It is okay to cry. It is okay to let it all out and be an emotional wreck every now and again. But Gen-Z? Well, some of them like to cry, like, all of the time.

Now, before I dive deep into this pool, here is a disclaimer: there are exceptions to the rule. I do realize, even though I am a cynical Gen X-er that there are members of Gen Z who do not do this. But this…this is truly something!

A day in the life of a Gen-Z person is so busy. Commitments. A full calendar. Three-day concert festivals, Friendsgiving and, oh, the horror!

WORK.

It is not enough they tack on a Friday or a Monday here and there and call out sick. As a manager, I see this happen all too often. I did not fall off the turnip truck. Some of these days are in the name of self-care. Work simply cannot happen unless the nails are done. Life cannot happen unless they schedule a few good cry sessions every few weeks.

You read that right. Members of Gen-Z need to schedule their cry sessions. And, they need to do this in a public forum such as TikTok.

If I don’t have a good cry at least every two weeks, minimum, it just feels like all my emotions are just like locked in and I just need to release it so I can start thinking clearly again.”-Rita Balogun

Sniffle, sniffle. What does Rita do to get the tears a-flowing? She throws on an episode of This is Us.

I will look at my calendar and I think ‘I’m not doing anything [else] today.’ I just need to like, release [my emotions] so I can start thinking clearly again.”-Rita Balogun

The hashtag #AlwaysBeCrying has 4.1 million views on the platform, while just #Crying clocks in at over 12 billion.

“Crying Girl” makeup is now a trend, believe it or not.

TikTokker, Maya Doherty, tracks her crying episodes via Power Point for “analytics”. Imagine having so much time on your hands that you can actually TRACK when you cry, why you cry.

Maya cries 17 or 18 times a month, for reasons such as a stressful day at work. Although, she is not working anymore. She recently left her job as a teacher.

Sometimes I’m looking for a certain shirt in my closet and I’m too warm [and] I’m crying like as if it’s the end of the world, but it’s really not. I just need to let it out to be able to get all the pent up feelings out of my body and then just move on.”-Maya Dougherty

Oh Emmm Gee. Really, woman? Crying because you cannot find a certain shirt in your closet? How about crying tears of joy that you have clothes and a closet to put them in which, I assume, means that you have a roof over your head? Now, THAT would involve some humility, which is a trait the Instagram and TikTok generation seems to be lacking.

As a somewhat cynical Gen X-er, as mentioned before, there were days in my 20s and 30s that I cried.There are days I cry now. Back then, there was the stress of paying bills and my student loans at the same time while working multiple jobs. There was heartbreak in my dating years. There were rough days at work, conflicts with friends, colleagues, family members and yes, the general tear-jerker TV show or movie. Crying gives us a sense of humanity. Crying does feel good sometimes. Crying also, sometimes, makes us stronger and gives us the perspective, afterwards to drive on.

Crying for an audience, however, unless you are an actor getting paid megabucks, is just a cry for attention. We have seen so many from the Gen-Z group cry about so many things. Now, they are calling their scheduled cries “self-care”, charting them for the world to see. Gen-Z is soooo misunderstood.

They cry because we do not offer “grace” and “empathy” when we call them on their utter BS in the workplace or in relationships. They cry because the wrong person got elected. They cry because they are misgendered. They cry because no one wants to pay for their college education. They cry because older generations, who have been around the block a couple of times, have a thing or two to say about their outlook on life and dare to interrogate reality. They cry because they can’t handle simple realities. They cry because they don’t like Mondays. They want to shoot the whole day down. They cry because you said “shoot” (bang, bang). They cry because their peers, all equally irresponsible, called out on a shift and now they are left doing the extra work. They cry because they did not beat their co-workers to a day of leisure. They cry because they did not get promoted. They cry because they were always told how awesome they were when in reality, their performance and motivation sucks.

And now, Gen-Z wants to take “self-care” time to bawl their eyes out and chart these crying sessions in Power Point. These are the individuals who desire to LEAD. They want leadership positions. They want management positions. Better give them a leadership position at six-figures a year or they’ll cry about not getting that, too. Watch out. They may even post the sob session on TikTok.

Photo Credit: Evan-Amos via Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain