Senior Living: Maybe it’s just me, but people seem dumber

[oneh2obabe]

Funny opinion piece but I'm sure we've all experienced what they've gone through.

I was in Canadian Tire the other day, looking for a crescent wrench. I live in a 109-year-old wood-frame house so, trust me, hammers and screwdrivers and wrenches are in constant demand because, on any given day, a doorknob falls off or a screw comes loose and, well, it’s a big old pile of timber and ancient nails and impending disrepair.

Anyway, I asked the fellow on floor duty where I might find such a tool in his big store.

“A crescent wrench?” he said.

“Yes, a crescent wrench,” I said.

Radio silence.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/entertainment ... d=msedgdhp

[stuphoto]

That can be taken in 2 ways,
The employee shouldn't have been working in the tool section, and really may have just been passing through.
Or the shopper may have been too lazy to look for himself.
The Canadian Tire tool section is usually very well laid out and it rarely takes over a minute to find the Crescent wrench section.
( Oliver BC store being the only exception I am aware of )

[mexi cali]

That can be taken in 2 ways,
The employee shouldn't have been working in the tool section, and really may have just been passing through.
Or the shopper may have been too lazy to look for himself.
The Canadian Tire tool section is usually very well laid out and it rarely takes over a minute to find the Crescent wrench section.
( Oliver BC store being the only exception I am aware of )

Don't take it literally.

[mexi cali]

I think we are getting dumber. Oprah said that years ago and I thought she was right then.

The crescent wrench example is a good one because it rings so true.

When I was in College, I worked at a retail box store like HD. We were required to know basically the entire store regardless of where you reported to. At the very least, if you were asked something you couldn't answer yourself, you walked the customer to someone who could and then you listened.

That experience is with me today and I still know what most stuff you find in HD is used for.

I get so discouraged today by the overall lack of knowledge retail workers have that I would rather take the extra time to find things myself than to stop and ask almost any worker so as to avoid the blank stare.

When I have resorted to asking for help, most times it seems they don't know A) if it's something they carry or B) where it exists within the store. When I give up and continue my search, if I am successful in finding my prize, I will take it back to the unknowing clerk and explain what it is and where to find it. Not to be smart, but to be helpful.

I had a cashier ask me to step further back as I unloaded my stuff onto the belt and when I asked why, she said that "we were too close together. We weren't but whatever, i did as she asked and when I was bagging my stuff, we were actually much closer and I wondered. I wonder a lot.

I was shopping this weekend and was getting a cart from inside the doors and there was a lady standing looking around for help. She spotted a worker and asked if they could get someone to disinfect a cart for her. As this was going on, I grabbed my cart, pumped out some disinfectant and cleaned the cart handles etc. She looked at me and it was apparent that this had never occurred to her.

It really is amazing that in a world where, as stated we have a universe full of information in our hands but we don't think to use it. I think there is security in knowing that it's there but what it really means is that we don't have to fill up our heads with "useless" information unless it's on our terms.

Everyone should know what a crescent wrench is.

[normaM]

No idea what a crescent wretch is..
meanwhile was always great fun when I worked in the business to send the new staff member out to get a diamond magnet
Asking at places like Rona where something is akin to trying to get a babies legs into a onsie

[Even Steven]

I like how older people make fun of young people for not knowing what specific tools are and not being "smart" enough ...

... but anytime there's a story of some poor soul who got scammed by a fake CRA agent into buying a bunch of gifts card for a Nigerian prince - it's always some old fart who thought it was for real. Well, at least you know what a "crescent wrench" is, what good did it do.

[alanjh595]

No idea what a crescent wretch is..

A wretch is;

A wretch is someone who is so miserable and unlucky that you almost have to feel sorry for the person.

A crescent wrench on the other hand is;

[Even Steven]

It's an adjustable wrench where I come from.

[alanjh595]

In England, perhaps even Australia, it's a "spanner".

[W105]

I like how older people make fun of young people for not knowing what specific tools are and not being "smart" enough ...

