Under a post over at LifeHacker is this title: The Out-of-Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture: What is ‘Bed Rotting’?
I’ve heard of the young Chinese doing “laying flat” (rebelling against the notion that they MUST STRIVE to do their best to help The State!). I have heard about “quit quitting” by the young (as opposed to “retiring in place” by those close to that age in merely “going through the motions”) that they only do the least amount necessary to keep from getting fired – never striving to do their best.
And the subtitle to the post just made me angry: It’s a little like “wasting away,” but as a self-care strategy.
Sure thing, you twits for children – that’s just plain lazy. But notice the self-justification of trying to call it something else to make themselves feel better. This is the Self-Esteem and Participation (or is it NON-participation?) Trophy movements meant for children but now employed by the Twenty/Thirty-something twits?
Emphasis mine, reformatted:
This week, all children and young people are rotting in their beds, but it’s not due to illness, disgust, or unemployment. It’s the “new” trend of just not wanting to do anything because that takes effort. (Relatable.)
Bed rotting, JOMO, and the rise of cosy [sic]
I may be a crusty old bastard, but I feel a kinship with Generation Z when it comes to “bed rotting.” These young people are making doing nothing into a lifestyle and I am fully onboard. Bed rotting is big on TikTok and the practice is part of a larger movement that includes JOMO (joy of missing out) and an appreciation for all things cozy.Bed rotting differs from “hiding from the world” or “suffering from overwhelming depression” in the intentional way it’s practiced. When you’re bed rotting, it’s not that you’re unable to face the world; you’ve chosen not to. It’s about happily saying “f*** all that” to the outside world and instead, choosing to lay down, eat your favorite food, binge a TV show, and pet your cat instead. Whether it’s done for a few hours after work or school, or for days at a time, bed rotting is not being lazy. It’s practicing self-care.
NOTHING in that explanation makes much sense to me other than we are now seeing a bunch of over-aged entitled adults believing that they can do nothing for themselves. And I bet there’s a host of “enablers” behind them, patting them on the head like 4 year olds going “There, there, dears, you keep staring at the ceiling and thinking that you are the greatest in the world”.
Not being lazy? It is the EPITOME of laziness!!! Self-care? No, self-delusion. It’s feeling sorry for your lazy A$$ for probably not much more than “Hey, Life’s is not what I thought it should be”. Welcome to the real world, you lay-a-bout.
Absolute rubbish and if it were my son or daughter, I’d be marching them down to Parris Island (US Marine Corp Boot Camp) in quick step, throwing them over the wire with a scream of “Rot, this! You lazy son of a sun-basking lizard. Do you think you’ve had a hard life? Look at that Drill Instructor Sgt staring at you with a gleaming eye thinking to himself “THIS is gonna be fun!”.
In a way, bed-rotting is an aspect of JOMO, or “joy of missing out” in which one experiences fulfillment from consciously rejecting the demands and expectations of the outside world. The quietness of Gen-Z is also seen in the rise of coziness. Gamers are making best-sellers out of “cozy video games” like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing , and online spaces like Reddit’s “CozyPlaces” board are full of people fetishizing the coziest and most comfortable places on earth. Who wouldn’t want to bed rot here, am I right?
Yep, the young(er) parents that decided that being their kids “friends” are at fault for this instead of instilling into their child that most of the successes in life are motivation and willingness to forego instant gratification. Work Ethic? What’s that (Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame must be fuming over this). Just the fact that the word “adulting” is a thing should drive the rest of us that know better absolutely livid.
Look, I get it – everyone needs a vacation once in a while but this is next level stupidity as it engenders an attitude of “Meh? Who cares – nothing else is more important than what I’m feeling about myself” that eventually takes over for good
We first saw this rise up during the Obama era when unemployment became “funcation”. The Pandemic had Government become everybody’s sugar daddy and paid everyone to stay home and do nothing. This is just yet the next extension of that absolute soul-rotting nonsense.
And they haven’t realized that ramification yet.
