Hello? Anyone There? Oh Wait, It’s Gen Z

Phone etiquette means nothing. Gen Z has a new party trick: answering the phone without saying anything. Like, at all.

A recruiter recently went viral for saying Gen Z job candidates pick up the phone, breathe into it like a horror movie villain, and wait for you to say hello first. You know what I call that? A jump scare.

Let’s get one thing straight:

When I was a kid, I had to answer the phone like I worked at a front desk at a Holiday Inn. “Hello, this is Lauren. May I ask who is calling please?” Yeah. I wasn’t a receptionist. I was ELEVEN.

You know how soul-crushing it is to have to sound like a corporate robot while wearing Smurfs pajamas? Brutal.

But my parents insisted. Because in our house, answering the phone was a formal event. You didn’t just pick it up and grunt. You answered it like your voice was representing the family brand.

Now? Gen Z picks up the phone like they’re disarming a bomb. No “hello.” No “hi.” Just—breathing. Like they’re trying to figure out if you’re a scammer, a recruiter, or their Uber Eats driver calling to say the milkshake exploded.

And look, I get it. They grew up with cell phones, not landlines. They’ve been texting since birth. Half of them don’t even use voicemail because it’s “too much pressure.”

But come on. We say “hello” for a reason. It’s not just manners—it’s letting someone know you’re there. You’re live. You’re not a ghost.

This isn’t a FaceTime. We can’t see you nodding.

So Gen Z, if you're reading this—just give us something. A grunt. A cough. A single syllable. You don’t have to channel 11-year-old receptionist energy, but at least pretend you’re not a haunted house operator.

Because right now? You’re creeping us out.