There was an old Beavis and Butthead episode where the angry neighbor went to the local, big box, home improvement store--Home Labyrinth. Throughout the episode, they would flash away from the teens' actions to the man wandering around this giant warehouse all alone, lost and yelling. For some reason, that really resonated with me.
When I go off to any home improvement store, finding help is problematic. You look for the colored vests, but it's not always easy to find someone to help you. And you don't just need help finding an item, sometimes you need help to determine the best way to DO something.
In the old days, the days of my father, men were handy. Almost every guy knew how to fix things, rig things and repair things. Nowadays, there is more specialization. My son in law is not handy with household stuff, but he can hook up your computer/stereo/electronics and make them dance. He has evolved. When you need to find a specific skill, you can't necessarily look to your own family any more. Well, maybe never. My dad could fix anything made of metal but he was hell on beautiful wood. But I digress...
My goal today is to go to Home Labyrinth and get a product to do a job. I know what I want to do, but not what the best product to use to do it will be. So, picture me wandering the aisles at the store, calling out to personnel who never hear me, wishing for some guidance. Because that's in my future.
So, picture me as Ariadne with a spool of thread, wandering in the labyrinth, hoping for help.
--Sandee Wagner
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4 comments:
My older sister gets a huge kick out of Home Depot commercials. She asked me incredulously, "Have you EVER seen that many employees in a HD? Especially HELPFUL ones??"
I've found it's best to query my ex-contractor bil about what to buy/how to do, then repeat what he tells me to the sales guy (when I eventually find one) as if I know what I'm talking about.
And that's still iffy, lol.
We swear by Lowe's. They actually have help there. And sometimes they know what they're doing.
But DH never needs that kind of help because he knows what he needs. The size. The material. What tools he'll need. You name it, he can fix or build it.
But he can't find what he needs while we're there, so he takes me along to do that.
Hey, at least I'm good for something. DH just never has time to do everything he has lined up for himself.
Well, I stuck earphones in my ear and just looped the store until I had what I wanted. The one thing I couldn't find really stymied me... but I must have looked stranded because a young man asked me if I was finding everything I needed, and no, I wasn't. He walked me to my last item and I got Out Of There. spw
Susan,
You know, I'm still bitter about Lowe's. Remember back in the bad ole 80's when things were so tough in TX? Lowe's closed every store in the state, on Christmas Eve. The first the employees heard about it was when they found the front doors padlocked. They ran when things were bad. When the economy improved, they opened stores in every burg all at once. Given the choice, I got to Home Depot... cause, they were there for me when I needed them. spw
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