I’m going to take a shot in the dark and assume it’s been about 20 years since you have been a young 20-something? I’m not Gen Z, I’m old enough to remember a pre-911 America. I get on to my girlfriend all the time for this same thing. Yes it is their job working in customer service to make your experience pleasant, but it’s also hard to take pride in the work that you do when your employer offers no health benefits, pays you poverty wages, and the cost of everything is constantly on the rise.
The material conditions in which they are growing up are very different than what were present when we were. This kids/young adults do not know what it is like to live in a world without the constant threat of terror or an endless stream of information that seeks to use our anxiety and outrage to keep us engaged.
Have some empathy and try to put yourself in their shoes. I’m well established in my career at this point, and I can’t imagine how hard it must be for someone fresh out of college now. If I had that much student loan debt and couldn’t find a job using that degree; I’d be mentally checked out making someone’s coffee too. I’d be thinking about how the hell I’m going to pay back those loans.
Quake Champions is free, its close enough to the OG arena shooters to scratch the itch. Or there’s Quake Live, it’s not free, but it’s cheap and I’m always able to find games online.
If you’re open to playing against small groups, Straftat is an absolute riot. It started out as just a 1v1 game, but now you can play with 4 people. It’s free, there’s a ton of weird guns and maps, and the soundtrack slaps. They do sell a DLC that has hats, and additional maps, but the base game is free. I bought the DLC to support further development of the game.