Gen Z Daughter Is Challenged By Father To Figure Out Three Things About An Old U-Haul — Including How To Start It
The old U-Haul felt like a blast from the past for this Gen Z daughter.
@davidcsmalley / TikTok David C. Smalley recently uploaded a video in which he would be asking his daughter to figure out three things about an old U-Haul truck. Considering she was a part of Gen Z and the technology within cars has changed a lot over the years, he expected her to have some trouble.
Smalley, a comedian and podcaster (which he records with his daughter), regularly puts his 19-year-old daughter Talissa up to the task of figuring out ancient technology. But she was about to discover her toughest challenge yet: starting a car.
A dad asked his Gen Z daughter to figure out how to work an old U-Haul truck.
“Hey Talissa!” her dad exclaimed at the start of the video before replying with a curt “What?” Smalley laid out the three challenges he set out for her to do: “Unlock the door, roll down the window, and start the truck.”
Ready to get started, she asked him for the keys, but as he dangled them in front of the phone camera, it was clear that her first challenge had already started. The key for the U-Haul came without a key fob — the small remote that would typically allow respective car owners to lock and unlock their doors, along with other utilities.
Grabbing the key, Talissa gave her dad an odd look, but the challenge was simple enough. She quickly realized that all she had to do was place the key into the door’s keyhole and turn it. Next, she had to roll down the window.
Smalley zoomed into the hand crank on the car door as Talissa climbed into the driver seat — and she was dumbfounded. “Are you serious? They haven’t updated that?!” she asked her dad. “Are you kidding me?! I would not do this every time.”
The 'ancient technology' of hand-cranking your car’s window has been outdated for quite some time.
According to Original Air, up until the late 1980s, crank windows were the standard. By 2008, most cars had replaced the old window crank with power windows, the electronic buttons we know today.
But the last challenge was by far the toughest for Talissa, and it took her some time to figure out how to start the car. Although the “push to start” feature in cars is still a relatively new one, Talissa searched the console for what would either be a button or the ignition, finding neither.
“Airbag, that’s not a keyhole. What is that? This is the screen? For the... this is just those letters, though. These are channels right?” she asked, searching through the console and finding the radio and everything but the ignition.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, finding the sneaky ignition sitting behind the steering wheel. “I’m not going to make it explode, am I?” she joked. She started the car, and they both rejoiced in her accomplishment.
Talissa’s story shows how much the times have changed and how different generational gaps are.
Technology has been rapidly advancing in recent years. Nearly all advancements in technology have made things more efficient and less time-consuming.
Why unlock the door with the key when you can unlock it from nearly 30 meters away? Why crank the window open when you can just push the button hard enough? And why turn the key in the ignition when you can start your car with the push of a button?
It’s always fun and interesting to see the ways in which different generations interact with technology. I’ll never forget the day my dad showed me the Walkman he used to have as a kid — and some people reading this may not even know what that is!
Smalley, a father who regularly creates content with his daughter, recently uploaded a similar video in which he challenged her to play the “physical music” after handing her an old record player and a Prince single on vinyl.
After eventually figuring it out (with her dad's help), Talissa claimed that the only thing she knew about record players was that you had to raise the needle in order to place the vinyl, and she only knew that because of movies and TV shows.
Things have changed, and it’s fun to see in what ways they have when a 19-year-old struggles to start a car or play a record. Just wait until Talissa shows her dad how to work the newest iPhone.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor for YourTango who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.