THE WASHINGTON POST: The expression that has everyone talking about Generation Z . . . and cringing

The emotionless expression teens and young adults sometimes make if someone inconveniences them by saying “hi,” tries to engage in small talk with them, or tries to take their food order finally has a name: the Gen Z stare.

It’s unclear how it got its name. But many say they’ve long been on the receiving end of the face and are trying to understand why much of Gen Z looks so dead in the eyes, creating dead air in what’s supposed to be a dialogue.

In years past, the internet has fixated on socks, jeans, hair parts and whether avocado toast and Starbucks coffee are the two biggest barriers to millennial homeownership (Spoiler: they’re not). As people talk about the Gen Z stare, they’re also discussing other generations’ stereotypical pregnant pauses.

Some Gen Zers have tried to defend their age group, arguing they glare when they’re listening to an entitled or dense customer at their job or processing how to respond when unruly clients approach them.

But others, like millennial content creator Jarrod Benson, say the “resting retail face” from customer service and minimum wage workers isn’t a Gen Z stare, but a look that defies generational confines.

So what makes a stare a Gen Z stare? It’s a blank look where a response is reasonably warranted.

Think of the way Sydney Sweeney and Brittany O’Grady’s characters in The White Lotus silently looked from their pool chairs as Alexandra Daddario’s character asked them questions.

Brenda Alarcon, a 20-year-old Santa Clara University student and research analyst intern at SolPods, said she saw her fair share of the stares as a waitress at a Menifee, California, restaurant.

Alarcon said she often tried to be “overly customer service-y” to compensate for her co-workers.

At other points, Alarcon said she’s gotten the glare when trying to order food with young workers.

“Sometimes, it gets to a point where I kind of feel uncomfortable, so I just leave,” she said. “Or if there’s a self-order thing, I prefer to do that.”

Jarrod Benson, a 33-year-old Orlando content creator who makes videos poking fun at generational idiosyncrasies, believes a “perfect storm” of Gen Z constantly being on social media and the physical isolation from the pandemic led to a socially awkward generation. Benson said he once had a waiter not say a word while his table ordered food, instead just looking at each person.

“It’s like they’re always watching a video, and they don’t feel like the need to respond,” he said. “Small talk is painful. We know this. But we do it because it’s socially acceptable and almost socially required, right? But they won’t do it.”

Benson says he’s guilty of the millennial pause — when it takes a second or two to start talking at the beginning of a video - and sometimes forgets to edit it out after he’s filmed a video on his phone.

Then there’s the comparison to the boomer “lead poisoning” or “lead paint” stare, a similarly deadpan face older people make in interactions with service workers. (The boomer stare, likely a symptom of getting older, Benson said, also is a tongue-in-cheek reference to lead exposure.)

At the end of the day, it’s all in good fun. Benson says he’s gotten kind messages from people of all ages as he reenacts their signature quirks. As every cohort gets older, each takes on more habits the other generations can cringe and laugh about.

Still, as more young people enter the workforce, he said, “Gen Alpha is going to be terrible”.