# Idiots at Big Box Stores - the Bar Has Been Raised! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 17, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381 "2015-07-17T01:59:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/141 "2015-07-22T21:35:13Z")
[QUOTE=Cartoonacy] And for whatever it’s worth, in all my 55 years I’ve never heard anyone call a light bulb a “lamp” until now. A lamp is what you screw a light bulb into. [/QUOTE] You don’t hang with too many theater people. To them, a lamp is the fragile glass thing that emits light and is installed in a fixture or more commonly, an instrument. Bulbs go in the garden. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/142 "2015-07-23T01:08:27Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Try Grommet. See what they have to say about that. I, for one, would like to know. > [@Penfeather](#): > > Wallace’s dog, of course. No, that’s Gromit. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/143 "2015-07-23T01:53:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Really? I’ve had numerous store employees ask me if I need help. And every time I’ve told them no they’ve just said “Okay, let me know if you need anything” and left me alone after that. > > Maybe you appear to be more in need of help than the average customer. Of course I do, to them. I’m a woman. I even get other customers trying to strike up home improvement conversations and wanting to come to my house and “help” me. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/144 "2015-07-23T02:20:05Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > Yes, he made the mistake of not immediately dismissing her as a probable idiot. Some of us are just too optimistic for our own good. > > I am frequently questioned at length, if my “no thank you” is too friendly-sounding. If that doesn’t happen to you, what’s your secret? Quite frankly, I have a feeling you’re making a lot of this up. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/145 "2015-07-23T02:44:37Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I realize it was likely a simple typo, but this is my word for the day. Thank you for it. It was a deliberate typo…I love the word personally 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/146 "2015-07-23T12:44:29Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Quite frankly, I have a feeling you’re making a lot of this up. Like as the most boring lie ever? No. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/147 "2015-07-23T20:03:50Z")
This thread illustrates why Big Box store employees are barely above the intellectual intelligence of avocados. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/148 "2015-07-23T21:21:36Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > No, that’s Gromit. See Post 115. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/149 "2015-07-26T04:00:30Z")
Why would you ever assume that someone working at a big box store was an expert? They are unskilled labor. Do you think they even have to pass a test to work there? If you are an expert on these things, you don’t work at these stores. I’ll freely admit I’ve never head of using “lamps” to mean bulbs either. A floor lamp is a fixture. That is how pretty much everyone uses those words. If the OP couldn’t figure out that using the word lamp was causing confusion, and refused to attempt to communicate more effectively, he doesn’t have any right to be condescending. And being rude to try and get people to leave you alone is a shitty practice, and is much less effective than saying “Thanks, but I don’t need any help.” Get the right type of person, and they’ll be rude back. Or, if they can’t be rude without getting in trouble, they can become quite passive aggressive. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/150 "2015-07-26T06:28:46Z")
I routinely have frustrating moments at hardware or electronics stores, which I tend to chalk up to being a woman and people (typically middle-aged men or older) assuming I don’t know anything. I used to work in building maintenance and at a hardware store, and encountered it with co-workers, residents, and customers, then just as frequently as a customer when I’m shopping. It’s this delightfully condescending way of speaking that I don’t hear when these same guys are talking to my husband. It’s extra fun when employees insist on trying to help me after I said I don’t need help, or when I actually do need help but they’ll only talk to my husband. He’s a smart guy, but he’s not the handy one here. For a recent encounter, unrelated to being condescended to, we were browsing around to kill time and see what that chain’s selection was like. When we were in the one section we might have actually had questions about, nobody could be found. Once we moved on to look at the goods along the back wall we suddenly couldn’t get this one employee to leave us alone! Do you need help? No, we’re just looking. Thanks! Ok, let me know if you need anything. A few minutes later… How are you guys doing? Have any questions? Nope, still just looking. Thanks. Ok, just let me know! Maybe a few minutes later… How’s it going? Need help? No. Thanks. Ok. Well, feel free to take things out of the packaging to look closer. It’s fine! We left quickly after that, with my husband feeling strongly that they were constantly checking on us to remind us that we were being watched, to ward off theft. He’s probably right, and we’re likely never going back. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381/151 "2015-07-26T20:31:04Z")
Loctite is kept in the paint department because adhesives and tapes are in the paint department. However, some things are kept in multiple places so it’s very likely that Loctite is also kept in hardware. Hardwood floor cleaner is found in the cleaning department but, go figure, it’s also kept with the hardwood floors. They don’t go out of their way to make things difficult. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiots-at-big-box-stores-the-bar-has-been-raised/725381.md?page=7)