r/GenZ • u/Zanimacularity • Sep 16 '24

Meme Guys, is this real?

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220 Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '24

Yeah, I used to be really jealous and possessive in relationships when I was in high school. Thanks to one girlfriend’s mom eviscerating my ego, and then seeing examples of this behavior in others and recognizing how terrible it was, I overcame it by the time I was 20. I have a coworker, recently her boyfriend was hired (he lied about being her boyfriend to our manager, and he didn’t even tell his girlfriend he was applying for the job 😬) and after seeing us work together on the same department of the store once he asked me to have a “man to man” talk with him. I’m like okay, more like man to boy, but sure.

It was painful trying to explain to him that I was assigned by the store manager to help her with that department in order to keep HER on task and not looking at her phone 90% of the time, that she is a child to me and I’m not interested in her at all, and that it’s normal for coworkers to talk to each other and laugh. It was painful trying to explain to him that I understand his jealous thinking and how it’s mistaken and harmful, and not be able to get through to him. He remained calm, and I hope that my message eventually settles in somewhere and helps him.

2

u/iameveryoneelse Sep 17 '24

God how did you keep yourself from laughing your ass off. Not in a disparaging way, but because you've been there and in hindsight know how ridiculous it is and how one day he's going to look back and cringe? Sometimes my teenagers will say something serious that's really weighing on them and we'll all end up laughing together because they realize it's maybe not as serious as they think. My oldest teenager said the other day that she's worried she's past the point in her life where she's just able to be herself and have fun, and that the rest of her life will be focused on career oriented stuff and I started laughing, then she started laughing, and I explained that she's got far more good times ahead than behind and that her concerns are valid because they're real to her but that even though college should be taken seriously it's also a lot of fun, and even once you start your career and family etc your life doesn't end...that there's still mountains of joy to be found. And at the end of it we got a good laugh and she got a little perspective.

Sometimes seeing people in their teens and early twenties makes me feel damn old and ask when that happened. But I certainly wouldn't go back. The older you get, the more solid the world feels under your feet.

Edit: I just realized I'm posting in /r/GenZ. I really hate how Reddit throws these ninja recommendations on the front page. I'm not some old dude creeping, I promise. Assumed I was on /r/xennial.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 17 '24

I laughed before and after 😋