Is it just me, or does anyone else just like to mind their own business when
they go to the
hardware store to spend money?

I'm doing a tub surround right now, so I go to my local HD to get supplies.
By the time I
get to the paint department I already have about five people asking me how
I'm doing, sticking their nose in my business, and
trying to "help" me.

Having shopped at HD for awhile now, I know better than to listen to any
"advice" the orange
aprons have to say. On the rare situation in which I need to know where
something is,
I will *ask* for help.

So I'm left relatively unscathed in the paint department, it's nice and
quiet, so I had time to
shop and pick up a few more things than I had come in for. Tile area is
quiet also, bought
additional items, thought about grout color, enjoyed my shopping trip.

On my way to electrical, I had no less than three kids telling me I needed
help. When I'm
in electrical, two more overcaffeinated droids try to engage me, not
realizing that I've been buying duplex outlets longer than they have even
been alive.

By this point I'm flat out just ignoring them, so after asking me how I'm
doing, one of
the idiots tells me I must be having a bad day.

What the hell? Why is ignoring an onslaught of undesired contact with
strangers evidence of a bad day? When did going to the hardware store turn
into me having to babysit a bunch
of snot-nosed kids with my personal disposition and the details of my own
damn business?

Now, I realize I might be the exception these days, perhaps the majority of
their clientele are lonely housewives eager for some touchy-feely social
interaction from bored big box employees, but is it too much to ask that a
guy be left alone to buy his hardware in peace?

Sheesh!

Jon