... but anytime there's a story of some poor soul who got scammed by a fake CRA agent into buying a bunch of gifts card for a Nigerian prince - it's always some old fart who thought it was for real. Well, at least you know what a "crescent wrench" is, what good did it do.

^^^ hahaha Steven, that is so true

if I am looking for an item, I google it and see where it's available ( also google other stores to see who's got the best deal for it ) then I can see if it's in stock and you can see exactly what aisle it's in..this works great for me !!

[oneh2obabe]

if I am looking for an item, I google it and see where it's available ( also google other stores to see who's got the best deal for it ) then I can see if it's in stock and you can see exactly what aisle it's in..this works great for me !!

Easiest way to check prices and availability of any product but not all stores show which aisle it's in. Walmart shows whether the product is "in stock" at stores in your area but not what aisle. Superstore has laminated sheets hanging at the end of most aisles showing where the product can be located in the store.

[my5cents]

Easiest way to check prices and availability of any product but not all stores show which aisle it's in. Walmart shows whether the product is "in stock" at stores in your area but not what aisle. Superstore has laminated sheets hanging at the end of most aisles showing where the product can be located in the store.

Prices for crescent wrenches can vary drastically depending if you want a right hand or left hand wrench, much like screw drivers.

I recall many years ago being in a local hardware store/lumber yard in Vancouver. I was looking for some wooden dowelling, I forget why or what size.

Usually the smaller stuff are contained in a display with the dowel inside sleeves with different sizes in each sleeve. After looking for a while, not to waste more time a young employee was walking by so I asked him.

"Where do you keep your wooden doweling ?" He looked like I had two heads. "We don't have any."

As he said this I spotted the display, nearby. All sorts of sizes of dowelling in upright sleeves, I think each size had a different color painted on the end denoting the size (I guess is case the sizes in the sleeves got mixed up)

I said, "Oh, there they are.",,, he looked at me and said "Oh you meant 'round wood' ".

From that day on, every time I use a piece of dowelling I chuckle to myself.

[W105]

if I am looking for an item, I google it and see where it's available ( also google other stores to see who's got the best deal for it ) then I can see if it's in stock and you can see exactly what aisle it's in..this works great for me !!

Easiest way to check prices and availability of any product but not all stores show which aisle it's in. Walmart shows whether the product is "in stock" at stores in your area but not what aisle. Superstore has laminated sheets hanging at the end of most aisles showing where the product can be located in the store.

^^ it's weird that so many people do not know when shopping at Superstore that they have those product sheets hanging in most aisles..I use them and have used them for a very long time..but if you're shopping at Home Depot, CT or Rona you can pretty much look everything up online and see what's in stock and which aisle it's in ..

[stuphoto]

In England, perhaps even Australia, it's a "spanner".

I was talking to a friend of mine originally from Kenya the other day where they use a more traditional form of English.
She was talking about the Car Bonnet, and I couldn't remember if it was the front or the back. So I asked her, and then remembered you always give something a boot to the backside to get it going

Just a quick edit,
Last week her boyfriend asked her to hand him a Philips Screwdriver and started laughing when she passed him the wrong one.
While growing up I always remember my mom calling them Star screwdrivers or flat or square.
So I would have at that point just asked for a Star Screwdriver, no big deal.
That's exactly what she called them growing up too, so it would have worked.

[Babba_not_Gump]

In England, perhaps even Australia, it's a "spanner".

It's an adjustable wrench where I come from.

Here you go boys, girls and old farts, right from Google itself,

An adjustable spanner (UK, and most other English-speaking countries) or adjustable wrench (US and Canada) is an open-end wrench with a movable jaw, allowing it to be used with different sizes of fastener head (nut, bolt, etc.) rather than just one fastener size, as with a conventional fixed spanner.[1]
The name Crescent wrench is often used[2] in Canada and the United States and is an example of a generic trademark.
The name Crescent referring to the Crescent Tool Company which patented the tool design in 1915 in the United States.[3]