16 April

I’m going to give concrete examples of kidult culture, rather than just mention it in general terms. A guy at work bought one of these, a BYD Shark hybrid ute. He’s a car guy, has owned over 20 cars. All combustion until this point. He *loves* the Shark, says it’s changed his mind completely about cars. It’s been a pile-on. His friends at work and elsewhere have been mocking him relentlessly. It’s mostly good natured, but the intent is serious. They think he’s lost his mind. They say he’s bought a ‘girl’s car’. I asked why a girl’s car? ‘Because - electric.’ These are grown adults. Assessing their adult lives like they’re in the sandpit at preschool. Not one thought about the objective reality of what makes a good car, in the engineering sense. It’s all about ‘branding’, what your ‘team’ says is a good thing. It’s the school playground. All areas of life are like this now. I find it exhausting, tedious. I left Year 9 in 1982, but the whole world is now Year 9, at every age. Everything is trends, imitative rivalries between competing brands. People desperately trying to forge and protect fragile social identities. I want an adult life back.