A pair of leap day retail vignettes
Earlier today we made an unscheduled stop at the Bitter Lake Home Depot (really, that's its name. I can't comment as I haven't actually tasted the lake... but I digress.)
We stopped in search of a ballast for one of the fluorescent fixtures in our garage, but of course since we hadn't planned on being there, we were violating one of the cardinal rules of the Home Depot Hunter-Gatherer creed: Always bring the part you're trying to replace.
So I head over to the lighting section (Becky was distracted by the arrival of the spring flowers in the garden section). I explain my story to one of the helpful orange-apronned guys in that department, who asks a few clarifying questions and then leads me to the fluorescent fixtures.
As we pass a display of fixtures, he points one out. "There's the kind of fixture you have, and it's $24. Aaaand... here's the ballast you need."
He hands me one, and with blank expression says "The ballast by itself is $18.99."
I blink a couple of times.
"It's the American way, sir."
I just don't know what to say about this one:
Michelle, on Sunday, February 29, 2004 at 10:10 PM:
I can't imagine Alex is ever going to need a first cheerleader, or a second or a third for that matter...