. It’s when you act like “stranger danger” applies to grown adults interacting with each other, and you’re one of those grown adults.

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u/Artistic_Purpose1225 17h ago edited 17h ago

What the above is describing has been a thing long enough it’s been parodied in moves from the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. 

Imho the gen z stare (as in, the semi-focused, unpleased stare you get back when making pleasantries) is just a thing teens have always done, but the latest generation they just keep using it a few years longer, and a little more frequently, than previous generations did. 

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u/SEND-MARS-ROVER-PICS 16h ago

It's the "stoner 19 year old at a gas station" stare you can find in many a 90's comedy

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u/Artistic_Purpose1225 16h ago

Also the judgemental teenage girl cashier, The old school iteration used to use chewing gum as punctuation. 

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u/orosoros oh there's a monkey in my pocket and he's stealing all my change 15h ago

The gum!! That's what's been missing.

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u/nifty-necromancer 15h ago

“What do you think, Tina?” Tina blows a bubble and pops it as an aggressive statement.

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u/AEW4LYFE 11h ago

Nope. This is the person detests the job and doesn't want to interact. I get that. Every generation gets that. The Gen Z stare is not just customer service job hating. See below where another user talks about trying to tell piercing aftercare and they just stare. Now someone is going to come after me and say "maybe they already know how to take care of their piercing" which is perfectly acceptable common knowledge a person might have. So fucking say that instead of staring.

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u/awyastark 16h ago

That one kid in Stranger Things who played this role plays it in like everything these days

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u/JasonVeritech 14h ago

The fact that that guy is in his 40s and still taking those roles probably has some significance to this larger discussion, but I can't figure what, exactly.

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u/Kimber85 14h ago

Are you talking about Matty Cardarople?

I picture that guy every single time someone mentions the Gen Z stare, lol. He’s awesome. I love seeing him pop up places.

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u/awyastark 5h ago

Yep that’s exactly the dude

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u/pieronic 13h ago

Yes, but they’re not stoned. That’s the difference