The economy and the heatwave.

I dropped in at my local Fry's Electronics today to get a new doodad for my whatchamajigger, and noticed a couple of things that may (or may not) be indicative of our economy and our climate.

The first thing I noticed was that the parking lot was full. This surprised me, given the downturn in consumer spending, but I was even more surprised when I stepped inside and saw that the store seemed empty. After a bit of strolling around, I found where everyone was: there was a mob scene in the portable air-conditioning department. People were just grabbing any model that wasn't nailed down, while staff were hauling replacements out of the back as fast as they could. I overheard one employee tell a customer that this was the biggest run he'd seen on A/C units in his ten years with the company.

I next wandered over to the computer department, where instantly discovered I was the only customer. No fewer than ten different salesfolk asked if they could help me in the space of five minutes. This contrasts markedly with my normal experience at Fry's, where I practically have to brandish an assault rifle if I want to get noticed.

The rest of the store was the same story: a sea of white-shirted staff milling around, looking up hopefully whenever a customer-shaped object entered their field of view. The cafeteria area had about a dozen employees sitting in it, and none of them seemed to be in any hurry to get back to work. The checkout line was miniscule and everyone seemed to be buying just one item.

Compared to the extreme sport that is a normal Saturday visit to Fry's, my trip today was like a wet Wednesday at Forest Lawn. All except for the air conditioning department. It was like the movie set for a "Recession meets climate disaster" blockbuster.