Let's get it started
The absolute rush of walking into first period at Holy Innocents and seeing that the teacher wrote this two-word phrase on the board, meaning you don't have to take the exam today.
What is "Test Canceled" (or "Test Postponed")?
These kids literally did not hear their parents asking them to take out the trash because they had these white Apple devices jammed in their ears on noise-canceling mode.
What are AirPods?
Walking straight into a light pole on the Long Beach boardwalk because their eyes were completely glued to this rectangular device in their hands.
What is a smartphone (or phone)?
Pure laziness—specifically, deeply resenting having to wake up early on this day of the week to attend Mass instead of sleeping until noon.
What is Sunday?
Being the designated household IT support because they have to watch their parents type on a keyboard using only this single digit.
What is the index finger (or pointer finger)?
The sudden, overwhelming realization that you don't have to wear your uniform today because your Catholic high school announced it's one of these special days.
What is a Free Dress Day?
These children were completely zoned out scrolling through a hyper-specific algorithm on this short-form video app instead of paying attention to instructions.
What is TikTok?
Having a completely warped sense of socialization because they spent three pivotal years of school communicating solely through this pandemic-era video conferencing app.
What is Zoom?
Seeing older members of the congregation act like these people—preaching love and forgiveness during the service but acting judgmental and cruel in the church parking lot.
What are hypocrites?
Watching older generations fall for obvious scams, AI-generated photos, and fake news on this specific blue-themed social media app founded by Mark Zuckerberg.
What is Facebook?
The massive dopamine hit that occurs the second this specific red heart notification pops up on your Instagram story from your crush.
What is a Like?
The classic teenage drive for this 12-letter "I" word, where ignoring parental advice is just a way to prove they can survive on their own.
What is Independence?
Suffering from this illusionary psychological effect where they falsely believe absolutely everyone in the cafeteria is staring at them and judging their outfit, just like when a Broadway actor is zeroed in on stage.
What is the Spotlight Effect?
Taking high school classes in this broad subject and struggling to reconcile the textbook evidence they learn with the literal interpretations of Bible stories.
What is Science?
Constantly hearing adults complain about how cheap things used to be, proving the adults don't understand how this massive economic force has completely tanked the modern buying power of a dollar.
What is inflation?
A group text goes off because a friend just got their license and is offering to drive everyone to this popular local outdoor food hall and shopping spot near the Long Beach Airport.
What is The Hangar (or LBX / Long Beach Exchange)?
These peeps are experiencing this psychological phenomenon where being told to do something makes them want to do the exact opposite just to protect their sense of freedom.
What is Oppositional Defiance or Reverse Psychology?
They completely miss sarcasm and tension in a room because they have not fully learned to read this physical, unspoken aspect of human communication.
What is body language? (eye-contact/context-clues)
Hitting a developmental milestone where they start doing this action to authority figures, insisting on asking "Why?" instead of just blindly accepting traditions.
What is questioning?
Feeling intellectually superior because they can instantly generate an entire essay on any topic using this specific AI platform created by OpenAI.
What is ChatGPT?
The adrenaline spike of discovering that this massive music festival, created by Tyler, the Creator, is returning to the area and you actually managed to score wristbands.
What is Camp Flog Gnaw?
Biologically speaking, students might just have poor impulse control because this specific front area of their brain isn't scheduled to finish developing until they are 25.
What is the prefrontal cortex?
They unknowingly exhaust their friends by doing this two-word modern slang term—unloading all their heavy emotional baggage onto someone without asking if they are in the right headspace to hear it.
What is trauma dumping?
Experiencing a major personal tragedy and grappling with this famous philosophical dilemma: "If God is all-powerful and totally good..."
What is the Problem of Suffering/Evil? (or why does He allow bad things to happen?)
Suffering from this hyphenated cognitive bias—named after two psychologists—where a person with very limited real-world experience massively overestimates their own competence.
What is the Dunning-Kruger Effect?