Elder Millennials and Gen Xers Share Their "I'm Officially Old" Moment at Work

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Sep 7, 2023 8:00 PM EDT

There's was a point in the workplace where all of the sudden, you were no longer the lowly newbie. As you climbed the ranks at your job, new hires and fresh-faced college kids replaced you as an intern, taking on the menial tasks you'd outgrown and asking you to tie their tie every morning. Although, when did you actually start to feel old at work? Was it when the younger kiddos started going for happy hour drinks on Friday at the new hip bars (and you declined, obviously)… or was it when you realized none of them were even alive during 9/11? 

As elder Millennials and Gen Xers, we've officially become the old folks in the workplace and there's no way around it. We didn't realize that when we became the 'senior' version of our old position, it actually meant we were proverbial senior citizens to the 20-somethings. Scroll onward for the hottest takes on the cringiest moments when people millennials and Gen X realized they were officially their workplace's 'Old Auntie'.

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  • 01
    Font - Posted by u/redmambo_no6 1 day ago Redditors with younger coworkers, what was your "I'm officially old" moment?
    via redmambo_no6
  • 02
    Rectangle - mollusck_magic. 1 day ago My childhood cat lived to 21.5 so teaching (freshman biology lab, so students were ~18) became very weird when I realized my cat was older than my students
    via mollusck_magic
  • 03
    Human body - bibbitribbit8000 23 hr. ago How much biology did your cat know, though
    via bibbitribbit8000
  • 04
    Product - Tshirt Addict 20 hr. ago & 6 More Sounds like she was teacher's pet. 3.7k ↓ Reply
    via Tshirt_Addict
  • 05
    Font - Smart_Alex 1 day ago I'm a preschool teacher. It's been a TRIP to watch parents go from Soooo much older than me, to the same age as me, and now they're younger than me!?!?
    via Smart_Alex
  • 06
    Rectangle - Status-Effort-9380 1 day ago Had a co-worker ask me, "Back before cell phones, did you just have to wait around at your house for a call?" Uh, yeah, pretty much.
    via Status-Effort-9380
  • 07
    Font - Zelcron 1 day ago They were complaining how hard and awkward it is to meet women on Tinder. I asked if they ever had to call a girl at home and her Dad answered the phone. They were horrified. Another time one of my guys asked what a payphone was. We worked at a phone company.
    via Zelcron
  • 08
    Font - Jamileem 1 day ago A new young male co- worker recently asked what app I met my husband on. I met him at a summer camp like 15 years ago... He then lamented about how hard it is to find a girl to date as he scrolled through profiles.
    via Jamileem
  • 09
    Font - crazy-diamond. 1 day ago. edited 23 hr. ago I just hired a babysittter (18yo guy) who showed up for his first day of work in cargo shorts and New Balances. I was like "You're mocking me, aren't you"
    via crazy-diam0nd
  • 10
    Font - Tigerzombie 1 day ago 90s fashion is back. I took my 13 yr old to the mall and going to those stores was like going shopping when I was in high school.
    via Tigerzombie
  • 11
    Rectangle - day_of_duke 1 day ago When i fell down the last couple of steps on a stairway. No one pointed and laughed like I expected, instead they helped me up and asked me if I was okay. That's when I knew.
    via day_of_duke
  • 12
    Rectangle - chrustychristine 1 day ago S The age when you transition from "he fell down" to "he had a fall".
    via chrustychristine
  • 13
    Font - geckos_are_weirdos - 1 day ago Various colleagues were debating whether the Concorde had been real. They couldn't fathom that supersonic civilian aircraft used to exist and now they don't anymore. The Concorde last flew in 2003, when these colleagues were toddlers.
    via geckos_are_weirdos
  • 14
    Font - WhoaThere87 - 1 day ago They started calling me "mom" or "Mama bear" on the walkie- talkies. I find it kind of endearing, actually.
    via WhoaThere87
  • 15
    Font - _sam_fox_. 1 day ago Yeah, as the 40-something working with all 20- somethings, I'm "Auntie" at work now. I don't hate it. Just don't ma'am me if you'd like to stay alive.
    via _sam_fox_
  • 16
    Font - Industrial Pigmy 1 day ago In trade school, we were doing introductions, saying a little bit about ourselves. One kid says "yeah, I'm really into classic cars, I have a 1997 something or another. Me, the other couple older folks, and the instructors all made audible groans of horror.
    via IndustrialPigmy
  • 17
    Font - Itsagabby 1 day ago We were talking about where we were on 9/11, and my coworker went quiet. He wasn't even born. We also had a band that was famous in the 90s stay at the hotel, and he had no idea who they were, meanwhile I was so star struck as they were my entire childhood!
    via Itsgabby
  • 18
    Rectangle - AllSonicGames 23 hr. ago My (much younger) sister works in a hotel and said that someone she served was in "some band called Queen".
    via AllSonicGames
  • 19
    Font - eusapian 1 day ago had an intern refer to the 90s as 'the late 1900s' its true, but it makes my teenage years sound like the oregon trail or something
    via eusapian
  • 20
    Rectangle - kunibob 22 hr. ago Heard "turn of the century" used to refer to the 2000s the other day, and I shrivelled into a raisin on the spot.
    via kunibob
  • 21
    Font - HamHockShortDock 22 hr. ago I offered some $1 DVDs to college kids and they said they had nothing to watch it on. I was like, You can watch it on your laptop. They were like...uh no, we can't. (cause they don't have disk drives anymore?!)
    via HamHockShortDock
  • 22
    Font - AMoreExcitingName- 1 day ago I'm in IT. Co-worker needed to borrow a serial cable. The cable was older than the co- worker.
    via AMoreExcitingName
  • 23
    Smile - wocketywack. 1 day ago Went grocery shopping and I thought, "Hey, they're playing some pretty good music."
    via wocketywack
  • 24
    Font - lcolbert710 1 day ago When they say "you look great for your age" like DED
    via lcolbert710
  • 25
    Font - Smart_Alex 1 day ago "I can't belive you're 30! You don't look that old!" My friend, what do you think happens at 30, you magically wake up as a raisin?!
    via Smart_Alex
  • 26
    Font - The PeasantKingM. 1 day ago A girl only seven years my junior asked me if I ever did drugs when I was young. Not younger; young. I was 28.
    via ThePeasantKingM
  • 27
    Font - SparkleFritz 1 day ago A girl at work asked me what I used for my hair. Shampoo and conditioner from Costco. "Okay, but what else?" I told her nothing else like three times but she kept asking. Finally she got annoyed and said "look, my dad can't find a good hair dye for his gray hair so I'm trying to ask you what you use." I'm 34; I don't even dye my hair.
    via SparkleFritz
  • 28
    Font - PirateKilt 1 day ago Years ago, before I retired, when I met a new young troop and realized I'd been in the military longer than they had been alive... 2.1k ↓ Reply Share ComesInAnOldBox 1 day ago . That was my cue to start putting together my retirement packet.
    via PirateKilt

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getting old millennial hilarious relatable work millennials im old senior gen x generations gen z workplace funny
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