🌆⚡️**Setting boundaries on Disrespect:**⚡️🌆

You ever work somewhere that looked like a retro dream but felt like a hostile takeover? I’ve been in places where teenagers with titles acted like tyrants, managers looked the other way, and respect was just a concept they forgot to put on the training manual.

Enter the neon diner where everyone’s wearing visors, the gridlines glow, and a teenager is aggressively explaining authority to a grown adult who’s been paying bills since dial-up. Welcome to the modern workplace.

You ever notice how life gives you the same test twice—just to see if you learned the lesson?

To start off, I started this job at a German diner where a teenage coworker tried to micromanage me like I’d never held a tray.

This was years back, in a small Texas town called Granbury. A charming German restaurant with beer steins, schnitzel, and—unfortunately—a high school hostess named Alexis with a clipboard and a superiority complex.

Setting boundaries on Disrespect

She’d just gotten some sort of leadership title—nothing major, just enough to inflate her ego and sharpen her tone. And suddenly, I was her target.

((“You need to stop leaving menus laying all around the restaurant!”)) She snapped at me one day, in front of others.

When have I ever left a menu sitting on a table? Proof? I had already put the menus where they belonged. I showed her. Calmly. Professionally. I told her, respectfully: Hey, maybe before blaming people, find out the facts first.

But instead of hearing me, she ran to the manager like a kid tattling at recess. Next thing I knew, I was being let go.

((“You need to listen,”)) The manager said: ((“She knows what I expect. You’re new. You’re still learning.”))

No hearing my side of this story. No questions. Just gaslight, rinse, repeat.

And I realized—he was just like her. Condescending. Entitled. Leading not by example, but by volume. They didn’t want someone honest. They wanted someone who’d fall in line.

But you know what? They did me a favor. That night, I walked away with my head held high, not bent over to kiss the feet of a broken system. But Sonya, I don't think you're telling the whole story. No, you're right. There is more to the story, and you can view it here: Traditionalism vs Legalism.

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⚙️🌀Fast Forward years later: New Town, New Faces, Same Fight!

Retro Sonya Serving at a Restaurant

So when the same thing happened in 2023—this time with a teenage girl in another restaurant—I recognized the energy right away. But I had learned.

I moved to a new small town in Oklahoma, craving a fresh start. I took a job at a local restaurant—nothing new for me. I’ve worked in places like that since before flip phones ruled the world and MySpace was still a thing.

It wasn’t just a job; it was something familiar. Something I could handle with my eyes closed and both hands behind my back.

But this time was different.

I had déjà vu in another place. Different setting. Same storm.

She couldn’t have been more than seventeen. High school kid. Not even old enough to legally drink the soda she was slinging. Meanwhile, I was in my late 30s—old enough to be her mother. But you'd never know it by the way she spoke to me.

With the smug authority of someone who thought they'd been knighted by TikTok and crowned queen of the fry station.

((“Do your job. Nobody’s going to do it for you.”))

That was her favorite line.

As if I hadn’t been doing this job since before she could crawl. As if I didn’t already know how to prioritize, hustle, and serve a room full of customers with grace under pressure. She treated me like I was the newbie, the weak link, the outsider in some teenage social hierarchy where maturity had no currency.

I tried to be the mature person in the room. I said nothing at first—she was a minor, after all. I went to the manager. Nothing changed. I tried to talk to her respectfully. She walked away mid-sentence like I was static noise from a busted cassette deck.

Eventually, I mirrored her behavior and began to walk away if she mouthed off, and I didn’t flinch. If she tried to steamroll me, I stood firm. I didn’t play the villain. I simply refused to be the victim.

But the truth is, I shouldn’t have had to do any of that. So I quit.

Not because I couldn't handle the heat. I’ve walked through fire before. I quit because I refused to live in a world where disrespect gets rewarded, where management shrugs, and where we let children run workplaces like they're playgrounds with aprons.

This time, I tried to go to the manager first. I tried to be the bigger person. I was careful. Patient. Quietly professional. And when it didn’t work, when the same condescending attitude just kept creeping back, I didn’t fight. I simply refused to stay.

