86% of Gen Z and Millennials have 'menu anxiety'

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

1 hour ago, Charlie said:

Given all the questions here about different providers on Rentmen, I'd say that most members here--regardless of generation--have their own version of menu anxiety among expensive choices.

[Rudynate]

12 hours ago, soloyo215 said:

I don't think so. I grew up with computers (first PC I had was in 1985, first mobiule phone I had was in 1987). Been using electronic devices for over four decades. Those differences are just cultural. This presenting an issue that all people have regardless of age. Indecision and anxiety about reading a menu is not a generation problem.

I often have difficulty deciding what I want in a restaurant - but it isn't anxiety provoking.   When I'm in that frame of mind, I choose something on impulse. 

[Rudynate]

13 hours ago, Pensant said:

They’re also whining about basic training and mean drill sergeants and shitty food on TikTok and other social media.

I didn't think mean drill sergeants even existed anymore.  When I was in the Army (in the 70s), I was surprised at how "not mean" our drill sergeant and the cadre sergeants were.  I admired them actually - they were all really snappy black men who had all done at least one tour in Viet Nam.

[BonVivant]

On 12/18/2023 at 10:40 AM, soloyo215 said:

Why on Earth do we keep acting as if Gen Z-ers and Millennials are some kind of human mutation, different from the rest of the human race?

Umm… they’re allergic to peanuts. When did that happen?

Edited December 20, 2023 by BonVivant

[BonVivant]

On 12/19/2023 at 12:41 PM, Charlie said:

Given all the questions here about different providers on Rentmen, I'd say that most members here--regardless of generation--have their own version of menu anxiety among expensive choices.

Not me… I know exactly what I want. Price can influence who I pick. But then again I’m Gen X and we had to navigate the world on our own from a wee young age. Life and death decisions were made in a blink of an eye. 

[Ali Gator]

On 12/19/2023 at 8:00 AM, maninsoma said:

Apparently anxiety is the "in" condition, and it certainly isn't limited to Gen Z and Millennials.  Just look at the normalization of "emotional support animals."  It must be terrible to be so emotionally fragile that you cannot shop for groceries without your dog.

I see the normalization of 'emotional support animals' only among Zoomers and Millennials on the college campus where I work. I don't see the Boomers and Gen Xers (who make up the faculty and staff) walking around with support animals. 

[+ tassojunior]

Boomers see a menu and read down the list of 20 in order.

Gen Z sees that menu and tries to open 20 windows at once. 

[marylander1940]

I would share this wisdom with most millennials and generation z:

Just because you have a phone in your hand, and you see when your Uber is coming...

[Ali Gator]

I blame Starbucks for 'menu anxiety'. How can these fragile millennial minds know how to order off the menu ? 

[Guest]

[Ali Gator]

This past week in my office (I work at a University), we had to mail some packets out to welcome new students for the upcoming Spring semester. Unfortunately, our printer was down (it was acting up the past week or so - time for a new one when we return in January), so we had to hand-write the addresses on address labels (including the University address for a return address). We had about 2 dozen to do, so I asked two the student workers (a Junior - 20 years old / a Senior - 21 years old) to help out.

Never mind the fact that they can only 'print' since they never learned 'cursive' (and a few years ago, an email went out from the President's Office instructing faculty and staff NOT to write in cursive when hand-writing something down - such as instructions - to a student).  These students (Gen Z) DO NOT know how to address an envelope. They stared at the address on the paper I gave them, printed out clearly. They then looked at the white address label where they needed to write the address (then detach it and stick it to the envelope).  I had to teach them how the person's name goes on the first line, street address on the second, and city / state / zip on the third line. Then I had to show them how to do the return address on the smaller label to attach to the top left corner. 

 

When I asked, they both said they never had to address a piece of mail before. They've received mail, but never paid attention to the front of the envelope where the address is. (The Junior student told me she was getting anxiety trying to figure this out - so could I assign her something else ? )

We're so doomed. 

 

[CuriousByNature]

41 minutes ago, Ali Gator said:

This past week in my office (I work at a University), we had to mail some packets out to welcome new students for the upcoming Spring semester. Unfortunately, our printer was down (it was acting up the past week or so - time for a new one when we return in January), so we had to hand-write the addresses on address labels (including the University address for a return address). We had about 2 dozen to do, so I asked two the student workers (a Junior - 20 years old / a Senior - 21 years old) to help out.

