|
I have discontinued taste. That's all there is to it. I buy something, a lamp or computer or cell phone...whatever. As soon as I get it home the manufacturer stops making that particular item. This means I can't find parts or partners for anything I own. Take my vacuum cleaner...please. It's a perfectly good vacuum, but the bags it uses are some rare breed of mythological vacuum cleaner bag. Stores don't carry them. Store owners doubt they exist. I think they're only found lurking in deep caves on Mt. Everest. Big hardware chains...no good. There's a little hardware store around the corner, Sunnyside Hardware and Paint, 1706 Queen St. West. I went in there with the idea that maybe a small store would have some dusty stock of my old-fashioned vacuum cleaner bags. They didn't... But the old gent who runs the place got on the phone and called vacuum cleaner repair shops and suppliers. Lo, he found a store that had a bag of bags. Problem - it was way the heck on the north side of Toronto. Near the 401, just shy of the frost line. So he offered to pick them up for me on his way home. He went out of his way to get me some vacuum cleaner bags, and didn't charge me a cent more (though I did tell him to keep the change...least I could do, really). That doesn't happen at big chains, and it's why I prefer shopping at ma and pa type stores. And it's why I'm advertising this excellent shop. Sunnyside Hardware and Paint, 1706 Queen St. West. If you live round about and need paint, I recommend them. Why? Because they're good people, and they'll do you right. If they don't have something, they'll do their best to get it for you. Besides, it keeps Toronto dollars in Toronto. |
