gen z stare

Currently listening to: Sex & Candy – Marcy Playground

I smell sex and candy here, mmm
Who’s that lounging in my chair? Mmm
Who’s that casting devious stares in my direction?
Momma this surely is a dream, yeah
Yeah, momma this surely is a dream, dig it

I’ve been doing the Gen Z stare before it was even a thing. The blank expression, zero affect, somewhere between “I’m listening” and “I’ve left my body.” It’s not RBF-level aggressive; it’s more of a neutral, mildly haunted, almost zombie-like stare.

It’s just how my face rests when I’m conserving energy. I’m an introvert. I was also raised with that old-school Korean mindset where kids were taught to be quiet and not speak unless spoken to. So now, even as an adult, I sometimes default to just… silently observing. I’ll wait for someone else to answer a question, not realizing I’m one of two people in the room and I am the one being asked the question. Er…

It’s also my go-to face when I’m dissociating during meetings or overthinking on dates. I’ll be sitting across from someone, physically present, but mentally scanning my brain for the right thing to say so I don’t sound like an idiot. Meanwhile, on the outside, I look like I’m emotionally unavailable.

Most Gen X folks absolutely hate it, I know my coworkers do. They read it as apathy or disrespect. But it’s not that I’m uninterested—I’m just buffering. Internally loading. Give me a second or two…or maybe three.