This is not aimed at the people working for ANY big box stores... But perhaps you can share my frustration to management if you do.

I hate the gigantic predatory retailers and do everything in my power to NOT shop in them.

So when I need hardware or lumber or whatever, I will spend 15% or more more to shop at the mom and pops.

I needed to pick up a couple of tarps for work, it's been raining like a major bitch and needed to cover up some stuff I was in progress of working on.

Anyway, I head into the local hardware store, and over to where the tarps are supposed to be and notice only two very small ones left, they were cleaned out because of the weather lately... The dude says "maybe Home Depot still has some". Now that is customer service, sending it's customers to another store because they ran out of something...

I thank the dude and grab two boxes of bungee cords, walk up to the register, check out and bolt...

Get to the Depot, find the tarps I needed, head up to the register and there is NO ONE at the registers, there is a light on one of them, but no one in sight... I waited about three minutes, someone finally walks up and says "I can help you over here"... Sweet, so I am following this guy and he directs me to the self check out machines... I tell the guy in a very calm voice "I wont use those" he asked why, fair question, I answer "my mom was a grocery checker at a major grocery store for thirty years and that's how she put food on the table, so I cannot with a clear conscience use the self check out, sorry".

So I head back to the lit checkout and waited for another minute or two, I am now third in line because I got redirected to the self check.. Still no one there, so the same dude tells the first guy in line "I can help you over here"... Dude starts to follow and notices that he was taking him over to the self check out... The dude gets pissed and throws his shit down and walks out the door, I said to myself, you know what, F-this, threw my shit down and walked out..

Screw these guys, if you can't hire someone with a smile that is willing to wait on me and take my money, then maybe I don't want to give it to you... You can pay these people to put the crap back on the shelves...

I will pick up my tarps in the morning at a mom and pop.

Rant over. The world is going to hell.... Welcome to the zombie apocalypse.

Way back when I had a boat shop, this was when the Wal-Mart just opened up not three miles form my shop. I had American Made ski and life vests hanging on the displays in my shop, nice quality, not cheap.

A dude and his trophy wife walk in, pick up the nicest vest on the shelf, try it on, look it over, set it back down and said "you can buy the same thing at Wal Mart for $20!" and started to walk out, so quickly I said "no, you actually can't". The dude stops and asked what I meant by that. I said "that is a top of the line American made competition ski vest that is USCG approved and I assure you, Wal Mart does NOT have them." Dude turns his nose in the air and walks out like somehow he was smarter than I was.

Later that week he came in and bought six life jacket/vests from me. I guess the Chinese fashion statements from w-mart weren't up to the task...

Support your local businesses people. Once they're gone, they're gone.

Rant really over now.

GT

The world is definitely going to shit. I see this kinda stuff more and more every day. No one can think for themselves or has any common sense these days.

I avoid shopping at them whenever possible. Also one of the reasons why I quit working for one. I think the worst is when you get shitty service at a mom and pop shop though. Then there is no point in going.