Never mind the fact that they can only 'print' since they never learned 'cursive' (and a few years ago, an email went out from the President's Office instructing faculty and staff NOT to write in cursive when hand-writing something down - such as instructions - to a student).  These students (Gen Z) DO NOT know how to address an envelope. They stared at the address on the paper I gave them, printed out clearly. They then looked at the white address label where they needed to write the address (then detach it and stick it to the envelope).  I had to teach them how the person's name goes on the first line, street address on the second, and city / state / zip on the third line. Then I had to show them how to do the return address on the smaller label to attach to the top left corner. 

 

When I asked, they both said they never had to address a piece of mail before. They've received mail, but never paid attention to the front of the envelope where the address is. (The Junior student told me she was getting anxiety trying to figure this out - so could I assign her something else ? )

We're so doomed. 

 

I hope you told them to suck it up and get the job done.

[Ali Gator]

1 hour ago, CuriousByNature said:

I hope you told them to suck it up and get the job done.

I told them. Then I heard them huff and puff and sigh while they were doing it. 

I checked the envelopes when they were done (and they were done correctly), and I said: "See - you learned something new today. Now you know how to address an envelope or even a package if you're sending something out in the future. The mystery of mail is over." 

They rolled their eyes. 

Last night at dinner I was telling a friend of mine (we both turned 60 this year). She reminded me that we learned how to write out an envelope in the fourth grade. The art teacher 'made a mailbox' out of a cardboard box and brought it into each 4th grade room - and we had to address the envelope and put a (fake) stamp on it, and put it in the mailbox to be mailed.  It was part of a basic lesson on how the mail works.

So sad those days are gone.  

[prof]

3 hours ago, Ali Gator said:

This past week in my office (I work at a University), we had to mail some packets out to welcome new students for the upcoming Spring semester. Unfortunately, our printer was down (it was acting up the past week or so - time for a new one when we return in January), so we had to hand-write the addresses on address labels (including the University address for a return address). We had about 2 dozen to do, so I asked two the student workers (a Junior - 20 years old / a Senior - 21 years old) to help out.

Never mind the fact that they can only 'print' since they never learned 'cursive' (and a few years ago, an email went out from the President's Office instructing faculty and staff NOT to write in cursive when hand-writing something down - such as instructions - to a student).  These students (Gen Z) DO NOT know how to address an envelope. They stared at the address on the paper I gave them, printed out clearly. They then looked at the white address label where they needed to write the address (then detach it and stick it to the envelope).  I had to teach them how the person's name goes on the first line, street address on the second, and city / state / zip on the third line. Then I had to show them how to do the return address on the smaller label to attach to the top left corner. 

 

When I asked, they both said they never had to address a piece of mail before. They've received mail, but never paid attention to the front of the envelope where the address is. (The Junior student told me she was getting anxiety trying to figure this out - so could I assign her something else ? )

We're so doomed. 

 

You'll be happy to know that grade schools resumed teaching cursive around 10 yrs ago (at least in the Chicago area). 

[Ali Gator]

5 hours ago, prof said:

You'll be happy to know that grade schools resumed teaching cursive around 10 yrs ago (at least in the Chicago area). 

Not in my area. It's very sad. They also don't understand Roman numerals. Or telling time on an analog clock (that completely stresses them out). 

Everything I learned by fourth grade (early 1970s) they don't understand in college.

[BSR]

2 hours ago, Ali Gator said:

They also don't understand Roman numerals.

So they have no idea which Super Bowl they're watching??  Horrors

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

12 hours ago, prof said:

You'll be happy to know that grade schools resumed teaching cursive around 10 yrs ago (at least in the Chicago area). 

California will begin teaching cursive as a mandate next year!

[Ali Gator]

10 hours ago, BSR said:

So they have no idea which Super Bowl they're watching??  Horrors

They do not. They just know they are watching a Super Bowl game. Which one it is - they don't really care. (They are too busy betting on their phones).

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

On 12/19/2023 at 7:59 AM, SouthOfTheBorder said:

my 27 year old nephew picked me up at the airport last year.  He'd been there dozens of times as a passenger & picking people up/dropping off.  He lives about 30 minutes away.  He couldn't navigate getting home without his IPhone & maps.  (It wasn't about avoiding traffic - he didn't know the way) The reliance of technology was complete & total - and that is typical of younger people.  They've grown up relying on handheld smartphones for the most basic things & no longer can function without.

Then layer on social media with the need for constant validation & affirmation of their choices.

It's not hard to see why they have trouble with basic tasks & choices that are outside what their phones tell them to do.

I have young Gen Z coworkers who work in local traffic engineering and yet couldn't tell you the name or the streets they use to commute to and from work.  They only turn where the voice tells them to.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

On 12/18/2023 at 5:01 PM, tassojunior said:

I think the anxiety has to do with making decisions and information overload more than prices. I'm also used to "fast casual" where the menu's on the wall and has 10 choices, I even hate going places where I don't know the menu well. Duck dishes at le Diplomat and Linguini Lobster Cardinale at Fliomena in DC. Why care about any of the other 50 choices? I get crushed by decision anxiety all the time. And 100% when I "just flip a coin" I end up with the worst decision.

