# 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:** 3
**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, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/41 "2016-01-19T04:28:48Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > What did customers say when the employees didn’t reach for the nearest phone? Nothing. Most didn’t notice it or if they did they probably thought it didn’t affect any of the employees they could see? Some other managers went a bit overboard and liked to give the sales number, the extended service plan percentage of sales number, and the accessories percentage of sales number. Must have sounded bizarre hearing “Attention best buy staff, please dial extension two five four… Two point eight five… And three point seven.” ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/42 "2016-01-19T08:45:05Z")
Ralphs (employee name)1+1 means break or lunch is over and get back to work ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/43 "2016-01-19T11:57:50Z")
> [@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. Now I’m curious: do minimum wage workers give a damn if the store is making more money? And how were they supposed to respond if sales were lower , or higher, than usual? When I worked in restaurants as a teenager, the managers often told us “good for you, you sold 5% more desserts this week.” To which we kids on the night shift all thought “so what?–that just means we worked harder than last week, for the same pay.” For me, the manager’s pep-talk was always a _dis_incentive to work. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/44 "2016-01-19T12:06:37Z")
I think code 75 is “Get a social media mention for Lowes.” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/45 "2016-01-19T13:48:17Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Now I’m curious: do minimum wage workers give a damn if the store is making more money? > And how were they supposed to respond if sales were lower , or higher, than usual? > > When I worked in restaurants as a teenager, the managers often told us “good for you, you sold 5% more desserts this week.” > To which we kids on the night shift all thought “so what?–that just means we worked harder than last week, for the same pay.” For me, the manager’s pep-talk was always a _dis_incentive to work. In my youth I cooked at a nice seafood place. The restaurant always had contests to sell whatever fish was going to go bad soon. The same people always won. The _good_ waitstaff sold little or none of the item, as they steered their tables away from it. Now I wonder when a waiter makes a recommendation… ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/46 "2016-01-19T14:38:51Z")
My son’s mother is Lowes employee in MI. No code 75 according to her, but there is a code 7 and a code 5. One is for manager assistance the other is for shopping carts. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/47 "2016-01-19T14:52:51Z")
> [@Bruce\_Wayne](#): > > My son’s mother is Lowes employee in MI. No code 75 according to her, but there is a code 7 and a code 5. One is for manager assistance the other is for shopping carts. Hmm… Maybe Code 75 is some rapscallions way of saying, “Hey, managers, YOU get your asses out there and shag some carts!” 😃 ---
**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, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/48 "2016-01-19T16:00:41Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Now I’m curious: do minimum wage workers give a damn if the store is making more money? Depends on what motivates them. BBY has always been non-commission so there were always other ‘perks’. Choice of shifts to work, more hours than your co-workers when department hours got cut, possibly save your position when staff cuts came in January, choice of department to work in, hit a sales volume and a department or store gets lunch, promotion to s department senior, etc etc. ---
**Author:** ![teflon\_grut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@teflon\_grut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teflon_grut)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/49 "2016-01-19T16:51:40Z")
Healthcare employee here - Code Red - Fire Code Black - Bomb Threat Code Adam - Child Abduction Code Orange - HazMat Incident Code Blue - Medical Emergency Trauma Alert - Trauma Emergency Code Pink - OB Medical Emergency Code H - Secondary Helipad Activated Code Green - Incident Response Code Violet - Violent Person Response Code Silver - Weapon or Hostage Situation Code Brown - Missing Adult Code Gray - Severe Weather Code Echo - Prepare Evacuation Code Evacuate - Evacuate ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/50 "2016-01-19T17:09:00Z")
> [@teflon\_grut](#): > > Code Brown - Missing Adult > Code Gray - Severe Weather Interesting. I seem to recall these two being reversed when I worked in a hospital. That was ::mumble:: years ago, though, and my memory may be off now. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/51 "2016-01-19T17:19:23Z")
That’s because for many of the hospital codes, there is no standard in the US. See the [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_emergency_codes) for some examples. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/52 "2016-01-19T17:51:28Z")
I worked for Home Depot after college for a while a long time ago. These aren’t the actual colors, but “Paging Mr. Pink, report to [location]” was for manager or supervisor to report to whatever location as soon as possible. “Paging Mr. Red [or whatever]” was for the managers to come immediately for a store emergency. I actually had to use these once, when some overhead electrical wires started smoking and sparking over some lumber. No one came at “Mr. Pink” and it took a manager 5 mins to walk out at “Mr. Red”. Manager–looking annoyed at me: “Why are you paging Mr. Red?” Me: “Well, having an electrical fire over flammable material seemed to qualify.” ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/53 "2016-01-19T17:53:36Z")
