Got yelled at by a guy at Home Depot in Denver for grabbing the wrong hinge

I was at the Home Depot on Colorado Blvd trying to fix a cabinet door and this older guy working there saw me pick up a 3/8 inch hinge when I needed a 1/2 inch. He just walked over and said "that's not gonna work for your cabinet depth" and pointed me to the right one. Saved me a return trip and now I actually measure twice before buying anything. Has anyone else had a random stranger save them from a dumb hardware mistake?

2 comments

2 Comments

evaperez4d ago

Got my buddy Mark a call the other day because he was installing a new toilet and the bolts just would not line up. He was about to start drilling new holes in the floor when his neighbor from two houses down walked over and said "those bolts are for a different brand, you need a kit with adjustable ones." Mark had no idea there were different sizes for toilet bolts. Saved him a lot of swearing and a trip to the hardware store. Have you ever learned a basic home repair trick from someone you just happened to meet?

spencer_bell4d ago

It's wild how many little things like that just aren't common knowledge until someone happens to mention them. I've noticed there's a whole category of home repair that's basically passed down through random encounters, like a secret handshake between property owners. My buddy learned from a retired plumber at the hardware store that you should always put the toilet paper holder on after the toilet's installed, because the flange depth changes things. It's like there's this huge gap between what you read online and what you actually pick up from someone who's done it a dozen times.