A Foreign Land

Merely walking through the door of my neighborhood Home Depot tends to perplex and confound the most helpful sales associates.  I love Home Depot.  It is a completely strange and wondrous place.

I grew up with a father who always had some kind of woodworking project and a brother who is super mechanically inclined, however there is very little I know or understand about home improvement.  Don't take that statement to mean that I don't own power tools because I do.

I do own power tools.  That doesn't mean I really know how to use them.

Home Depot must have a checklist it hands out to its associates to identify people like me.  From their cautious approach when asking if I need assistance, it is clear that the label, "She has no idea what she's doing," is in block letters across my forehead.

Little do they know that I go to their store exactly because I have no idea what I'm doing.  I wander up and down every aisle.  Yep, that's right, every ... single ... aisle.

It isn't that I don't know what I'm trying to find be it a new display set-up or a texture tool or twine.

My "I need to buy this" thought isn't as fully formed as other shoppers at this popular home improvement store.  You see, I don't know walking into the store how my thought will translate into my purchase.  An item's intended purpose means little to me hence the wandering up and down every aisle.

"I'll know it when I see it," I routinely say to the more persistent sales associates.

I think that phrase strikes fear in their hearts.  I can just imagine them thinking, "God, she has no idea what she's doing.  I hope she doesn't wander over by the cutting station in lumber."

Of course, I do visit the cutting station.   The fifty-one cent bin is right across from it.  The scraps of wood in that bin are often the perfect size and shape.  Its the only place in the entire store I can find without help.

 

I've always been a tourist.  In fact, I've always been the kind of tourist that everyone hates with hundreds of pictures when just a few would do.  My tourist tendencies are totally paying off these days.

"Oooo, look at that" is a great mentality to have when seeking artistic inspiration.

I highly recommend clearing out any preconceived notions and taking a little tourist jaunt to a "foreign land" for yourself.  You might, okay you will get a few strange looks, but you just might learn something.  Don't worry I won't tell anyone if you take pictures.