[Boatanchors] RATSHACK?

[Jim DiMauro]

--- FRED - W4FJF <ka2hlw at netzero.net> wrote:
> 
> "...because nobody
> asks for them anymore. I live in a town that has 27
> active hams, so I think my ANSWER was an outright
> lie."     
> 
>

Why would one go to Radio Shack for stuff?  If I'm any
representation of the amateur market, the number of
hams in a given area would have no bearing on the
amount of business I would expect a Radio Shack would
have.  For the most part, Radio Shack stuff
(miniboxes, connectors, cables, etc.) is cheaply-made
garbage.  I'll go there in an emergency, but for the
most part it's Mouser or some other purveyor of "real"
components.  Not being a hospital emergency room
physician, I have few "emergencies" that can't wait a
week for UPS.

Also, I generally like to get my entire body into a
store before I get jumped by an employee.  While I
would welcome employee assistance in most stores, I
have found that I can get out of a Radio Shack much
faster without "help."  With employee assistance I can
usually be out of a Radio Shack empty-handed in about 
23 minutes: 7 minutes to explain what a resistor is, 6
minutes for the employee to wrestle the mutilated
store catalog from an associate who is trying to help
another customer find a replacement tape for his
1985-vintage answering machine, 3 minutes until I lose
patience, grab the catalog and look it up myself, 3
minutes to find the chest of drawers that now houses
components, 3 minutes to find the proper drawer, 5
seconds to stare bewildered at the nearly empty drawer
and tell me that they don't stock those anymore
because nobody wants them, and 55 seconds to run the
gauntlet of employees as I bolt for the door.  Without
help, I can go staight to the cabinet, perform the
ritualistic opening and closing of the empty drawer,
and bolt for the door all in about 45 seconds
(assuming I can get by the employees).

Yes, I'm an active ham; and no, I don't shop at Radio
Shack.

73,
Jim
w2bvm

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