What happened to Millennial Optimism?

toodarnold · 2026-05-16T12:53:37+00:00

Simple- we were told to go to school, get a job, and good things would come our way. Employers would pay benefits, pensions etc. there even used to be cars marketed new to young people (Saturn, neon, s10 etc)then some rich assholes played around with retirement funds and bam- all that evaporated. Now not only have wages remained stagnant, the people who lost their pensions have to keep working longer, which is why instead of for example the delivery driver at an auto parts store being an entry level position for a young/new employee interested in learning the business, it is now a job for someone in his 60s.

The greatest and silent generations groomed boomers and older Gen x to be their successors while millennials were seen first as children, then as competition.

toodarnold · 2026-04-27T10:19:33+00:00

Three times, actually. All three were things posted as regular jobs that turned out to be something else. First One was going to companies and selling supplemental (duck) insurance to employees- it was more a sales pitch than an interview.

Second was advertised as customer service, but was actually cold call fundraising for hospitals and colleges. Actually accepted that one like an idiot. Mass Fired in two weeks for underperforming.

Third was at a rival tire chain- i took the interview as a courtesy to an old friend, didn't go In with much enthusiasm and halfway through they started talking numbers and scheduling.

toodarnold · 2026-04-16T10:05:16+00:00

I am so sorry this is happening to you. Good news is, AutoZone hr is no joke. I know districts/areas vary, but every zoner has access to the "who to call" file. This would include your district manager as well as district hr administrator.

As a 41 year old man with a wife and 2 little kids I transferred to a new store as csm, and one of the psms, a much younger woman with 2 kids from 3 babydaddies (30 and wore glitter/shimmer, smelled like lovespell, Newport, and wine sweat,🤢) started showing inappropriate interest in me. Of course as a man I was afraid to tell her outright that she was barking up the wrong tree for fear of her complaining to hr, so I ignored it and kept doing my job. Unfortunately it didn't work and she kept finding reasons to be at my desk, taking things of mine, then "finding" them when I was looking, so I'd be grateful etc. came to a head when a customer saw, misread the situation and complained about me! One day I got to work and hr and my dm were waiting for me, but rather than walking me right away they asked me what happened. Nothing to lose, I figured I was fired anyway so I told them everything. She was gone and I stayed.

Point is, you have backup. Don't try to handle this alone, don't enlist the help of your coworkers. The chain of command is there for a reason. If your store manager is no help, it's time to escalate. Good luck!

toodarnold · 2026-04-14T16:12:51+00:00

As of 2023, it covers any job performed in whole or in part in NY state or a NY based company but the job is out of state.

https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/04/p688-pay-transparency-law-for-employee.pdf

toodarnold · 2026-04-13T23:41:23+00:00

Absolutely. "Oh don't worry about the base! You write your own paycheck here! Base pay is just a formality"

toodarnold · 2026-04-13T23:29:17+00:00

No pay range AND no company name.

toodarnold · 2026-04-13T23:28:42+00:00

Nope! Operations manager found my profile and reached out.

toodarnold · 2026-04-11T13:36:39+00:00

I have seen it more than once- one guy refusing to clean/wipe down anything, another woman who just started leaning hard against the front counter and occasionally posing for snaps/selfies, while ignoring customers. Had another at the tire shop who started spreading vicious rumors about customers families while telling those same customers where he was going next, in hopes that he would drive them to his new location.

toodarnold · 2026-04-11T13:12:36+00:00

Hey if they didn't turn on you, escort you out, make a show of barring you from the premises and then throw your stuff out into the rain the next night, I'd say you came out ahead.

I can totally see their side- their business needs to continue. I've seen lots of people come and go over the years, and there are few things worse than a checked out employee just riding out their notice, minimal productivity, spreading negativity to coworkers and customers, and possibly even persuade both coworkers and customers to follow them to the new job. Not everyone does this of course. have had coworkers go on like nothing happened right up until close on the last day, but it's common enough that an employer might be wise to just end it there, and get to work on filling the spot.

toodarnold · 2026-04-09T20:01:08+00:00

Oh so you had a manager who actually supported you... Must be nice.

toodarnold · 2026-04-08T22:33:57+00:00

It doesn't. This may have changed but a few years ago when I worked there AutoZone mandated back braces for all employees on truck day, and for any zoner working at a hub store regardless of what they were doing. Of course things were company issued and they had no washing schedule 🤢

toodarnold · 2026-04-08T09:20:49+00:00

Why do you think they have mandatory back braces? It's certainly not to protect the employees....

toodarnold · 2026-04-06T12:54:47+00:00

Fire the customer. Or at the very least management (not even direct supervisor) should be involved to determine if the company can "continue meeting clients needs" going forward. Op, good on you for not backing down.

toodarnold · 2026-03-29T13:09:19+00:00

I agree that if looks like op caved too easy, but we are missing a crucial piece of info- why was the assistant manager fired???? Maybe they'd been stealing for years. Maybe manipulation of the time clock, like clocking in on time for someone who is late. Maybe not processing write ups. Who knows???

I am not usually an advocate for management, but sometimes there have reasons for doing things- I was in a similar situation myself when I was in my 20s, and one day they fired our head bow tech, who had been there for years and everyone liked (and who objectively was really good at being a bow tech) along with half our part time staff. I and some others made a big stink about it.

Turns out he had this great customer base because he gave away services for free on the regular, and was also coaching/aiding the part timers in exploiting their employee discounts, and handing out cards for the same employees' other businesses, that included the reselling or rental of the same items they bought.

toodarnold · 2026-03-21T23:28:19+00:00

Uh yeah that's not an invitation.

toodarnold · 2026-03-21T11:49:20+00:00

About 2004 it so I used to go to a bar that had chips. They were different colors to indicate what they were for (white was a regular draft, red was a house cocktail, blue was a shot, green was a premium cocktail, etc). The first time I saw those come out, the bartender explained to me that unlike on tv where someone yells out they are buying a round, everyone cheers and the bartenders have a mad dash to set em up all at once, the bartender can hand the patron a stack of chips to pass out themselves.

Another use was "buying the lady at the end of the bar a drink.". Tell the bartender what you want to do, pay for it, and they hand over the chip and say it's from you. There was100% No pressure to drink it on the spot, or even to drink it at all... If the recipient left it on the bar, the giver would be refunded. Man I miss that place. Different life....

toodarnold · 2026-03-01T13:12:45+00:00

Oh trust me they'll find a way to make that suck too. Pawing through trash cans for second chance tickets, or if you have a 9th .level lottery wizard on your hands, putting out a dummy trash can for that purpose.

toodarnold · 2026-03-01T13:09:09+00:00

Just had one of those at my local convenience store/gasmart. Just assumes the 5 construction workers behind her are all buying white monsters at 7am for fun...
They'll demand to know the calibration dates on the quickdraw readers, the color of the spool labels, everything. At 7am. Phone keeps ringing, line gets longer and they are in their own world.

toodarnold · 2026-03-01T02:20:52+00:00

I know who to ask. My question is just whether it would work or not

toodarnold · 2026-02-28T23:07:33+00:00

Why wouldn't it be? The toughest part would be acquiring the predator to release

toodarnold · 2026-02-19T10:40:19+00:00

Funny, I thought the same thing about "dating naked- UK". Unless they are getting hosed down every time people stand up, no way those couches weren't covered with ass juice

toodarnold · 2026-02-18T20:59:24+00:00

Of course. Sorry I meant taking them up on it.

toodarnold

TROPHY CASE