He used his phone but only to surf the internet to read newspapers and watch weather forecasts, now he started learning how to text. In the afternoon, he texted: "Grandpa, my girlfriend has a "mixed beak" but is honest and has no conspiracy". He looked blankly and didn't understand what "mixed beak" was, quickly searched Google and found out that "mixed beak" is a slang term for Gen Z to refer to someone sharp-tongued and awkward. A few days later, he texted again "The blonde girl I just met last night, "slay" so much". He again searched online to find out what "slay" is a compliment, indicating something excellent and wonderful. He immediately applied it to dinner, praising his wife for cooking sour fish and vinegar soup "slay" so much, making his wife bewildered, thinking he was like this today.
After words, he tried to change his way of dressing to be more youthful, switching to jeans and sneakers, but his granddaughter laughed and teased him that he wanted to find a new "girlfriend" lately, why did he "act young"? He also decided to create a TikTok account and try to post the first video with the status line: "Forever together, my friend". Waiting for a long time, finally there was the first comment. A fake account replied: "Boys and girls limited edition?". He intended to argue back and forth but remembered that he was playing the role of a "civilized young person", so he only gently replied with a single word "Slay!".
After a week of rolling around the world of Gen Z, he realized a bitter truth: he was not "integrated" but was being "dissolved" clumsyly. While he tried to curl his tongue to say the word "Flex", the children found him most lovely when he told old stories in a hoarse voice. His efforts did not help him look ten years younger, but they brought endless laughter to the whole family. The granddaughter held his hand and said: "Grandpa, just be an old-fashioned grandpa, we'll take care of the "messy beak" for you.
He realized that integration does not mean having to copy their style exactly. Sometimes, just needing him to bother to find out what a few slang words are to not be angry when he hears them joke, or know how to drop hearts on Facebook instead of just leaving dry "like" icons, that's already a revolution.
