The Minions, Excel, and the Mystery of Gen Z Superiority

Not long ago at work, I was trying to fix something on an Excel spreadsheet. One of my younger colleagues stood next to me, watching closely. After a few seconds, he started explaining how to use Excel — step by step — like I was a first-time user.

I smiled and let him talk for a bit, then said kindly, “I think I can handle it.”
He looked surprised and said, “Wait… you actually know how to do that?”
I asked, “Do what exactly?”
He answered proudly, “You know, use Excel! I didn’t know you old people knew these things.”

I laughed. He was serious. To him, anyone over forty probably grew up writing with typewriters and mailing letters by horse.

Another day, in the lunchroom, I was chatting with some coworkers about movies and mentioned how much I like the Minions. One of the younger guys turned to me and said, “You know the Minions?”
I thought he was joking, but he wasn’t. He honestly believed people from my generation don’t know today’s movies, music, or pop culture.

Moments like these made me think about the growing gap between generations — especially between Gen Z and everyone else. Many young people today believe they already know everything. They think they’re smarter, faster, and more advanced than those who came before them. Sometimes, they even treat older generations with a kind of polite disbelief, like we’re visitors from another planet.

But here’s the thing: knowing how to swipe, post, or edit a short video doesn’t mean you understand life. Real knowledge doesn’t come from a 40-second reel played at double speed. It comes from time, experience, and mistakes — things no one can “download.”

I see a lot of young people graduate from college and expect to start in management jobs, with big salaries and big titles. They forget that most of us spent years learning, failing, trying again, and still learning more. Life doesn’t work like social media — you can’t skip the boring parts and go straight to success.

Now, I don’t say this because I’m against them. In fact, I admire their energy, creativity, and confidence. They live in a world that changes every minute, and that’s not easy. But what worries me is how many of them think that older generations have nothing left to teach — that experience and wisdom don’t matter anymore.

I can’t blame them completely. Schools, media, and social networks all helped shape this mindset. Everything today is about speed — fast videos, fast opinions, fast fame. But real growth still needs time, listening, and humility.

Despite all that, I have hope. I respect the younger generation, and I try to understand their world. I also share my experience when they’re open to hearing it. Maybe one day, they’ll realize that learning never ends — and that those “old people” they sometimes overlook might be the ones holding the answers when the Wi-Fi goes down.