Gen Z dad asked 16-year-old daughter to guess 1980s items — and it's downright hilarious
When Benson asks her what a Rolodex is, she assumes it has something to do with rollerblades.
Typically, there is a generational gap between GenZs and their parents, owing to lifestyle differences and life experiences shaped by two different worlds. While GenZs were born into the digital era, their parents saw both the growth and various stages of tech. Hence, the generational gap is a real defining characteristic of a parent-child relationship; take this dad and daughter, for instance. Brian Benson, a man in his 50s, decided to test his GenZ daughter, Skylar's knowledge of the 80s, and it has made many Millennials realize how outdated many things have become. Shared by @magnusthetherapydog on Instagram, the video has garnered positive reactions from people across both generations.
Fifty-three-year-old Brian Benson, who goes by @magnusthetherapydog on Instagram, often came across videos of kids who were clueless about the things their parents had grown up with. This made Benson, the dad of a 16-year-old, want to test his daughter's knowledge. Benson filmed his daughter, informing her that he would be quizzing her on a couple of terms from the 80s. The video features his daughter, Skylar, sitting beside her dog, as she gears up for the fun test. Her father throws her the first question: "What are the Yellow Pages?" The sixteen-year-old who is stumped by the term, guessed that it could be a "boy band."
Next, when Benson asks her what a Rolodex is, she assumes it has something to do with rollerblades. Next, Benson asks, "What is a collect call?" Skylar inquires, "Wait, are these like terms or things?" To this, her dad confirms that it could be either. "That's probably when you guys have phones on the wall, and when you say 'collect call' like it's a button, you guys get into a group call," Skylar posed, equating the "collect call" with an 80s version of a group chat, but with phones 'on the wall.' Before the advent of the smartphone, "collect calls" would mean that the receiver, the person answering the phone, agreed to pay the fee for that phone call. It's a relic from the days of long-distance phone calls.
When Benson asked Skylar what it means to "burn a CD," she described it as, "You use it so much that the scratcher nail thing burned it, so it doesn't play anymore, it's blank." According to Newsweek, Benson wanted to introduce terms and items from the 80s to his daughter — especially those that were personal to him at one time. Despite getting everything wrong, her dad was impressed by her thoughtful answers. "I was really impressed by how my daughter tried to justify her reasoning for everything I asked her. She was definitely surprised by what some of the '80s things actually were!" he said.
A recent poll conducted by Müller Corner found that most GenZs were clueless about many things from the past generations. A study conducted on 2000 GenZers in 2025 and published in The Sun found that about 74% didn't know what a dial-up internet was. Many individuals were also unaware of CD-Rom encyclopedia or the AA route planner existed. "From the snacks we enjoyed after school to the tech that felt like the future, everything came with a sense of excitement and simplicity that's hard to replicate today," said Helen Carswell to The Sun. Interestingly, the poll also revealed that GenZs were finding their gadgets less fun than the ones from the 90s. About 49% admitted that, given an opportunity, they would love to explore the 90s and live their life two decades ago. Judging by Skylar's curiosity to know more about the terms from her dad's time, GenZ is indeed intrigued by life in the 80s and 90s.
Soon after the post went viral, many users showered praise on the young girl for her interesting guesses. @osteoferocious_ wrote, "Her answers are so thoughtful and good! Completely wrong, but thoughtful and good!" @kenjismama shared, "Your daughter is extremely bright. Her answers show good abstract thinking." @idlibenglish wrote, "I thought her answers were far more intelligent and quickly thought out compared to others I've seen! Bravo!"
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