Old Huang, did you see that interview with the elementary school student? The kid said people born in the 1980s are “feudal” and have “old people’s thinking.” I almost spit out my coffee.

Haha, that hit hard, didn’t it? But they don’t know that the post-80s generation was trendy when we were young too—pierced ears, leather pants, QQ Zone. Who wasn’t rebellious once?

What I relate to most is that the post-80s generation went from kerosene lamps and cassette tapes to smartphones and AI. We’ve been relearning almost the whole way, so how can people say we can’t keep up with the times?

It’s just that in middle age, with elderly parents above and children below, we naturally speak more cautiously. Kids think we love lecturing people, but many of our words are lessons learned from life the hard way.

Right. Many trendy brands, animations, and cultural creative products on the market are also made by people born in the 1980s. It’s not that they don’t understand young people; they’ve started to understand responsibility.

There’s an old Chinese saying: “You don’t know the cost of firewood and rice until you run a household.” When children grow up and face mortgages, their parents’ health, and their children’s education, they’ll understand what it means to move forward under a heavy burden.

So the post-80s generation didn’t become old-fashioned. They changed from “people who wanted to go far away” into “people who keep the lights on for a family.” That turn is actually not easy.