JOHN A. KONRAD: Inside, they had a young American kid right out of high school. I had to load my own battery, but this kid was a whiz. He flew through the inventory, explaining the lead-acid surface area in each option and why it mattered.

Stopped at a small auto parts store yesterday.

For the last few years they had migrant workers behind the counter. Nice guys. Competent at pulling parts from the warehouse and would go out of their way to help you loading heavy stuff like batteries into your car.

But ask a…

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) May 6, 2026

Stopped at a small auto parts store yesterday. For the last few years they had migrant workers behind the counter. Nice guys. Competent at pulling parts from the warehouse and would go out of their way to help you loading heavy stuff like batteries into your car. But ask a question and you got a blank look. ICE cleared them out. The store hired stoners. The place became a dump, and I started driving an hour to AutoZone whenever I needed something. Yesterday I just needed a battery. As I pulled up I noticed the parking lot was unusually full. Inside, they had a young American kid right out of high school. I had to load my own battery, but this kid was a whiz. He flew through the inventory, explaining the lead-acid surface area in each option and why it mattered. I stuck around while he helped another customer diagnose a carburetor problem. I learned more in five minutes than I would have spending two hour on youtube. Then he started figuring out which replacement air filter the customer needed using basic geometry. I don’t know how much additional revenue this kid brought into the store, but it has to be substantial. And he wasn’t alone. They had an older Black gentleman working with him who, I’m told, had run a warehouse for a large repair shop or something in New York City before he got laid off. Slow but methodical and oozed competence. The store recruited him out of retirement, brought him up to our rural area part-time to organize inventory, fix the shelves, and scout local talent. I felt like I was watching a dynamic duo at work. Then nostalgia hit me hard. THIS is what it was like going to an auto parts store with my dad in the late 80s and early 90s. Everything well organized. People who knew cars cold. To be honest, the guys back then weren’t exactly nice, at least not in New York. They roasted you. But they helped. And it wasn’t just auto parts stores back then. Plumbing stores. Boating stores. Stereo shops. I remember going into Manhattan as a kid to a block of nautical shops, stores that sold charts and sextants, where a retired ship captain like I am now explained to me how a chronometer works. I want that job! The nation is healing!

(but we still have a long way to go​​​​​)