A Guide to Children’s Culture for Out-of-Touch Adults: What Is an “Alpine Divorce”?

In today’s episode of “Out of Touch,” we’ll talk about divorces in the Alps, how corrupted younger generations are based on their viral videos, and explore some silly food trends popular among young people.

What is an “Alpine divorce”?

If the phrase “Alpine divorce” has been popping up in your newsfeed a lot lately, here’s what you need to know (as they used to say): An Alpine divorce is when a man takes his wife on a hiking trip, usually in the mountains, and then simply abandons her there to her fate.

The phrase dates back to Robert Barr’s 1893 short story ” The Alpine Divorce,” but the renewed interest in the topic stems partly from the case of an Austrian climber recently convicted of negligent homicide after abandoning his girlfriend during a hiking trip, but mostly from a video posted by TikToker @everafteriya that claims to document a mild case of “Alpine divorce.”

Her man didn’t abandon her to die, but @everafteriya’s heartbreaking story has been viewed over 19 million times and garnered over 18,000 comments. It’s spread from TikTok to X , Threads , and everywhere else, with women around the world sharing their stories of abandonment during hikes and climbs.

Viral Video of the Week: Act on Demand

As this week’s viral videos demonstrate, younger generations fear more than just being left behind. At first glance, a video posted by Pennsylvania improv troupe Act on Demand seems dull, but if you know what you’re looking at, it’s like a portal into the wounded collective psyche of Generations Z and A.

Take a look:

and this:

Older people have a hard time understanding why these videos have millions of views—to me, they look like they’re straight out of any improv class, neither particularly good nor particularly bad—but younger people see something different.

Here are some of the most popular comments on the video above:

• Is this a ritual of humiliation?

• Some of them are so blatantly horrible that I need to know what was going on in their heads before.

• The World’s Worst Improv Lesson

• Do they pay for this or is it a support group?

And so it goes. Tens of thousands of commenters criticize strangers who dare to learn. And there’s another level of commentary. A semi-ironic fandom community is forming, where people post video compilations and montages of Act on Demand:

Videos of people in awkward situations have always been popular , but the members of Act on Demand do nothing more awkward than publicly display their inexperience at improvisation.

Young people don’t go to parties anymore . They don’t socialize . They don’t have friends , they don’t have sex , and they don’t get drunk . They don’t take risks. They don’t live their lives. All of this is due to finding yourself in new situations where you may not have control, where you’re vulnerable, and vulnerability means you may feel awkward. The fear of appearing awkward outweighs all other concerns, even the need to socialize.

At the same time, young people are so hungry for social interaction that they’re willing to settle for its imitation. They’ll watch improv classes for beginners to immerse themselves in the inner worlds and relationships of completely ordinary strangers in Pennsylvania, they’ll form parasocial relationships with people they’ll never meet, and they’ll turn to machines to find friends.

Four Stupid Food Trends Among Young People

But enough about our dystopian future; here’s a little relief (pun intended) – four silly food trends popular among young people.

• Sour Dishes : TikTok user Haskell started a “sour dish” trend, which involves cooking traditional dishes using ingredients from sour candies to create sour dishes. It’s as disgusting as it sounds . While some people try it , it’s more of a joke than a widespread trend.

• “Fortified Water” : “Fortified water” is water fortified with something: flavor enhancer, fruit juice, electrolytes, carbonation, and even vitamins or prebiotics. The idea is to boost hydration by making the water more palatable, but the problem is that when you add fruit juice to water, you’re not drinking water, you’re drinking juice . Water is defined by the absence of other ingredients, so “fortified water” doesn’t exist.

• Boy food : Boy food is like a girl’s dinner , only much worse. There are variations, but boy food typically consists of rice and ground beef , often served without spices or vegetables .

• Eating like a lurking alligator : Okay, I kind of like it. There’s a new TikTok trend: young people are eating like lurking alligators, right in their bathtubs. Check it out:

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