In a time of darkness and despair, it is easy to make sweeping generalisations about the state of the world. It is easy to believe that democracy is dead because 70% of the world now lives under some form of authoritarianism. And because much of the mainstream media is controlled by oligarchs (at least in India), it is easy to assume that most people have been brainwashed and unable to see the things as they really are. It is also easy to assume, in this age of AI, that younger generations are now unable to think for themselves and form opinions. All this, until something happens that shows us that our assumptions are flawed.Something of the sort happened to me on a Saturday morning at a movie theater. I had gone to watch the 9 am screening of Project Hail Mary that has taken movie theaters by storm. To my great surprise. I found a huge Gen-Z crowd waiting for the auditorium to open. “What are they doing at a 9 am show?” I joked out loud to my friend. “I thought Gen Z didn’t wake up before noon!”My friend turned to me and said, “Ok, ‘Uncle’. Any more deep observations?” I shut up.Gen Z, (born between 1997 and 2012) have found themselves on the receiving end of a lot of stereotypes and generalisations, not unlike the millennials before them (born between 1980 and 1996) While millennials are accused of being entitled, lazy, overly sensitive, shirkers of responsibility, tech-obsessed, and financially irresponsible, Gen Z, finds itself judged for ostensibly having short attention spans, practically living online, being “slacktivists”, and possessing poor social skills. It goes without saying that it is unfair to paint an entire generation with the same brush, just as it is unfair to call all boomers WhatsApp uncles, or Gen Xers cynical and skeptical. The real danger with any stereotype is how insidiously it seeps into our collective consciousness, only to surface unexpectedly as an offhand remark or an inappropriate joke – something that I had mistakenly assumed I was incapable of, being the progressive sort.The next two and a half hours were unforgettable, and not just because of the film. What struck me was the behaviour of the audience. A hall full of Gen Z viewers, watching a movie with rapt attention, catching all the jokes and minding their manners. Not one mobile phone lit up around me and not once did I have to tell anyone in the vicinity to “please talk softly, we are trying to watch a movie.”There was a time when going to a movie theatre used to be one of life’s great pleasures. But over the years, I had stopped, worn down by the all-too-familiar irritations of a cinema hall: phones lighting up, loud conversations, and a lack of public courtesies.As an educator, I spend a great deal of my time encouraging students to be kind, respectful and self-aware. What I witnessed that Saturday morning would have made any teacher’s heart glad.Far from the entitled, inattentive stereotype they are often reduced to, this gathering was smart, attentive and deeply considerate of the shared space. If the movie hall that morning was any indication of a generation’s manners, then Gen Z has been misjudged. If anything, it is the older generations who might have something to learn here. I know I certainly did.I have often been told I suffer from misphonia, a disorder characterised by a decreased tolerance to specific, often repetitive sounds, (most notably, loud chewing). But instead of losing it at the sound of others chewing, I found myself eating my own potato wafers very, very quietly, so as not to disturb my polite and considerate neighbours.Besides making me check myself about any other prejudices and preconceptions that I may have inadvertently internalised, my experience that morning was also strangely reassuring in other ways.It showed me that perhaps we need to hold our certainties about “the world going to hell” a little more lightly. It is easy to believe that selfishness is winning, society is fraying and decline is inevitable. And yes, there is enough around us to justify that fear. But that morning reminded me that reality is often more nuanced than our conclusions. People can still surprise us. A generation can defy the story told about it. It made me a little less certain of my cynicism, and a little more open to the possibility that things may not turn out as badly as we imagine. We just need to keep doing our part.Rohit Kumar (Gen X) is an educator and can be reached at letsempathize@gmail.com.