An Orgy of Commerce, Consumption and Unkempt People
I was at Fry’s today. For all of the disdain and turned-up noses Wal-Mart gets, I think we owe it to ourselves to celebrate the similarity Fry’s holds to that other heaving mass of consumption.
I don’t get panic attacks, but if I did I’m quite sure that five minutes at Fry’s would render me crying and soiled, balled up in the corner near the power strips and surge protectors. There are so many people, so many products, so many check-out stands and so many unwashed customer service associates that it’s difficult even to feel human within its confines. The warm Fry’s air rises up in a miasma of stinky back fat sweat, eyeglass-fogging Del Taco farts and septum-searing Red Bull burps.
The horror of today’s experience was magnified by my nominee for the most annoyingly dorky clip-on-tie-wearing salesperson in Fry’s history.
Said I, “Hey, man, do you have any more of these Netgear wireless routers?”
Said he after a dramatic, I-cannot-be-bothered-by-such-minutae exhalation, “They’re on the end cap of aisle 16.”
Said I, “Thanks. Are there rebate slips there, too?”
Said he after another whiny, “Nnnnno. You’ll get that with your receipt, sirrrr.”
Sorry, Holmes. Didn’t mean to take you away from counting those cable ties. Proceed. But don’t be late for your Dungeons & Dragons Support Group.
How long before Sam Walton acquires Fry’s and combines the two into a unified one-stop-shop for the most obnoxious environment on the planet?
Agreed, Fry’s is a culling ground for nerd-dom. And not that part-time blogger, full-time international play-boy type nerd, but more of that part time Anime IRC channel host, full time Simpson’s comic book guy nerd. Plus, the customer service is so sub-par, I don’t even bother trying to ask anyone. If I can’t find it, then it’s not worth asking about.
Comparing Fry’s to Walmart is unfair to Walmart. I’ve found most Walmart staffers to be fairly helpful. Fry’s staffers, on the the other hand, seem to trained to be unfriendly.