# What is a Lowe's "Code 75"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464 "2016-01-18T00:26:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/21 "2016-01-18T18:56:29Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > Please tell me that there’s a code using the page “Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard!” A glass office door’s been shattered. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/22 "2016-01-18T20:29:14Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Looking forward to retirement: for my last day on duty in the hospital I have been tempted to do an overhead page for “Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine and Dr. Howard - report to Neurosurgery ON THE DOUBLE!” “Woob-woob-woob-woob-woob-woob!!” > > Well, maybe not. You really should. I guess these days a lot of people may not get the joke, but the ones who do will love it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/23 "2016-01-18T20:32:57Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I was CVS today. It was pretty quiet I was standing in line with maybe three other people. All the sudden the speaker came on “Security immediately to the front door” As I was standing about 10 feet from the front door I took some interest. Nobody had come in for the three minutes I was waiting and nobody came in, or started to come in after the announcement. In fact nothing at all happened. The cashier never reacted, nor did any security go to the door. In the store I work at, a page for “security” is intended to intimidate a person who’s trying to shoplift, but LP is busy with something else/off for the night/doesn’t have enough hard evidence to make a stop on them. We have a code name for our security people that we call them by instead of using their real names, so if we actually needed their attention we’d page for, say, “Mr. Wayne”, as in Bruce. (That’s not the actual name, but it’s similar.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/24 "2016-01-18T21:38:28Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > What happens if Dr. Leo really does join the staff? 😛 Doctors are rarely paged overhead any more, so that probably wouldn’t be an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/25 "2016-01-18T21:42:03Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I was CVS today. It was pretty quiet I was standing in line with maybe three other people. All the sudden the speaker came on “Security immediately to the front door” As I was standing about 10 feet from the front door I took some interest. Nobody had come in for the three minutes I was waiting and nobody came in, or started to come in after the announcement. In fact nothing at all happened. The cashier never reacted, nor did any security go to the door. > I had a momentary giggle thinking that since serious events have innocuous sounding codes, maybe “Security immediately to the front door” is the code for when the break room coffee pot is empty or something. I worked for Rite Aid about 15 years ago, during and a bit after high school. There was a short time where the background music loop would occasionally insert prerecorded announcements like “Security to the front of the store” and “Manager to the monitor room”. Since the music was actually sent remotely I hypothesized every Rite Aid in the region played the same announcement simultaneously. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/26 "2016-01-18T22:32:13Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > 😛 > > Doctors are rarely paged overhead any more, so that probably wouldn’t be an issue. While beepers and cellphones get most of the action, we still probably average a few overhead pages a day. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/27 "2016-01-18T22:50:26Z")
My old hospital in th 60’s didn’t have a PA system. But we did have colored lights. Code Red was signled by the Red light. Code Blue was signaled by the Blue light. From memory, there was also Yellow and Green. I was only a visitor: I have no idea what the codes meant. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/28 "2016-01-18T23:06:34Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > While beepers and cellphones get most of the action, we still probably average a few overhead pages a day. It must depend on where you work; I never heard one. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/29 "2016-01-18T23:20:26Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > “code aquamarine” = “Toys for Tots is over for this year” For some reason I particularly liked this one… ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/30 "2016-01-19T01:00:28Z")
I just asked a friend who worked at Lowe’s as recently as last August. Code 3, Cash Register, Code 5, gather carts, code 50, loading assistance. They didn’t have a code 75, this was in Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/31 "2016-01-19T01:30:10Z")
When I worked at Woolworth’s, the code for shoplifting was 41 1/2 spoken over the PA… “Forty-one and a half to sporting goods”. Really weird. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/32 "2016-01-19T02:15:26Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > In the store I work at, a page for “security” is intended to intimidate a person who’s trying to shoplift, but LP is busy with something else/off for the night/doesn’t have enough hard evidence to make a stop on them. We have a code name for our security people that we call them by instead of using their real names, so if we actually needed their attention we’d page for, say, “Mr. Wayne”, as in Bruce. (That’s not the actual name, but it’s similar.) 😕 “LP” ? ---
**Author:** ![Willcross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Willcross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willcross)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/33 "2016-01-19T02:25:37Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 😕 “LP” ? Loss Prevention ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/34 "2016-01-19T02:30:20Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 😕 “LP” ? Loss prevention. ---
**Author:** ![wombattver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b77776/32.png) [@wombattver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombattver)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/35 "2016-01-19T02:35:05Z")
Most large retail stores have their own codes that are generally just made up. For example, it sounds better for a department store to have an announcement for a “Code 7” rather than announcing for the “10am Manager’s Meeting.” Otherwise you get potential thieves alerted that some of the floor staff will be away or you get customers who get snippy about service and complain that “all the managers are in a meeting” instead of helping people! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/36 "2016-01-19T03:29:55Z")
At Best Buy in the 90s we’d like to keep the employees aware where we were with our sales level for the day. So if we were at $254,000 for the day so far we would page “Attention Best Buy staff, please dial extension two five four.” ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/37 "2016-01-19T03:36:14Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > At Best Buy in the 90s we’d like to keep the employees aware where we were with our sales level for the day. So if we were at $254,000 for the day so far we would page “Attention Best Buy staff, please dial extension two five four.” :slight hijack: What was a typical sales figure for a day? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/38 "2016-01-19T03:45:38Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > :slight hijack: What was a typical sales figure for a day? Depends on the location and day. We were a high volume store and black friday weekend we were hitting over a million a day. The month of December $300-$400k per day. The rest of the year maybe $80-$120k. This was the late 90s when BBY had seen better days. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/39 "2016-01-19T04:00:52Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > I was in Lowe’s and they paged that there was a “Code 75 for all associates not helping a customer”. Anyone know what was going on? Was there a gas leak and the store was about to blow up, or did they just need some help unloading a truck? I hope it means “Birthday cake in the break room.” That would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/40 "2016-01-19T04:15:23Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > At Best Buy in the 90s we’d like to keep the employees aware where we were with our sales level for the day. So if we were at $254,000 for the day so far we would page “Attention Best Buy staff, please dial extension two five four.” What did customers say when the employees didn’t reach for the nearest phone? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464.md?page=3)