Chivalry Isn't Dead....At the Hardware Store

I'm not a handy person. I REALLY wish I was, but when it comes to home repairs, I'm completely out of my comfort zone. The thing is, I love doing crafts. Give me a hot glue gun and a Pinterest post, I can duplicate almost anything I see. But, if I need to use a power tool to get the job done, and heaven help me, if I have to measure something to the exact millimeter, I will always mess it up. I like the "approximate" crafts or "wing it" activities. Writing is so wonderful because I don't feel like I have to be super talented to do it, it's just putting whatever word I want on a piece of paper or on a computer screen....super easy and not a lot of brain power to it.

The one home repair I feel I can do around the house very easily is painting. If you read my previous post called Blacks and Whites, you know how I feel about color. Most of the rooms in my house are a different color. I actually look forward to painting projects because it's the one time I don't need my husband or extensive YouTube videos to figure out how to get the job done. My other favorite part of painting is going to any of the local hardware stores in my town. Not Lowes, not Menards, not Home Dept...I'm talking about the mom and pop stores that have been around for 100 years. Most of the those types of stores are run by retired farmers, plumbers, and electricians who can't officially "retire" because that would mean staying at home watching TV all the time, which isn't enjoyable to anyone who has been "on the go" most of their life. I call my hardware store the "good ole boy" store. When the store clerks see a woman walking into the store, they roll out a figurative red carpet and treat you like you are the prettiest girl in the store, because you are in fact the only girl in the store. You also aren't another stinky construction worker who knows exactly what they need, and who does not want any assistance. Every time I walk into my hardware store, all the good ole boys come running to help me, the damsel in distress. Or if a teenager comes into the hardware store trying to figure out how to repair something for the first time, the good ole boy group will spend hours talking to them about what they think will fix the problem, what their previous projects have been, what they think everyone's life goals and aspirations should be, how to be a decent person, and how to be successful in life. People may think bar tenders are the best life coaches, but no, I totally disagree. Go to the local hardware store....that's where the true experts in life are. The guys you can trust. They guys that would take their shirt off their back for you. They guys who know how to fix everything in the house from the kitchen sink to the attic fan. The guys that would talk your ear off because they love not being at home watching TV and being with the next generation giving their humble advice.

After going to the hardware store last week to get paint for my bedroom, I felt like a million bucks getting my grubby paint clothes on and getting covered with drywall dust and sparkling because the good ole boys told me exactly what I needed to do to make my bedroom look perfect.

Thanks for reading my Country Squawk,

Kelly