Wood Tape
July 13, 2011 12:23 AM Subscribe
Oh, that was lovely. Thank you for posting it!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:58 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:58 AM on July 13, 2011
I'm glad that kid was so persistent in the face of almost determined obtuseness by his father.
posted by DU at 4:24 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by DU at 4:24 AM on July 13, 2011
I'm sad that you feel it necessary to share your bitter pessimism in every gosh darned thread.
posted by cavalier at 4:33 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cavalier at 4:33 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm a 5'9", 31-year-old man, and I can't find a useful person in Home Depot to save my life. How the hell did this four-year-old get people to tell him where things were?
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:23 AM on July 13, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:23 AM on July 13, 2011 [3 favorites]
You need to look more like a cute 4 year old. Works for me.
posted by Splunge at 5:35 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Splunge at 5:35 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
I usually find the Home Depot people to be nice and helpful, so I'm not surprised this little kid received good service.
posted by orme at 6:01 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by orme at 6:01 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Good thing they didn't shop online, or he would have ended up with wood tape.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:10 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:10 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
My problem with Home Depot is that while it's enormous, and the staff generally helpful (if overworked and scarce), when it comes to hardware, it's selection is pretty much shit.
Find a good sized independent hardware store, and the selection and quality of tools and hardware will astound, especially the fastener section, which not only will have the odd stuff, but also the common stuff in well stocked and organized bins. (Go to Home Depot or Loews, look for a 6x20mm coarse thread hex-cap machine screw and matching lock nut, washer and lock washer. I'll wait while you flip hopelessly through the little plastic packages. I'll be waiting a while, so I'll continue the post...)
This is also my problem with "Super Walmarts" and other big-box stores - size does not equal selection. Smaller indy retailers will have way more kinds of stuff, usually of better quality, on-hand and easy to find.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:25 AM on July 13, 2011 [6 favorites]
Find a good sized independent hardware store, and the selection and quality of tools and hardware will astound, especially the fastener section, which not only will have the odd stuff, but also the common stuff in well stocked and organized bins. (Go to Home Depot or Loews, look for a 6x20mm coarse thread hex-cap machine screw and matching lock nut, washer and lock washer. I'll wait while you flip hopelessly through the little plastic packages. I'll be waiting a while, so I'll continue the post...)
This is also my problem with "Super Walmarts" and other big-box stores - size does not equal selection. Smaller indy retailers will have way more kinds of stuff, usually of better quality, on-hand and easy to find.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:25 AM on July 13, 2011 [6 favorites]
Excellent story, every kid should be this lucky.
posted by doctor_negative at 6:51 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by doctor_negative at 6:51 AM on July 13, 2011
"What are you going to do with the table?"
"I'm going to paint it."
Heh.
posted by delmoi at 6:52 AM on July 13, 2011
"I'm going to paint it."
Heh.
posted by delmoi at 6:52 AM on July 13, 2011
Slap*Happy: "...when it comes to hardware, it's selection is pretty much shit."
That's exactly right, and I can even tell you why. Home Depot is a little bit hardware store, but they also sell lumber and building materials, so it's a little bit lumberyard too. Oh, and they also sell appliances and some housewares, so it's a little bit department store. And then you've got garden and landscaping stuff, so it's a little bit ag supply store too. So it looks like a giant store, but it's way too small to do a good job being any of the four things it's trying to be.
And also in an effort to keep prices low they sell the worst shit you can find anywhere. But even if that weren't the case, Home Depot would still be a failure as any of the four kinds of store it's trying to be. I'm glad I still have good local hardware stores, lumberyards, ag supply stores and department stores to get my stuff at.
posted by rusty at 6:52 AM on July 13, 2011 [5 favorites]
That's exactly right, and I can even tell you why. Home Depot is a little bit hardware store, but they also sell lumber and building materials, so it's a little bit lumberyard too. Oh, and they also sell appliances and some housewares, so it's a little bit department store. And then you've got garden and landscaping stuff, so it's a little bit ag supply store too. So it looks like a giant store, but it's way too small to do a good job being any of the four things it's trying to be.
And also in an effort to keep prices low they sell the worst shit you can find anywhere. But even if that weren't the case, Home Depot would still be a failure as any of the four kinds of store it's trying to be. I'm glad I still have good local hardware stores, lumberyards, ag supply stores and department stores to get my stuff at.
posted by rusty at 6:52 AM on July 13, 2011 [5 favorites]
and here I thought it would be veneer trim, too. But I'm not sure I could trust a 4 yr old with the iron to put it on..
posted by k5.user at 8:08 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by k5.user at 8:08 AM on July 13, 2011
I always go to my local hardware store and ag supply store because they have better selection (in a less foot-wearying space, too), better quality and knowledgeable people (seriously, I don't even ask the orange aprons anything anymore--I'm more likely to get a wrong answer than any thing helpful). Plus they are closer to my house.
