Monday, June 30, 2008

Menu: Week 14 and Desperate Depot Shoppers




Monday
Pasta with browned butter
Fresh Fruit (cantaloupe, pineapple and blueberries)
Green salad
Tuesday
Check out this recipe and a great foodie blog!!
Serve with croissants or sourdough rolls
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday Happy 4th of July!!!!
Hot dogs
Chips/Dips
Raspberry Sorbet /Vanilla Ice Cream /Blueberry sorbet Ice Cream Bombe
Reflections from the Backcounter
I have always found the Home Depot to be a challenging store to shop. It always leaves me very fatigued and not just a little stressed. This weekend I was desperately seeking deck stain and found myself aimlessly wandering the confusing array of homeowner supplies in the Depot. I became increasingly agitated as I looked for someone to help me, and I realized that what I was feeling was emblazoned on the faces of all the shoppers around me. I needed only to look to note that I was in a cohort of people who shared my look of near panic and exhaustion. Just what drove these people to become the Desperate Depot shoppers was clearly apparent from the items clutched in their hands. This phenomenon of the Desperate Depot shopper is an equal opportunity stressor. Homeowners in Birkenstock sandals, loafers with white socks, running shoes, and flip flops comingled among the stacks of home improvement supplies all looking for that one item that would solve their specific dilemma. The man in the loafers and white socks had a particulaly pained expression as he juggled his new plastic pipe with the crusty, cracked pipe that was the obvious source of a recent water insult. A woman in flip flops pushed a cart overflowing with packages of rags and a large floor fan...another obvious victim of the fury of water unleashed .The running shoes carried a plunger and the Birkenstock sandals organic pest killer and pet stain remover.



Each Desperate Depot shopper was experienceing their own personal hell of homeownership defined by the need to solve the problem in the short hours of the weekend. Rest and relaxation...not on the agenda for those of us who find ourselves in the Depot.
Peace,

Julia







3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Julia,
I have the exact same response to retail encounters at the Dreaded Depot, and my theory is that my stress is the result of the difficulty I experience in trying to solve my plentiful Domestic Disasters. I am convinced that Home Depot staff hide from their customers (at the very least, I can reasonably say that they don't approach me and speak My Favorite Four Magic Words: "Can I help you?" Rather, I and many other hapless customers are forced to stalk the store searching for an orange vested-expert who has the knowledge I need to solve my problem. (Maybe I should consider wearing camoflage for my next Depot trip, since this is a form of hunting, after all). In our current cash-strapped economy, stores are desperate for sales, but Home Depot is the exact reverse of the normal shopping/marketing experience, and it's the reason I tend to spiral upwards into stratospheric stress levels. After all, I'm a customer who is looking to spend money in your store. Help me do that, and sell me something else I don't really need while you're at it. This 4th of July, I think that's only patriotic, don't you?

Waterrose said...

The depot is my last resort if I can't find what I need elsewhere. When I do find that I need to go I go armed with as much information as I can so that I can find what I need. Or, I just send my DH. We have our own business and it requires shopping at HD and Lowes, some of the stories my DH comes home with makes me cringe. He generally ends up helping people who are very confused about what product does what and which one they should use...

Anonymous said...

Hey, thanks for the shout-out! And I hate going to Home Depot, too...

Gina

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