Why, oh, why is it so difficult for salesmen to think it is beyond a woman's capability to know a thing or two about building or mechanics? I am beginning to think I shall never go to the local home supply place again unless I find a woman employee to assist me. Case in point...a couple of years ago, Darling Daughter and I needed two wooden circles about an inch in thickness and twenty four inches in diameter. I knew the place had them but when I asked two male employees, I was told "We do not have those. Get your husband to come in and get what you need." That did not sit too well with Darling Daughter and, needless to say, she was a bit more calm than I would have been about their courtesy. I felt like having a "board meeting" right up side their heads but knew that might get me arrested so I let her handle it. She calmly told them that their attitude was unprofessional and one she could do without. One of their managers overheard the conversation and, well, that was that. We got our boards and, to be honest, never saw the two employees again.
It was in this same store that I asked a salesman where I might find a wood plane and received the reply that they did not sell toys. "No, sir. I need a wood plane. It is a woodworking tool." The man looked at me and point blank said that they did not sell woodworking tools. "WHAT??? You are a lumber yard and do not sell woodworking tools? What do you call saws, hammers, drills, sanders and routers?" He just looked at me blankly and said "Oh, those are tools. What did you need?" Never mind...I will find it.
Then, today...I called the same place about an air volume control for our well pump. Thankfully, a woman took my call. I had hopes that all would end well. I carefully explained what I needed and asked if they had any in stock. "Let me check" she confidently answered but things went downhill from there. She asked an associate to help her find the item. He then proceeded to act like I had no idea what I needed and tried to sell me a shutoff valve. "Nope. I need an air volume control not a shutoff valve." He asked for my husband. Grr! Yes. My husband is usually the one that has to deal with these salesmen...thankfully. I would not have the patience. He does. My immediate thought was, "Dude, I am about to smack you silly!" (No, I did not actually say that but so wanted to.) Instead, I gave him the model number and asked if that helped. Get this! HE asked if it was a "little thingy that looked like a spaceship." Oh, my....I shook my head and said "Yes! And if you look really close, you might actually see the little aliens that operate the thing." (Yes, that really did slip out of my mouth.) Our conversation quickly ended. I do not think he was amused. I was. Perhaps he was just lost in space.
To be totally honest, the air volume control did slightly resemble a spaceship but I was not expecting that to come from someone who just assumed that I had no knowledge about the pump part. It seems to me that if you are going to be helpful to folks, at least be slightly familiar with what you are selling and DO NOT make the assumptions about the capability of ANYONE! Aside from all of the (almost) humorous interactions with sales people, I still do not have my pump part. Son had to jury-rig the pump to keep us with water until the new part arrives in a week.
Today was not good. It was not particularly bad but it was just not good. It started off at the break of day. I got out of bed full of vim and vigor. I was ready to tackle the world but that came a screeching halt. I turned on the faucet to fill the coffee pot and nothing happened. No water came gushing from that spigot! Nothing...not even a dribble. Uh, oh. This is never a good thing especially when you have a well. Anything from busted pipes, well gone dry or burned up pump could be a reality and that reality was not on my agenda for the day. I called Son.
"Hop to it, Michael! We don't have any water and without water there shall be no coffee!" I yelled up the stairs. Never uttering a word, he came stumbling down the stairs. "No water?" he queried. "Nope...no water." He headed out the door to the pump shed. "Wow." was all I heard. I peeked into the shed. Wow, indeed. Water was everywhere as was everything else that had been stored in the shed! It looked like a mini-hurricane had attacked our pump shed! Geez! This was not good. Some very large critter had decided to rearrange everything. After turning off the electricity to the pump, we decided it would be prudent to clear out the jumbled up clutter before he tackled the pump, itself. Once we pulled out the thousand or so tools, old furniture and other odds and ends, he discovered that whatever critter was in the shed all night, had broken the pipe that led to the house. Obviously, the pump had been running for quite some time. Stuff was not only knocked around, it was soaked! I cleaned while he did plumbing work.That, my friends, was when I discovered where some fantastic treasures have been hiding for the past decades!
One of my favorite "treasures" of the day is an old paint sprayer. Yeah, I realize that this is probably more trash than treasure but it means something to me. This was Pop's old sprayer. I very rarely remember him using it since he always painted everything with a brush but, still, it was his and that is important! I set the paint sprayer aside to be cleaned and moved inside the house. It is a good thing that the Little Bayou House is more like a museum of oddities than a prim and proper house! Things like this fill shelves and all of the nooks and crannies of the house. To me, they are treasures. To everyone else, they are junk...dust-collecting, space-consuming junk. TREASURES!! TREASURES!!
