Gen Z doesn't want to say 'hello' when answering the phone

Ah, the familiar pattern of generational bashing. It takes me back to when we millennials were painted as the lazy, good-for-nothing, ambitious-deprived, self-entitled, unmotivated bunch. I've seen Gen Z accused of the same, and additionally, they are supposedly awful at dealing with tech too, to spice things up a bit, I'll wager.

Fair enough.

I have dealings with Gen(xyzqbvwhatever) that don't respond to the 'more considerate forms' in a timely fashion. So after a grace period, I jangle the bell.

I get the other side of this. I get a ping for a message while driving, I can't do anything about it (distracted driving etc). So I either pull over (or turn off the highway altogether), or resolve to deal with it at my destination.

Nine times out of ten, if I pull off, it's an urgent notification that 1) my screen time is up by 17 minutes, 2) Second Cousin in Arkansas reposted a message about another missing cat, or 3) your soliac serucity number has been supsedned, CLICK HERE NOW TO AVOID ARREST AND JAIL.

However, when I get to the destination, I forgot that I got a ping.

Sometimes I think that the best option is to toss the cellphone, so that nobody has illusions about how (not) to contact me.