I was with you 'til the bird thing.

...and owls work the night shift in tech manufacturing, and eagles join the military and have a closet full of AR-15s with 30,000 rounds of ammunition under their beds, and toucans are Jews, and parrots read people magazine, have fake tits, and make their sugar daddies open an expense account for them at Mario's, and vultures eat rotten carcases...

If you've worked there since 2005 you probably made enough in raises before the bubble burst and companies realized they could get the same work done for much cheaper.

My guess is you make several bucks more per hour than these younger & newer employees, so management knows to give them the OT because its cheaper than giving you the extra hours. Not saying it's right, but it's probably the reason why.

You shouldn't be okay with not receiving praise, because that either means you're not as good at your job as you think OR you're not doing a good job of conveying your value.

From the sound of your post, you're making it clear to the manager that you're unhappy with your hours but not making it clear what you're doing to earn them. Managers aren't babysitters. If one employee is telling them what they're doing and another isn't, they're going to favor the person that sounds like they want to be there.

From all I've seen, the ones who are doing their jobs, are not talking about it. They don't need to. If you are doing a good job, you aren't talking about how good of a job you are doing, or you aren't needing to showcase a "smile" or "sell something." People who talk about what they do, and how important they are, are just begging for praise, and in turn, are doing less working, and more talking. People who work, don't talk. And if you work, you usually show your interest in what you're doing. I believe at some point we can't get away from what our true character is, so if we don't like dealing with customers that will show. But if we have ocd behavior, that will probably carry over into keeping things clean and orderly.

A lot of 'birds' to think about with this one, but I see a point with the 'bird' picture commentator above, assisse, what kind of bird is that? Also managers play a sympathy card too. They want to please everyone so as not to get on someone's bad side. Not to mention, they probably favor a different sex, and most men cannot say no to women, and somehow, women know how to get what they want.

I know when I'm receiving praise when I get raises. Newbies cost less, and show enthusiasm. Old timers are good at what they do, and just make too much money for some hours.

crows are pr smart, dude.

I'm guessing that you've grown complacent with your seniority and do a pretty half-assed job in reality. I know the type.