Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Scary Man Tools!!

Home Depot is probably my favorite place to gather materials for projects. The worst part about it is that there are employees there. You know the ones in the bright orange aprons that treat you like you are an alien from another dimension. Oh you know.


Zachary and I just officially completed moving and now I need to figure out a way to cover the nice white carpet in the second room so I can organize my studio and get to working! I decided to put down a plastic tarp, a canvas drop cloth, and then a piece of carpet remnant that is cut to the size of the room. That way I won’t have to think of how much it may/will cost to replace the apartment’s carpet after I accidentally spill paint or something.

Anyhow…back to Home Depot and why they should fire all their employees.

Today at lunch I picked up my free carpet remnant, compliments of craigslist, and decided I had enough time to get to Home Depot to buy my supplies for my studio. That means I went to a hardware store, midday, in a pantsuit…amongst a sea of construction workers. I knew going in to it that I should have waited till I could change into dirty jeans and a t-shirt after work… but I’m all about maximizing my time so I went anyways.

When I was in school I went to Home Depot all the time in dirty studio clothes and I always knew exactly where what I needed was. I never got lost. I lived there basically. Even though I knew what I needed and confidently strode across the store to get whatever it was, I still got stopped by employees who would talk to me like I was five. One time I asked if they had copper brads and I was told to go to a craft store. Give me a break! I also hate it when they ask me if I’m sure that’s what I want to buy. Are you sure you don’t want me to punch you? Cause I will if you ask nice. I think it’s safe to say that women are treated a little differently than men at the HD. How are they to know that I, being a woman, am able to weld and wield a hammer just like any man could? I understand that there are women out there who can't use even the most basic of tools... but I think its unfair to treat all women as if they've never fixed something themselves. I can really respect a woman who does not need help doing her own fixer-upers and I'd like to believe that most woman can!

HD is always an experience and luckily I expect it so it doesn’t rain on my parade too much.

I think in addition to being a woman… wearing a pant suit also must indicate that I have no idea how a flat bed cart works (you push it in case you ladies out there, who are also wearing pant suites, were wondering). I had a guy offer to push my cart for me. Yup, you guessed it… it was empty. No thank you Mr. Creeper, I think I can manage. I also had an employee wink at me. I wonder if they do that with the smelly male construction workers that come in… hm. I’ve also never had so many employees say hi to me… just to say hi, no real reason… kind of the way a little kid would tap you on the shoulder to make sure you’re looking when they say hi. It made me feel so awkward!

Oh Home Depot, you bring out my fist-pumping-feminist-side.


 
I'm pretty sure that "Her Depot" was a huge ball of failure. Or at least I hope it was.
 
And we cannot forget the Playboy's Women of Home Depot spread of 2004.

"Playboy is an American icon and I am so excited to have been chosen as one of the models for this feature," said Rachel Parks, one of the feature's models. "This has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience."