"Not@home" wrote in message
I'm unhappy, because a few years ago we had two hardware stores near us,
either of which would have provided good advice, but Home Depot has driven
them out of business.

How did Home Depot put them out of business?

Did they block the entrance so customers could not get in? No
Did they sue the owners and force them out? No
Did the bribe town officials to condemn the store? No.
Did they have the utilities cut and leave them in the dark? No

People just like you and I put them out of business. We stopped going
there. We had a choice and we decided it was more important to save a few
pennies than to go to the local store for our needs. We decided that HD had
a better selection so we went there instead of the local store.

We complain that things cost too much so stores like Home Depot find cheaper
sources in places like China and we buy them. Then we are happy with the
price, but complain because we lost our manufacturing jobs to other
countries. Instead of spending the weekend at home enjoying friends and
family, we go to the mall and buy cheap stuff from overseas.

Pogo said: "we have met the enemy and it is us". That was over 45 years
ago and still true today.