Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

this-generation

2016-05-13 View on smbc-comics.com → 1 revision
You are viewing an older revision of this explanation (2026-03-14 20:49:40). View current version →
this-generation
Votey panel for this-generation
This explanation is incomplete or may contain errors. It was generated by AI and has not yet been reviewed by a human editor.

Explanation

The Joke

Two people are complaining about different generations. One says "I can't believe this generation -- my generation slaves away while they do everything!" The other counters: "My generation is self-starting, theirs expects everything to be done for them!" They continue: "Worst of all, this generation was raised on free stuff and they expect you to wipe their noses and soap themselves!"

In the final panel, a third person interjects: "Excuse me, you're saying something about how my generation expect others to do their job and also 'wipe their noses and soap themselves'? That's improper workplace decorum." -- revealing they are at work and these "generational" complaints are actually just complaints about basic workplace behavior being attributed to generational differences.

The Humor

The comic satirizes the endless cycle of generational complaints (Boomers vs. Millennials vs. Gen Z, etc.) by showing that the specific grievances people attribute to "this generation" are often just universal human behaviors or normal workplace friction repackaged as generational warfare.

The punchline -- where a third person points out that the complaints sound like improper workplace behavior regardless of generation -- deflates the entire generational framing. The joke suggests that people who complain about "this generation" are really just complaining about individual behaviors and then incorrectly attributing them to an entire age cohort, which is a form of lazy stereotyping.

View History (1) Original Comic