WHAT is wrong with kids today????

[Kannan Fodder]

Probably the wrong place to post this, but seriously what is wrong with today's youth???? They have no values, no morals, and don't care about anything at all. Yes, I'm generalizing based on many observations.

Today at work I heard continuous shrieking and screaming coming from the aquatics area, and upon investigating it, I found 4 teenage girls and a couple younger girls running back and forth screaming, and one teenage girl with her arm in the GloFish tank (up to the armpit) chasing the fish around with a fishnet. The shriekers saw me and immediately stopped, but the one in the tank had her back to me, so I loudly said "What do you think you are doing?" She quickly whipped her arm out of the tank and spun around to face me, whipping her hand behind her back and throwing the contents of the net onto the floor. One of the girls said "You have dead fish here" and another said "We're not paying for that" as the poor fish thrashed about on the floor. I just said, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave the aquatics area" to which they promptly vacated the store.

On the floor I found one large killifish that had been stepped on and smashed, and a GloFish tetra that was barely clinging to life. I returned it to its tank, and it did recover. The killifish had been deliberately killed, and if they hadn't stepped on it to kill it, it was very obvious they were just going to net out fish and let them die on the floor. ALL of these girls were old enough to know exactly what they were doing, and that what they were doing was not only wrong, but also very cruel.

So if anyone's daughters came home today and said they got kicked out of Petco, now you know exactly why.

 

[Vincenia]

I work in the Electronics Department of Wal-Mart. I've caught kids trying to steal game cards by scratching off the back and entering the code into their smartphones, which won't work UNLESS paid for. Had a co-worker scare off a bunch of young girls (he said around 12-15) that were stealing condoms, really? I even hear kids screaming, yelling and throwing fits just to get what they want, from ACROSS the store, until closing time (Midnight). Parents do not punish their children, they let them scream and shout, if asked to have them stop, they don't do a thing. Had customers complain about kids running around, nearly knocking people over and nearly smacking into ME. I never acted like that in a store. What's going on? They think they can do what they want and get away with it.

It's crazy, ever had to deal with that when I worked at the LFS for 17 months. The rindren I met there were well behaved and listened to what I've told them about the pets they wanted. Now its screaming and yelling....

 

[Rbishop]

In this world of "me" and "everything is a right" and "I deserve" with a few dashes of "no accountability" its sadly become the norm. Ironic that this current trend of of not wanting to be offended doesn't stop them same folk from offending.

 

[Vincenia]

People are easily offended now, its not funny. What's going on? Years ago everything was fine, now its a mess.

 

[Tifftastic]

By far that was one of my least favorite parts of working at PetSmart. I actually had a five year old throw a huge tantrum because I wouldn't get him fish without his parents (they were trying to get my coworker to let their three year old hold a guinea pig) that he drove his whole arm into a tetra tank and managed to catch some (I still have no idea how). I had to grab his arm and pry his fingers open to get the, somehow still alive, fish out of his hands and back into the tank. This kid would probly be about 13 now so I can fully see it being something teenagers would do.

I'm just so happy that my eight year old niece has been taught to respect other people's property, respect the life of animals, to respect (though not blindly listen to) authority and respect herself enough that she would never do something like that.

 

[Vincenia]

I was in a Petco a few days ago and these girls wanted fish, they looked 16 but were 18. The worker there asked for I.D. They had to go to the car to get it. Even as teenagers, theyneed parents around to buy fish. Never had that issue before, guess it's new.

 

[tanker]

It is the NEW "Detached from reality" generation. I am glad I raised my kids well, but the next generation---Who Knows.

 

[Kannan Fodder]

Yes, the Politically Correct movement has given a lot of people the notion that they can do whatever they want while everyone else has to toe the line. People now think they are "entitled" to whatever they want, and if they don't get their way, they resort to acting vulgar, petty name calling, verbal abuse, and in some instances, threatening - or engaging in - physical assault. Two employees were recently held up at the store where I work because they denied the sale of a 6 inch koi to a man who intended to house it in a 10 gallon tank. The man refused to leave the store, instead called "his posse" to come to his rescue, repeatedly threatened to kill one of the employees, and only left the store when the police arrived and escorted him (and his amassed "posse") out. While there are plenty out there who would find this kind of behavior appalling, we live in a time where mass media, YouTube, viral streaming, social media, etc makes instant heroes out of those who engage such appallingly bad behavior.

 

[Kannan Fodder]

I was in a Petco a few days ago and these girls wanted fish, they looked 16 but were 18. The worker there asked for I.D. They had to go to the car to get it. Even as teenagers, theyneed parents around to buy fish. Never had that issue before, guess it's new.

Petco cannot sell live animals to anyone under the age of 18. It's store policy, and if they are under 18, their parents have to make the purchase. I think it's one of those things where a lot of people don't take accountability for their actions, and some kids make impulse buys - like fish and animals - that they are not prepared to properly care for.

 

[Tifftastic]

I was in a Petco a few days ago and these girls wanted fish, they looked 16 but were 18. The worker there asked for I.D. They had to go to the car to get it. Even as teenagers, theyneed parents around to buy fish. Never had that issue before, guess it's new.

It was the same at PetSmart the rule was you had to be 18 to purchase an animal without a parent present. It had been around for a while, the policy books I was given had it stated in them and were copy writed as the year 2000. However, for regular customers that had been in with parents before and since we were located in a shopping center we often just let it slide, but it was great to pull it out with a group of obnoxious teenagers. Especially when they were wanting to hold the snakes and I would take them over, unlock the cage, pull the snake out and then just as I was handing it to them say "oh wait, how old are you? Oh you have to be 18 or have a parent present to handle the animals. Sorry. *overly fake cheesy smile and put the snake away*"
Ya. . . I got accused of being a "vindictive you know what," but sometimes it was necessary to remind them they didn't get whatever they wanted.