Okay, we're all a little guilty of romanticizing our own generation while swearing the younger ones are missing out — but we have to admit that some things are undeniably better these days! I'm a millennial, and while I did have YouTube growing up, I'm sooo jealous that kids nowadays can watch it conveniently on their cell phones with HD quality instead of a grainy screened desktop computer that could overheat and implode at any moment. Don't even get me started on Netflix when there was no such thing as streaming yet. If I wanted to watch a movie, I had to patiently wait for a physical DVD to be mailed to me.
I'm not the only one feeling envious of younger generations when it comes to experiencing certain things that just didn't exist yet "back in my day." I asked the BuzzFeed Community, "What are the things you're actually jealous of when it comes to the younger generations?" Here are some of the top responses:
1. "Delivery options are amazing. Back in the day, your options were pizza and pizza. That's it! Amazon wasn't popular yet, there was no such thing as grocery delivery, and no food options (besides pizza). Now, you can get EVERYTHING delivered."
2. "Good looking and easy to use colorful hair dye. Back in my day — early 1980s — we had to use three boxes of Clairol bleach and Kool-aid powder packets."
—Anonymous
3. "I’m a xennial, and I’m super jealous that Gen Z has immediate access to any subject matter they want! I remember having to visit the library for references or ask an expert directly. Now, they can just search YouTube for how-to videos or find articles on the internet regarding any topic. Man, so much time saved! I’m salty!"
—Anonymous
"Remember going to the library and the book you needed was checked out because every other kid in your class also had an assignment on the same topic? Kids don't understand how good they have it on the information front."
—Anonymous
4. "They wear sneakers to the club! I am 46 and in the '90s we were dancing in pointy-toed stilettos in a circle around our purses. Girls out here today have on pants! With pockets! And satin freaking Jordans!! These queens are putting their comfort first and looking 🔥 while doing it. I wish my 22-year-old self, freezing in a mini dress and heels while waiting in line in November, had known better or had the nerve."
5. "I'm so jealous that girls are taught that they can be anything they want. I was taught that the best I could do was be the wife of a rich man."
—Anonymous
6. "I am happy that Gen Z and Gen Alpha didn’t have to come of age during the damaging diet culture of the 1990s and 2000s."
7. "Makeup tutorials. It seems like the younger generation has amazing makeup skills starting at pre-teen stages, while I don’t feel like I got my makeup routine down until my mid to late twenties. They all look so flawless."
8. "I'm jealous of how fearless Gen Z is. They aren't people pleasers like a lot of us millennials are, and they aren't afraid to confront authority when the situation warrants it. Some people might say that they sometimes take it too far, but I admire the confidence they have at such a young age."
—Anonymous
9. "I'm Gen X and I'm jealous (but mostly happy) that younger generations seem much more open to a wide range of gender and sexual orientations. I'm so proud of you younger folks for knowing and sharing your authentic selves!"
10. "Access to language and resources about queer identities. There’s definitely still widespread bigotry and pushback for it, but having terminology and even an online community when I was a very confused, closeted teenager would have made a major difference. I love that those things exist now!"
11. "I work at a school, and I'm so jealous that these kids have mental health professionals available to them. 20 years ago, when I was a kid and suffering with severe depression and anxiety, we had no one to talk to. Nobody took a kid's mental health seriously back then."
12. "How easy it is to stream practically any movie in your own home, unlike us boomers who had to go to a movie theater or wait to watch The Wizard of Oz as a special presentation on TV once a year."
—Anonymous