Excellent piece! Extra credit for the classic Rollins pic (saw Rollins band at the very first Lollapalooza). I think it’s a net positive that our generation is reflecting. It may not be a new story, but it is our story to tell
My last McJob was as a Blue Shirt at Best Buy in the mid-nineties. I have fond memories of this job slinging mediocre Packard Bell computer systems to moms and dads. For the past 15 years I have this reoccurring dream that I'm forced to take holiday shifts at Best Buy to make ends meet. I even considered facing my fear and just applying to get it out of the way, though I'm pretty sure I'd get filtered out by some HR algo. I'm waiting for a story to be written, in the not too distant future, "The Last Walmart Greeter". It will have a similar tone to this NYT article, but we substitute robots taking soft skills tasks from us too. Adapt or die they say.
I'm pretty sure you'd get hired once you get past the algo. I think today the McJob is doing 3-4 pieces a day for some scale-stage website (if they still exist). Or, trying to get a substack off the ground.
“the patterns that seem to characterize our latchkey, sorta-feral GenX childhood: Skepticism of the mainstream (“Don’t tell me what to do”)” — I think the more telling angle is we watched a space shuttle explode in grade school, Enron unfold, and then lies about WMDs in Iraq. We learned not to trust. Never mind “a series of tubes,” et al.
Also agreed with Armano’s sentiments more than the Times’. It’s not about what happened to you. It’s about what you choose to do as a result.
Thanks Tim! I did think about going into where the skepticism comes from (throw in Reagan/Nixon, divorce rates, and a shift towards conspiracy-theories in popular movies) but that might be another essay. And, I could have written a complete fanboy not to Armano’s piece. I think there’s something deep in that idea of “old” vs “Young” energy, and I loved how optimistic his piece was.
Excellent piece! Extra credit for the classic Rollins pic (saw Rollins band at the very first Lollapalooza). I think it’s a net positive that our generation is reflecting. It may not be a new story, but it is our story to tell
I really appreciate your take on this stuff. It's helped me to see "our" situation differently, with more optimism. Thanks!
My last McJob was as a Blue Shirt at Best Buy in the mid-nineties. I have fond memories of this job slinging mediocre Packard Bell computer systems to moms and dads. For the past 15 years I have this reoccurring dream that I'm forced to take holiday shifts at Best Buy to make ends meet. I even considered facing my fear and just applying to get it out of the way, though I'm pretty sure I'd get filtered out by some HR algo. I'm waiting for a story to be written, in the not too distant future, "The Last Walmart Greeter". It will have a similar tone to this NYT article, but we substitute robots taking soft skills tasks from us too. Adapt or die they say.
I'm pretty sure you'd get hired once you get past the algo. I think today the McJob is doing 3-4 pieces a day for some scale-stage website (if they still exist). Or, trying to get a substack off the ground.
You had me at OK Soda.
Also, this was on the money:
“the patterns that seem to characterize our latchkey, sorta-feral GenX childhood: Skepticism of the mainstream (“Don’t tell me what to do”)” — I think the more telling angle is we watched a space shuttle explode in grade school, Enron unfold, and then lies about WMDs in Iraq. We learned not to trust. Never mind “a series of tubes,” et al.
Also agreed with Armano’s sentiments more than the Times’. It’s not about what happened to you. It’s about what you choose to do as a result.
Also, I think if there was a current-day version of OK soda, it would probably work because people would buy it for the joke.
Thanks Tim! I did think about going into where the skepticism comes from (throw in Reagan/Nixon, divorce rates, and a shift towards conspiracy-theories in popular movies) but that might be another essay. And, I could have written a complete fanboy not to Armano’s piece. I think there’s something deep in that idea of “old” vs “Young” energy, and I loved how optimistic his piece was.