"It's Bizarre And Difficult To Explain": Millennials Are Sharing The Exact Moment They Experienced "The Shift"
1."For me, it happened around three years ago after I hit 35. Not exactly overnight, but it happened a lot more suddenly than I would have expected. If I had to pin it down to one moment, it would have to be a doctor's appointment I went to in 2022. I was a new patient at this particular office. The doctor walked into the room. I took one look at him and thought, OK, this guy looks really young. Must be a medical assistant or intern or something. Nope. He was my doctor. Through casual conversation, I would come to find out that he was 33 years old...my doctor was two years younger than me. From there, it was like an ever-evolving perspective shift. I'd be watching the local news and realize how incredibly young everyone looked — the reporters, the meteorologists, etc. I started noticing how young the faces looked on billboards for local attorneys and realtors."
"It's so bizarre and difficult to explain. Logically, I know that people younger than me can be in all of these professions, but my brain just can't seem to grasp the jarring reality that the cohort of 'grown-ups' now includes people who seem so young to me."
—u/AtG8605
2."For me, it was one event. I work as a firefighter. We got a new batch of recruits in, in their early 20s, doing some on-the-job training, and one of them says, 'You know, I remember you. You came to my school for career day in fourth grade!' I felt my body disassemble itself. I looked in the mirror later and just realized that I was older."
—u/grim_wizard
3."Remember those old people who used to come hang out every once in a while with your mom and dad? That's you. It's amazing how I used to associate those old people with tight pants that go all the way up to their belly — and I'm wearing that stuff now, and the kids are wearing baggy stuff again."
—u/XOM_CVX
4."Older millennial. I had this realization, but the good version. My parents' friends seemed much cooler than my parents because many lived in a nearby city and worked as researchers or university professors. My parents were hippies who chose to live in the middle of nowhere as broke farmers, and these people were sort of their counterparts who had money and regular jobs. We'd go visit some of them in town, and I just loved their lives. One day, when I was 40, as I was riding to my engineering job on my road bike, dressed like an absolute weirdo, I realized that I had become exactly like my parents' friends, whom I thought were cool, right down to the nerdy job and the road bike. Never been happier with any realization."
—u/whatsmyname81
5."I told my coworker a document was written in 1995, and she said she wasn't even born yet. A piece of my soul died."
—u/Special-Summer170
6."I'm working with people now who don't remember 9/11 because they were infants or not born yet. I hate having to stop and think if the people I'm talking to will have enough context to understand what I'm about to say before I say everything."
—u/sasquatch_melee
7."I am a former professor, and it was the transition from students not being alive for Clinton's presidency to not being alive for 9/11 that really did me in. My pop culture references also all died on arrival."
—u/Outrageous_Cod_8961
8."I was at the ophthalmologist's and realized that my doctor — who was clearly older than me, given his smile lines and the white hairs in his beard — was exactly my age. We went to the same university and started and graduated in the same years. No, he was not a 'later in life' student. I'm just at the age where a peer has been a whole-ass doctor for 10-plus years."
—u/Kmille17
9."I went back home to visit family. While there, I went to a store and saw a middle-aged lady struggling to reach something on a shelf. I went to help her, made eye contact, and realized this 'older' lady was someone that I went to school with — and who was a year younger than me. That messed up my brain for a bit."
—u/Panama_Scoot
10."When professional sports players started to get younger than me. 'A 20-year-old kid playing professional hockey,' I told my husband, 'is an actual child, not a grown-up.'"
—u/buttonhumper
11."The median age in the United States is 38.7 years, so once you pass that point, you are literally older than most people."
—u/onemanutopia
12."An old high school classmate was my doctor and Trader Joe's was playing Korn."
—u/misfitx
13."I'm 35 and just had this realization. I realized that my coworker — whom I perceived to be a kid — is 25 and a full-blown adult. I'm just...the more adultier adult. Wild times."
—u/rando_bowner
14."I'm 38, and my husband is 39. A few weeks ago, he commented that cops have gotten so much younger, and I had to correct him. They're starting at the same age they always did — we're just older. I pushed my husband into the shift, but I think it was time."
—u/Complex_Priority4983
15."I just hit 40, and it's been about four years, probably. Working in an environment where I routinely see grandmothers in their mid-to-late 30s will do that to you. Especially since we don't have our own children, it's an extra mindfuck."
—u/JennaLS
16."Sports will help with that. The players you grew up watching have retired and become managers or pundits. Players who made their debut when you were a teenager are now retiring. New wunderkinds are starting, and you were a teenager when they were born, etc."
—u/pajamakitten
17."Someone asked if the baby in the photo on my desk was my grandbaby. Reader, it was my baby. My first baby. My four-month-old baby."
—u/cafe-aulait
18."30. It suddenly occurred to me the other day that I'm no longer an excellent judge of ages. Anyone younger than 30 might as well be 12. Anyone older than 30 could be any age — I have no idea."
—u/electricsnowflake
19."It was probably right after COVID happened, when I was 31. I live in New York City. I just started noticing that the people hanging out at all the trendy spots were no longer just millennials. But honestly, I think it would have taken me longer to notice if the media didn't all of a sudden start talking about Gen Z. I'm waiting for the second shift when Gen Alpha comes up in five years."
—u/Mediocre-Theory3151
20."I was watching the first season of That '70s Show and couldn't believe how young Jackie looked. All of the sex jokes with her just felt icky. She looked like a child. I don't remember ever having those thoughts when I watched the show in high school."
—u/Whirlywynd
21."For me, it was maybe a few years back. I noticed newer artists I was listening to were really young. Like, Olivia Rodrigo is 22. When I was 22, that was a normal age for a pop star to me, but now I just think she's so young."
—u/DaisyFart
22."Yep. I'm 37. I work with several engineers who are a decade younger than me. The most important person in my facility — who makes many of the big decisions — is a decade younger than me. I have also heard Nirvana on the local classic rock station."
—u/Deivi_tTerra
23."1988 millennial. I hate it when kids talk about the past. 'That happened in 2018, that was so long ago.' To me, it only seems like a couple of years ago. Then I realize that seven years is half their lifetime."
—u/Optimassacre
24."I'm 40 years old and work for the VA. When we see patients who were born when I was in high school, it blows my mind. 'What do you mean, you're a veteran? You shouldn't even be old enough to drive.'"
—u/KixStar
25."I'm a teacher. Around COVID, I just couldn't relate to the kids anymore. It started with quoting lyrics and movies that no one understood. Also, most of them have never seen Endgame? One time, on a field trip, I dressed casually, and they said I looked like their aunt at a barbecue. I mean, I'm adjusting, but damn, it's obvious these are a different sort of people. Also, when they started wearing socks with sandals, I was appalled. That was a major fashion faux pas. Literally 80 percent of kids wear that stuff — or they wear genuine cowboy boots. How the hell are we not wearing sneakers? What's wrong with sneakers!?"
—u/OctopusUniverse
26."I went to hang out with my cousin and her kids for the weekend. The clock struck 9, and the kids went to bed. The house was quiet. We drank wine and talked shit for a while, shooing one or two of them back to bed when they tried to sneak out and stay up late. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I was the mysterious adult doing super fun and mysterious things after kids' bedtime."
—u/NOT_Pam_Beesley
Have you experienced your own version of the Shift? What moment made you realize you'd crossed that invisible line? Share your story in the comments below!
Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
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