Going back in time to the 1970s: several chain department stores in my hometown (Penneys, Belks) didn’t have PA announcements, they had - well, I’m not sure what to call them, they were sounders that gave a tone. I’m not musical but let’s call it a middle-C, but electronic sounding with a fair amount of “fuzz”. These were usually in a pattern, such as X {pause} X X X. The note is the same, just varied in interval, a bit like Morse code, but with only 3-6 total notes in the entire “message”. These would happen somewhat randomly, perhaps 2-5 times per hour. They’re probably to tell someone to do something, but as a shopper it was always a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/54 "2016-01-19T18:06:18Z")
I lived in a hospital for a week once and the codes were incredibly easy to figure out and this made the most sense to me. Why make up a system that you need a secret decoder ring to figure out if a simple easily deciperhable system will do. It was all doctor names and the names were ridiculously transparent. I don’t remember any of them now but it didn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out what they were codenames for. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/55 "2016-01-19T18:29:48Z")
The UK rail network calls for [Inspector Sands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_Sands) whenever there is a fire alarm etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/56 "2016-01-19T18:37:05Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > Going back in time to the 1970s: several chain department stores in my hometown (Penneys, Belks) didn’t have PA announcements, they had - well, I’m not sure what to call them, they were sounders that gave a tone. I’m not musical but let’s call it a middle-C, but electronic sounding with a fair amount of “fuzz”. These were usually in a pattern, such as X {pause} X X X. The note is the same, just varied in interval, a bit like Morse code, but with only 3-6 total notes in the entire “message”. > > These would happen somewhat randomly, perhaps 2-5 times per hour. They’re probably to tell someone to do something, but as a shopper it was always a mystery. When I was a kid, we frequently went to Alexander’s in Connecticut (this was a chain department store based in NYC) and they had a series of tones that seemed to be used for this sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/57 "2016-01-19T19:12:03Z")
At Community Hospital in Anderson, Indiana the Brahms Lullaby interrupts the usual music when a baby is born in the hospital. A nice touch, I thought. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/58 "2016-01-19T20:25:16Z")
We ate at a restaurant once where a strain of popular music would play. This would indicate to the server who was assigned that bit of music that their order was up and ready to be taken to the table. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/59 "2016-01-19T22:18:24Z")
Similar threads, some of which are pretty old: > **[The coded messages and secret signals for "holy crap, we've got trouble"](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=514278)** > > I’ve always been fascinated by the codes and signals used by groups to indicate that there’s serious trouble going down. Generally, these messages are coded so that the public doesn’t become alarmed, but understood by the people who need to know what... > **[What does "Code Pink" mean at WalMart?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=380133)** > > I was looking for a new desk at Wal-Mart, and I asked a fellow if he could find a specific model for me at another store. I waited about 10 minutes, milling about, and finally went to find him. I found him at a counter where several other Wal-Mart... > **[Retail secrets usually only known by the employees](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=624800)** > > I was just thinking back to learning about this in 5th grade. There was a drug store (I think it was Snyder’s or Woolworth’s) that had the price they paid for the item on the pricetag using the code BLACKSTONE. Here’s how it went: Pricetag would... I’m pretty sure there have been a few more. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464/60 "2016-01-19T22:22:51Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > Going back in time to the 1970s: several chain department stores in my hometown (Penneys, Belks) didn’t have PA announcements, they had - well, I’m not sure what to call them, they were sounders that gave a tone. I’m not musical but let’s call it a middle-C, but electronic sounding with a fair amount of “fuzz”. These were usually in a pattern, such as X {pause} X X X. The note is the same, just varied in interval, a bit like Morse code, but with only 3-6 total notes in the entire “message”. > > These would happen somewhat randomly, perhaps 2-5 times per hour. They’re probably to tell someone to do something, but as a shopper it was always a mystery. At Montgomery Ward each employee had a number (up to 99) and the chimes would page that employee. The first chimes would indicate the first number and the chimes after the pause gave you the second number. X (pause) X X X would page employee 13. That’s a low number, so it would probably be a manager. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-lowes-code-75/743464.md?page=4)