For
Spanish
Getting Attention
by John Fleming
Years ago Margaret and I bought a run-down house in Tucson that needed a lot
of fixing up. We did much of the work ourselves, and in the process we learned
a great deal about building. We couldn't have done it, however, without the
help of people at our local hardware and equipment stores. Sid, a retired plumber,
was infinitely patient with my questions and gave me directions and advice for
all the plumbing tasks required. Jim and Brad, who manufactured heating ducts,
explained to me, based on their combined 45 years of experience, exactly how
to install a furnace for central heating. Tony, who sold floor varnish, told
me how to sand down the floor and then apply the varnish for the best results.
Sarah, at a plumbing parts store, could look at a part from an old faucet, go
right to the shelf and find its duplicate among hundreds there.
Sid, Jim, Brad, and Tony have long since retired. Sarah is still working, though
she must be well over retirement age. Obviously her company has persuaded her
to stay on because the knowledge she has in her head can't be replaced.
Payless Cashways, my favorite building supply store in Tucson, is closing. It
was one of the the last remaining places where I could go to get help as well
as merchandise. But Home Depot opened a "big box" store right next
door a couple of years ago and put it out of business.
Now, when I go shopping for parts or equipment, I have to go to a big box store.
These huge businesses have a wide range of parts and supplies--shelves and shelves
full of them, all packaged and labeled and computer-coded. If I'm lucky, I'll
find a salesperson who can direct me to the right shelf and maybe even the right
part, but no one has the expertise of a Sid or a Jim or a Tony. Most of the
sales clerks are young people working their way through college who wouldn't
know a plenum chamber from a heat pump.
Everything is so tightly packaged in plastic to deter shoplifters that a tool
kit is needed to open it. This makes it impossible for me to try a screw or
a nut to see if it's the same size as the one I need to replace. Or I may need
only one washer, but I have to buy a whole faucet assembly to get it.
The prepackaging of America takes some of the humanity out of our lives. Cashiers
are now being replaced by scanning machines. Slide your purchases over the scanner,
put your credit card into a slot, press a couple of buttons, and bag the product
yourself. Plastic has won out over personality.
In Puerto Peñasco, however, it's a different story. There it's still
possible to get individualized service and advice. I have long known that I
could go to Maderera de Peñasco and have Chato Durán give me whatever
help I needed, whether looking for a particular tool, or advising me how to
do something, or placing a special order.
Recently I found another such place at Electrica Veel. I needed a particular
screw for a leaking faucet, and someone suggested that they might have it. Unfortunately
they didn't. In the U.S. I would have been told, "Sorry, we don't have
it," and that would have been the end of it, but Veronica, the owner, said
they might be able to adapt one for me. She had one of her employees do it,
and it worked. While he was helping me, he was also coaching her nine-year-old
son Alexis, who was working busily with a screwdriver on a job of his own. Obviously
he will be ready to take his place in the family business when the time comes.
One of the benefits of commuting back and forth to Puerto Peñasco as
I do is that I can experience the best of both Mexican and U.S. cultures. In
the U.S. I have a wider range of choices when it comes to buying merchandise.
In Mexico I can still receive old-fashioned individual attention and service
when I go into a store.
