they're like the worst employees you could ever imagine, worse than any apathetic stoned teenager because at least the teenager doesn't have delusions of seniority or experience or a complete inability to accept criticism or admit to making a mistake, at least they can be trained. but the boomers and karens are unreformable, they complain and exude indignation and misery out of every orifice and destroy employee morale, they do things the wrong way and they get belligerent and defensive when you try to show them how to do them the right way, they get irritated with busy shifts and lines and impatient customers and they show their irritation very publicly, they gossip about co-workers and discuss politics and religion and create drama, they speak condescendingly to co-workers and customers and even managers, it's unbelievable. it's like a paroled convict who was in prison for decades and has no idea how to re-enter normal society. and when you are forced to finally reprimand them, they have a fucking emotional breakdown.
i was dealing with a recent hire who was like this, and one day i noticed that she was burning through rolls of paper towels at several times the rate of any other worker wadding up huge balls of paper towels and wiping stuff down and throwing it away and grabbing another, so i kind of pulled her aside so as not to embarrass her and explained to her how to take one paper towel and fold it twice to make four surfaces and use one surface until it gets dirty, then use another, etc. she became indignant and said "sweetie, i've been cleaning up after four kids for 20 years i know how to use a paper towel." i told her, "first of all, i'm trying to help you, i'm trying to show you how to do the job right, i'm trying to make your job easier. second, this is work, this isn't your house, and you are a brand new employee here. don't talk to me or anyone else here that way. don't call me 'sweetie' and don't get an attitude with me. you do it again, you're gone. do you understand?" she started crying. she cried about it for the rest of the day and then the next day she never showed up for work, no call no show. someone had to come in and pull a double to cover for her. and i didn't even get a chance to confront her about all the other shit she was doing wrong.
i felt guilty about it, which makes me even more annoyed when i really think about it because i shouldn't feel guilty just for expecting a perfectly healthy able-bodied adult to listen and follow basic directions and not behave like an entitled spoiled brat at work. i understand that your hero donald trump betrayed you and destroyed the economy and your security and i understand how humiliating it must feel to be a suburban middle-class retiree for years and then suddenly be reduced to the lowly task of wiping down tables and ringing up customers, but you know what? too bad.