“The drinking age should be 25, not 21.”

I’m walking through Target when I hear this. A kid in a hoodie, maybe 17 to 23, talking to his friend in the energy drink aisle. It stops me cold.

Not because it’s wrong. Because it might be right.

GenXers spent our youth figuring out who could score Budweiser or Bartles & Jaymes. Gen Z and Gen Alpha? They’re sucking down Alanis, Starbucks, and boba tea. Alcohol holds little appeal. They connect through FaceTime, present in ways we never learned to be.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, kids played outside without fear. We rode bikes until the streetlights came on.

We thought we invented freedom. Maybe we just passed it on in a different form.

Sure, every generation has its moments. Viral videos prove that.

But that kid in Target? He gave me hope.

God has a habit of teaching me things in unexpected places. This time it was the energy drink aisle at Target.

Then the kid said one more thing: “No one should be allowed to have sex either. Not until they’re 25.”

He’s thinking ahead—further than I ever did at his age.

Good for him.