Hardware store chronicles.....I have always said that in this county if a woman wants a peaceful place to meditate with out be bothered by salespersons all she has to do is go to the local(locally owned) hardware store. Once I made the mistake of trying to get an answer to a question about a heater and was asked if I was looking for my husband. Uh no, I don't own one but I need a new space heater....oh I am a smart ass ( which is better than being a dumb ass I guess) The last time I was in there they had hired a female type clerk...you could tell the men were confused as when she asked one a perfectly sensible question about a tool the man turned it into a remark about the size of his reproductive organ....she and I shared a moment of raised eyebrow contempt...seems he thought the "hardware" sign out side referred to his own personal handy dandy tool, not the one sitting on the shelves... Contrast that to my foray into a chain hardware store, I was looking for a new ballcock assembly for my toilet...ripe with opportunity for double meanings...I was taken to the plumbing aisle and efficiently helped to find one that would work for me with competent instructions on how to install it and no...well you get it. It seems that the men who worked there were used to seeing women in the aisles and so were conditioned to responding appropriately. Sigh... would that we had a hardware store like that here, unfortunately the nearest one is over a hundred miles away over the mountain.