Julie Jay: Teenagers today are so much nicer than we used to be

Their emotional intelligence and sensible footwear are reminders that this generation of kids is alright

Julie Jay: "Whatever else we have to worry about, I don’t think the next generation is one of them. Make no mistake — the kids are alright."

I was 24 years old and working in a busy Dublin deli when a colleague imparted a nugget of parenting wisdom. "Whatever about kids, wait until you have a teenager," she would say after a particularly busy morning of making breakfast baps. 

"It’s like having a tiger as a pet: they start cute and fluffy, and before you know it, they’re biting your head off." This was said years before Tiger King, which reaffirms the woman was way ahead of her time (She was also the first person I ever met to combine bacon with avocado.)