Someone at Home Depot to help you.

But in the end, she was *short* with you.

Mom used to say "I shoulda stood in bed".

"If we have any...." I don't know why that irritates me so much.

they actually know a little bit about the department they are in.. LIke the guy in paint actually was a painting contractor. Same with electric and plumbing... Amazing..
I still like going to Ace Hardware. They still have some people that know what's going on..
m

is the place with the helpful hardware man

My late father owned what was probably the cheapest snow blower ever created by the Hand of Man. This is the only one he was allowed to have because he was married for 58 years to a woman that made Scotsmen look like spendthrifts.

"How cheap was it?"

It was so cheap they held the wheels on it with the same little press-on fasteners they use on cheap kids' wagons. You know the fastener, it looks like a little hat - and is, in fact, called a hat nut - and they cost less than 50 cents apiece. Well...one of his fell off so he couldn't use the snowblower. Dad called me to see if I knew how to fix it. I went over to his house, got the axle with the other one still on it, and went to the closest hardware store to his house to get a new one. This is an Ace.

I go up to the Helpful Hardware Man and tell him I want a hat nut that'll fit on this axle, and I see the fastener aisle right over there so I'll just go pick out the one I need and bring it to the counter. Oh no, I couldn't do that; the Suspicious Hardware Man made me stand by the front counter while he took the axle back, found the nut I needed and brought it to the register.

A couple months later I needed something different and went into the Ace. The Suspicious Hardware Man - same guy - made me wait by the register while he got it for me.

Then I needed some mineral spirits and went in there because Home Depot was out. Don't fucking ask me how you run out of mineral spirits, but they managed. Same thing.

Last summer, two years after I was in last, I needed a bag of Traeger pellets. There's a skid of them sitting right in the middle of the floor. I went to it to pick up a bag and the Suspicious Hardware Man made me wait by the register while he brought it up.

The store manager rang me up. "And how was your shopping trip today?" "As bad as it is every time I'm in here, and I'm never coming back because one of your employees acts like I'm a shoplifter every damned time I walk in this place."

On the other hand, the only problem I ever have at Home Depot is other customers keep asking me for help every damn time I'm in there. Apparently I look like I know what I'm doing with their merchandise.

I have SERIOUS cred in that place, because I qualified one of their customers for them.

So I'm in there buying some soap to wash out a plate processor with and another customer comes in looking for calcium carbide. The poor associate was standing there going, sir I don't know what that is, maybe it's over here...

In I come.

"Sir, what are you going to do with calcium carbide after you get it?"
"I'm going to melt the ice on my driveway. One of my friends told me that's what you want for that."
"No sir. You want calcium CHLORIDE. Calcium carbide produces an explosive gas called acetylene when you get it wet." The customer agreed that while blowing up the ice on the driveway would indeed get rid of it, it's really not one of the better things to do.

The associate kinda lit up. "Is that what they use in miners' headlamps?"
"Before they invented electric ones, it was. And as to the calcium chloride, sir, you're standing next to it. How much you want?"

HD doesn't carry bird seed either. Something about it drawing rats. Like rats don't have to eat too.

Loews carries bird seed and I've personally seen the rats in the bird seed aisle.

Just sayin'

I have been getting my bird seed there because it's better than the bird seed Home Depot was selling. Now that you mention it, the wall of no bird feeders is also the wall where they used to have bird seed. I thought it was odd that they didn't have any even though I wasn't going to buy there.

Not only are they friendly, but they often have sales on the bird seed, which is right at the front of the store. I don't have to walk a mile to get it, nor do I have to self check out. And it's on the way to the library. Very convenient.
I go to Lowe's for annuals, and that's about all. I never go to Home Depot anymore.