Two different stories. Two different responses.

Same result: No respect. No accountability. No solutions.

Just me, walking out the door again with peace as my paycheck.

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🎛️🌠Where’s the Line?

This experience made me think deeply about what we’re missing in this country, especially with our younger generation.

Today's kids seem to think that respect equals kindness and human decency, but they are not the same thing. Respect should be earned? Fair. Human decency? That should be a given! But instead, we 30+ Millennials and Gen Xers get the 3rd degree, simply for existing on earth from a more extended period of time.

We live in a society where aging past 29 comes with an invisible walker and a suggestion to ((“slow down, grandma.”)) Hit 30 and suddenly you’re treated like a relic from a forgotten mall arcade, wheeled out only to explain how landlines worked. And as if that weren’t rich enough, we’re now informed by gently parented American kids that we need to earn their respect. Buddy. Hard pass.

Respect doesn’t flow uphill from people who still need reminders to clock in. You don’t lecture the generation that raised itself on latchkeys, microwave dinners, and consequences about accountability. We weren’t buffered by feelings. We were forged by reality and a TV that signed off at midnight.

You want respect? Cool. Show up. Do the work. Don’t point fingers while someone else is holding the menus and keeping the place running. Age isn’t weakness. Experience isn’t optional. And no, adulthood doesn’t come with a participation trophy or a reset button.

So let’s clear the neon fog. You don’t demand respect from your elders. You demonstrate character and earn it.

Now excuse us while we keep doing the job, paying the bills, and surviving yet another cultural software update that shipped unfinished. 😎📼✨

Because let me tell you something:

I’ve worked alongside teens from Russia, the Middle East, and other parts of the world. They were kind, respectful, willing to learn. It’s not about age. It’s about how you're raised.

Our American kids are being taught boldness without balance, confidence without character. They’re growing up in a digital culture that tells them to “be the main character,” but no one’s teaching them the plot of real life: humility, grace, teamwork, respect.

When did we stop teaching boundaries?

When did we stop requiring workplace integrity?

When did we start allowing teens to talk to grown adults like they’re disposable NPCs in a game?

You know what’s not retro cool ?

• Gossip.

• Power-tripping.

• Gaslighting.

What is timeless?

• Clear boundaries

• Mutual respect

• Leaders who LEAD, not just manage

Here’s how we fix it:

•  Speak up early and professionally.

•  Hold leadership accountable—document behavior.

•  Train the young with grace, not ego.

•  Build workplace culture on values, not vibes.

Pro tip: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1

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Respect Is Earned? Cool. Disrespect Is Still Not Included.

Me complaining to the manager about the bogus disrespect at work from young teenage coworkers! The Struggle is real!

Somewhere between cassette tapes getting eaten and people calling themselves “brutally honest,” the phrase “respect is earned, not given” got a firmware update. And not a good one. More like a bootleg copy recorded off MTV at 2 a.m. with tracking issues.

Let’s rewind. 📼

What that phrase was supposed to mean was this: Authority, admiration, and trust grow over time. You don’t get crowned Prom King just for showing up in acid-wash jeans.

What it somehow turned into: ((“I reserve the right to be rude, dismissive, and emotionally feral until you impress me.”))

Yeah. No.

Courtesy, kindness, and basic politeness are not bonus DLC unlocked after 40 hours of gameplay. They are the default setting. The console doesn’t even turn on without them.

You don’t “earn” the right to not be talked down to at work. You don’t level up to “not being mocked.”

That’s just baseline human behavior, not a platinum trophy.

And here’s the part that really fries my Walkman batteries.

I’ve done the things they say earn respect. I show up. I do my job. I treat people decently. I don’t grandstand. I don’t demand applause or a parade or a keytar solo in my honor.

Yet somehow, the respect fairy never arrives. 🧚‍♀️

So let’s be honest about what’s actually happening, especially in workplaces.

A lot of people confuse:

• Loudness with leadership

• Sarcasm with intelligence

• Cruelty with confidence

• And they mistake calm, kindness, or faith for weakness.
  

That’s not a “me” problem. That’s a cultural glitch. Here’s the neon truth, straight, no chaser.

