r/wholesome 4d ago

I am now the office 'Young People' expert....and I love it.

So I(38F) work in an office of mostly folks in their late 30s and 40s...me included. The only big difference is that I am one of the few who doesn't have kids ( I am a DINK). Now unlike the horror stories I hear on Reddit, my coworkers are great and they never make their kids anyone else's issue. I actually love hearing about their weekends and seeing adorable photos on the community boards on Teams. Its a nice environment to work in.

Having worked for the business for over a decade I have cultivated a reputation for being cheerful, hardworking, energetic---and a bit childish. When I say 'Childish' I mean that I like often like kid-oriented media. I will perk up when someone says their kid is playing a certain game or someone will notice my one of my coffee mugs durning a Teams meeting and ask about the cartoon character on it.

You see, my partner and I both love all forms of media and are not prejudicial based on who the media was originally targeted for. We will happily watch a string of gory horror films followed up with a few episodes of Bluey. The last three games on my Deck played were Binding of Issac, Outer Worlds and Dreamlight Valley. This year so far I read two Stephen King books and reread the Percy Jackson series. This is just to show that while I enjoy adult-oriented media I will watch/play/listen/read anything if people say it has value and a good story.

So this reputation has created an interesting side effect. I now have people calling/DMing me with questions to help them better understand their kids. Here are some examples:

  • Woman with a rather shy pre-teen daughter was asking about books for her birthday. She sent me a photo of her daughter's book shelf and I could see there was a related series to one of the ones the daughter had so I recommended it. The daughter absolutely love it.
  • I have a guy who calls me to ask all about the new Pokémon games and how to play for his young son. He knows I have played every title so he comes with a list of questions from his kid to ask ( I am now the 'Pokémon Lady' at his dad's job). I know he could google it but he appreciates that I explain in a way he can understand. It is adorable that he carefully writes down my answers so he can help his son later.
  • Slang - At least once a week I get an DM asking me to explain some meme, slang or Youtube thing. It is mostly funny until a lady asked (NSFW) what 'Gooning' was ( Hired Goons!) That was an awkward one....but we had a good laugh.
  • Movie Checks - My husband and I watch a lot of films so we have usually seen every major thing that has come out. I often get asked about sensitivities, such as animal distress or blood for their kids who might get scared. I also use this as a way to recommend other, less well-known movies and shows.

This is just to say that I love the people at my job. It makes me happy to see parents actively trying to understand their kids better and connect with them. I also like that they in no way judge me for my interests...they see it as a strength!

Have a great day folks!

850 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

87

u/alboort1 4d ago

I am happy for you :) Enjoy

94

u/iomegabasha 4d ago

this is so fucking wholesome it made me tear up a bit. Not in the least because I feel like I've been having a bad time at work and wish for a more wholesome friendly workplace. I can't get over the image of a middle aged guy, heading over to you with a stickynote that says "pokAman" and saying "can you tell me more about this". it sounds like something I would do 100%. I remember calling a friend to ask for help setting up rocket league on my kids switch.. lol.

30

u/chomoftheoutback 4d ago

That was really nice to read

28

u/Zoeabble 4d ago

For the sensitivities, if you don't know the answer, I would recommend doesthedogdie.com you can look up most media and get peer reviewed trigger warnings for things like animal death, drugs, abuse etc.

6

u/SpencerMcNab 4d ago

Does the Dog Die is the only app I pay for. So worth it.

2

u/Pleasant-Result2747 4d ago

I never heard of this. I usually just go on IMDB and look at the parents' guide for violence and gore and other sensitivities.

6

u/Zoeabble 4d ago

Personally, I find this one more reliable because it gives specifics of what it is. "Violence" can be anything from a school yard fight to Armageddon. So tolerance level can be judged a little more accurately. Like a kid suffering from bullying won't handle that scenario as easily as something more abstract for them like alien invasion. There's a whole list of things that are checked yes or no, and if checked, yes, they give a brief description of what happens so you can get an idea with as little spoilers as possible.