 

On 12/18/2023 at 7:40 AM, Luv2play said:

My sister has menu anxiety and I don’t know why as she is fairly confident in most aspects of her life. She is a retired tenured professor from a good university. She has enough money she could order anything on the menu.  In fact she could afford to buy most restaurants, she is that well off, having inherited from three different people in the family.

But she can never make up her mind on what to order in a restaurant. Knowing this I always order first even though I should allow her to do so as I am of that generation where ladies go first. This solves the problem for her as she will then say” I’ll have what he’s having.”

We had lunch in a restaurant this past week and true to form she had what I had. I also ordered a Bloody Mary, which I don’t often have but just felt like it as it was a luncheon. Well she ordered one too. Had I ordered a glass of wine, I am confident she would have too.

It's a common restaurant best practice to have not too many yet not too few choices on the menu.  Besides keeping the number of items down for kitchen staff to be efficient, it helps patrons make faster decisions.

And the biggest help:  have one really expensive item and one really cheap item on the menu, with about a half-dozen similarly-priced items in the middle.  This way, most of the items on the menu look like a bargain compared to the high-priced item and look like good quality compared to the cheap item.  This helps a customer feel good about his decision before he even sees his food.

Edited April 17 by Vegas_Millennial

[samhexum]

On 12/19/2023 at 8:00 AM, maninsoma said:

Apparently anxiety is the "in" condition, and it certainly isn't limited to Gen Z and Millennials.  Just look at the normalization of "emotional support animals."  It must be terrible to be so emotionally fragile that you cannot shop for groceries without your dog.

Posted November 16, 2024

A New Jersey man was spotted doing his neigh-borhood shopping with the help of a real life little pony pal this week.

The unidentified shopper – filmed with his own little Mr. Ed in Woodbridge’s Wegmans supermarket – isn’t looking to stirrup trouble.

He said he has a mobility issue and needs to lean against the miniature horse — a registered service animal — when he is out shopping, according to NJ Patch.

The man said he often brings the equine into Woodbridge stores, including the ShopRite and Lowe’s, said the outlet, who first reported the story.

“I really don’t like the attention I am receiving, and I am trying to get (a video circulating on social media) down,” the shopper, who asked for anonymity, told Patch on Friday. “People have been commenting they are going to steal the horse. I am going to have to take legal action.”

A 15-second TikTok clip with 624,000 views and 29,000 likes shows the slow-moving shopper pushing a cart through the produce section in Wegmans with his better hoof in tow.

Quipped commenter AnaisJosette: “I love this! Only two animals recognized to the ADA is a dog or miniature horse and I never thought I’d see it ”

“Why am I never at wegmans when the cool things happen!” lamented dwrght1981.

Woodbridge police — who confirmed to Patch that the four-legged friend is allowed to remain in the store because it is a service animal — did not return The Post’s messages Friday.

“It is a miniature horse and by Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, they can be service animals,” Woodbridge Police Director Robert Hubner told the outlet.

A Wegmans employee brayed to The Post that the horse was in the store and is indeed a service animal, but any other questions “have to go through corporate.”

[samhexum]

On 12/19/2023 at 10:59 AM, SouthOfTheBorder said:

my 27 year old nephew picked me up at the airport last year.  He'd been there dozens of times as a passenger & picking people up/dropping off.  He lives about 30 minutes away.  He couldn't navigate getting home without his IPhone & maps.

I took my first-ever Uber last month. The entrance to the highway is around the corner from me.  The driver followed his GPS to take the streets to the next entrance.  It took about ten minutes to get on a couple of hundred feet further along the way.

[+ sniper]

My menu anxiety is about whether I can read it depending on font size and lighting. The worst is when they just have a QR code and it's not properly formatted for the phone.

[liubit]

On 4/18/2025 at 10:50 AM, sniper said:

My menu anxiety is about whether I can read it depending on font size and lighting. The worst is when they just have a QR code and it's not properly formatted for the phone.

I get extreme anxiety when the font is size 8, light brown, printed on darkish brown background. Unreadable even with the phone torch 🤷🏻 Let’s call it Boomer anxiety. 

[Lotus-eater]

22 minutes ago, liubit said:

I get extreme anxiety when the font is size 8, light brown, printed on darkish brown background. Unreadable even with the phone torch 🤷🏻 Let’s call it Boomer anxiety. 

In this American's mind, a "phone torch" looks something like this: