I’ve come to the shocking realization that I am not, as fate would have it, cool anymore.

I was sitting in the living room watching TV with my stepdaughter one day when we got to talking about music. She’s Gen Z, so her favorite artists are people like Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo, and 90’s stuff that she probably considers vintage.

It turns out Nickelback isn’t cringe – I’m cringe for thinking they’re cringe. Weezer is cringe, but Nickelback actually has “some good songs.”

I was floored. I mean it’s just music; it’s not that big a deal, but really?

That’s when I realized I stopped being a teenager the better part of 20 years ago, and I don’t exactly have my finger on the pulse of pop culture anymore. In other words, I’ve got no rizz. I think. I’m sorry…

It’s been a couple years since I had that revelation, but I still think about it sometimes. I’m a salesman, so it’s almost instinct to “be relatable” in conversation, but I will never try to out-cool someone half my age. It’s their turn to be cool for a while.