I don’t demand respect. But neither do I have to accept disrespect. Especially from grown adults who should know better, or teenagers who learned sass before self-awareness.

From anyone who thinks “I’m just being real” excuses bad manners.

That isn’t ego. That’s boundaries. And boundaries are not aggression. They’re seatbelts. 🚗

From a faith perspective, loving your neighbor does not mean letting them wipe their muddy boots on your dignity. Even Jesus flipped tables when the line was crossed.

Love and backbone can absolutely share the same mixtape. So next time someone says, ((“Respect is earned”)), you can add the part they forgot to include: "And disrespect is never part of the deal."

You're not asking for a throne. You're asking for a chair that isn’t on fire. 🪑🔥

I’m not asking for reverence. I’m asking for basic human decency. Which, last I checked, came standard. No batteries required. 😎

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📜💡Proverbs and Neon Lights:

There’s an old proverb that says,

“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”

Don’t take that literally with a belt—take it with wisdom: kids need structure, guidance, and mentors who don’t flinch when things get awkward.

Another one goes:

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

I tried the gentle route. I really did. But sometimes silence in the face of disrespect isn’t noble—it’s enabling.

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.” 

—Proverbs 10:9

Let that marinate.

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And with all your getting, get understanding.” 

—Proverbs 4:7

We don't just need policies. We need understanding. Real conversations. Real mentorship. Real structure.

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🧠💬Let’s Get Real, America!

Retro Sonya in her car getting ready to go to work.

Why do we keep rewarding bad behavior in the workplace—especially when it comes from people who haven’t earned their leadership stripes? Yet in the next breath tell us that respect has to be earned?

Why do we let titles turn teenagers into tyrants?

And more importantly, why aren’t we teaching our American youth respect, emotional maturity, and accountability, not just how to clock in and follow rules, but how to honor others in shared spaces?

In other cultures, respect is taught, expected, and reinforced. I've worked with teens from Russia and the Middle East who showed more integrity than people twice their age. It's not a generational problem, it's a cultural one.

We’ve got kids in leadership roles with zero tools in their toolbox, and managers who’d rather avoid confrontation than build a healthy work culture.

They say: "Respect is earned. Not freely given." But I say:

"Respect is taught, and hate is also a learned behavior."

And part of becoming a mature adult is to have respect for others.

There is no vacuum. And until we figure that out, it would be wise to look inward and see why our American kids are exuding such behaviors in schools and workplaces, and what parents can do to help their kids learn about healthy boundaries, how to build healthy relationships, and workplace integrity.

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🚀👁️‍🗨️Let’s Talk About It

If we don’t teach our kids how to work with others, how to honor those with experience, and how to be part of a team, what are we really building? An empire of egos? A society where everyone wants to be boss, but no one knows how to lead?

Here’s the spark:

🔹 How can we reintroduce respect into youth culture?

🔹 What can schools, parents, and workplaces do better?

🔹 Have you experienced something like this—where the “younger” generation thought their title meant more than your wisdom?

Drop your thoughts. Share your fire. Let’s build a new kind of retro-future—one where respect never goes out of style.

🟣 Have you ever been gaslit by someone younger with power they didn’t know how to wield?

🟣 Have you felt dismissed, not for your lack of skills, but for refusing to be mistreated?

🟣 How can we raise up a generation that knows how to lead with humility instead of hierarchy?

Because I’m not here to bash young people—I’m here to say they deserve better, too. Better guidance. Better role models. Better structure.

Let’s light this up. The conversation is overdue.

You can be kind and firm. Don’t let anyone confuse silence with weakness. We need to raise up a generation that knows how to work with people, not over them.

Have you experienced this? How did you handle it? Drop your stories below. Let’s talk real leadership in a neon world.

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Stay bold. Stay grounded. Stay neon.🌐💬 #WorkplaceWounds #RespectInRetro #LeadershipMatters #SynthwaveSpeak

Remember: The neon may flicker, but truth always glows.🌐💬 #RespectIsRetro #WorkplaceWisdom #SynthwaveSoul #BoundariesArePower