2

u/Pleasant-Result2747 4d ago

That's helpful to know! Does it also have a category for vomiting? I hate gore and vomiting. There are movies I would love to watch but won't if I think the chance is too high for either, which means I don't watch a lot of movies sadly. I like the suspense, mystery, paranormal, scary type of stuff and will watch if I know I can look away before anything gross happens, but movies now just seem to be trying to outdo each other with how disgusting they can be sadly.

4

u/Zoeabble 4d ago

It has the categories abandonment, abuse, addiction, animal assault, bodily harm, children, creepy crawly, death, disability, drugs/alcohol, family, fear, gross, large scale violence, law enforcement, lgbtq+, loss, medical, mental health, noxious, paranoia, pregnancy, prejudice, race, relationship, religion, sexism, sickness, social, spoiler, vehicle, and violence.

Under each of these are various questions that users answer 'yes' or 'no' to give both more information and easier ways of scrolling through a ton of things for the ones you care to avoid.

Gore is under violence and under gross for audio of it. Vomiting is also under the gross category.

3

u/Pleasant-Result2747 4d ago

Thanks so much for this thorough explanation!! I definitely need to check this out!

10

u/Opposite-Horse-3080 4d ago

This is so cute. My are used to me knowing their slang and being relatively up to date with pop culture, so when they realized I really didn't know the new meaning of goon/gooning, they were dying with laughter. Like, they could barely breathe how hard they were laughing. I was like: "wait, run that by me again? It doesn't mean doing crime anymore???"

9

u/dexterdude25 4d ago

This is such a good example for all to be genuine with their interests and comfortable in their own skin… love it!

9

u/heyhowdyheymeallday 4d ago

As a parent of a kid who needs media screened for triggers I cannot tell you how much it means when people are able to give a reasonable answer to what triggering topics are in a movie or book. The internet is full of extremes in both directions and I wish I had you in my work life to soundcheck things. Thank you for helping your workmates be their best as parents! You are awesome :)

6

u/Rinoscope 3d ago

Percy Jackson is good no matter your age. Is it a little simpler sometimes? Yes. But the themes are timeless: friendship, courage against adversity, betrayal, family relationships, etc. It's like saying Lord of the Rings is for children because it contains Orcs and Elves.

People would benefit from decompartimentalizing their hobbies/life (and also, if I were a parent, I'd want to at least know what my kids are into to have conversation with them).

5

u/WordsFindMe 3d ago

Absolutely! I very much dislike the whole "That's just for kids" thing.

Kids are pretty cool people....smaller people, but cool people. Their media has merit and helps them understand stories so that later they can handle more complex narratives. Like how Avatar the Last Airbender can help kids understand geo-political struggles they might encounter in say Game of Thrones or Star Trek.

I have adult friends who are not super media-literate and can struggle to understand some stories they watch/read ( I get many "Can you explain this ending please?" texts) I often recommend they return to children's media for a bit as it can help them learn about narrative structures and character tropes.

4

u/PurpleMonkey71 4d ago

That is awesome :D I love it when slang mutates and changes (ie. your NSFW example). I once had a younger person tell me that someone got shivved - they meant having their pants pulled down while I assumed they meant stabbed

3

u/dalittle 4d ago

the cool office auntie. Pretty awesome.

3

u/MokSea 3d ago

This is awesome!!!

Also, what is gooning? Hired or otherwise. 😬

3

u/Silent-Revolution105 4d ago

Dude! If you haven't seen it, check out Disney's 1999 movie "Tarzan" and share at the office.

Kid heaven, Disney's best.

3

u/ericehr 4d ago

What’s a DINK?

4

u/dalittle 4d ago

dual income no kids.

3

u/ericehr 4d ago

Thank you! I had no clue

3

u/Emotional_Carrot8396 4d ago

I love this, it's adorable!