For the lumber yard...I still go to a big box. I should really quit that.
posted by DU at 8:41 AM on July 13, 2011
For the lumber yard...I still go to a big box. I should really quit that.
posted by DU at 8:41 AM on July 13, 2011
Very cute. Nice parenting. I have to say, though, that the finished product looks incredibly professional. Nothing wrong with that. It's just that when I get together with little kids and do a carpentry project, it looks like a 4-year old did it.
posted by kozad at 8:54 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by kozad at 8:54 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm all for bringing out the creativity in a child and letting him lead and all, but am I the only one that thought the Author was being a gigantic dick? I mean he provides a detailed description of how the first employee is super busy... and then goes on to sum up his own involvement with the "Tough luck, buddy," bit.
It's a cute story don't get me wrong... but I get annoyed when people feel the need to inflict the preciousness of their children on people around them.
posted by cirhosis at 9:05 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
It's a cute story don't get me wrong... but I get annoyed when people feel the need to inflict the preciousness of their children on people around them.
posted by cirhosis at 9:05 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Huh... when he said he wanted to paint squares on a table, my first thought was that he wanted to make a checkerboard. Maybe I could get along better with 4-year-olds than I realize. :)
I do admire how the dad deftly provided only as much guidance the kid needed to get his project done, and no more.
posted by BrashTech at 9:07 AM on July 13, 2011
I do admire how the dad deftly provided only as much guidance the kid needed to get his project done, and no more.
posted by BrashTech at 9:07 AM on July 13, 2011
I do admire how the dad deftly provided only as much guidance the kid needed to get his project done, and no more.
There's discussion about how we can be overprotective of children at times, and I think one extension is that we often do their thinking for them, too, when they are capable of problem solving on deeper levels than we expect. Children are very resourceful. I realized the other day that my daughter will sometimes invent new words, or modify old ones, to explain concepts that she does not have a vocabulary for yet. And the words make sense.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:23 AM on July 13, 2011
There's discussion about how we can be overprotective of children at times, and I think one extension is that we often do their thinking for them, too, when they are capable of problem solving on deeper levels than we expect. Children are very resourceful. I realized the other day that my daughter will sometimes invent new words, or modify old ones, to explain concepts that she does not have a vocabulary for yet. And the words make sense.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:23 AM on July 13, 2011
I'm all for bringing out the creativity in a child and letting him lead and all, but am I the only one that thought the Author was being a gigantic dick? I mean he provides a detailed description of how the first employee is super busy... and then goes on to sum up his own involvement with the "Tough luck, buddy," bit.
It's a cute story don't get me wrong... but I get annoyed when people feel the need to inflict the preciousness of their children on people around them.
When he is thinking, "Tough luck, buddy," it's because he knows the employee has turned to him to clear things up, and the "tough luck" part isn't the dad being a dick. He means, "Tough luck if you think I'm going to be able to clear it up, because I have no idea what he wants either, except for this mysterious 'wood tape'!"
It's not like the dad refused to answer the employee's question; he reports the conversation in the next paragraph. It's just that he doesn't have any more info than what his son has already said to the guy.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:50 AM on July 13, 2011
It's a cute story don't get me wrong... but I get annoyed when people feel the need to inflict the preciousness of their children on people around them.
When he is thinking, "Tough luck, buddy," it's because he knows the employee has turned to him to clear things up, and the "tough luck" part isn't the dad being a dick. He means, "Tough luck if you think I'm going to be able to clear it up, because I have no idea what he wants either, except for this mysterious 'wood tape'!"
It's not like the dad refused to answer the employee's question; he reports the conversation in the next paragraph. It's just that he doesn't have any more info than what his son has already said to the guy.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:50 AM on July 13, 2011
Re: BrashTech's and SpacemanStix's comments...I completely agree that it was good to let the boy take charge, but when my son was that age I was usually inclined to at least ask a few more questions up front to get a better sense of where his idea and his plans were headed. Just to avoid any unnecessary and expensive dead ends, you understand. If I felt there were any serious problems with them (ex. holding the table together with tape), I could explain why it might not work and we could discuss other options. I feel like that also helped him learn how to both think critically and communicate his ideas effectively, while still not guiding or "protecting" him too much or making his decisions for him. And he turned out okay. :)
Anyway...yeah, great story!
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:32 PM on July 13, 2011
Anyway...yeah, great story!
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:32 PM on July 13, 2011
Super cute.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:27 PM on July 13, 2011
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:27 PM on July 13, 2011
I 'm calling fake, because in the story he actually gets help from not one, but two Home Depot employees.
posted by xedrik at 6:30 PM on July 13, 2011
posted by xedrik at 6:30 PM on July 13, 2011
Just to avoid any unnecessary and expensive dead ends, you understand. If I felt there were any serious problems with them (ex. holding the table together with tape), I could explain why it might not work and we could discuss other options.
Why not let him try and fail? Anyway in the article he said they discussed using screws to hold it together.
posted by delmoi at 11:31 PM on July 13, 2011
Why not let him try and fail? Anyway in the article he said they discussed using screws to hold it together.
posted by delmoi at 11:31 PM on July 13, 2011
I put this on my IM status and my buddy replied: "that is an adorable little story. plus it makes me want to build a table, and shop at home depot. might just be a home depot marketing scheme i guess."
posted by modelenoir at 11:22 AM on July 14, 2011
posted by modelenoir at 11:22 AM on July 14, 2011
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I feel like I probably should say something else, but really that's the long and the short of it
posted by aubilenon at 12:59 AM on July 13, 2011 [7 favorites]