this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2024
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Can someone explain the joke to the Europeans? We don't have either of those and I have no idea what this means. I know Best Buy is a electronics store and Home Depot is a hardware store, but I have no idea what the parking lots have to do with it. In Europe it's more common for shops to be all close together with a shared parking lot in between.
I assume the joke is (usually undocumented) people look for work in the parking lots of Home Depots, hoping to be hired for day labor, and the same may happen with the nerd glut in our culture and Best Buys.
I've never witnessed this as I live in a smaller city in Northern MN but it's a cliche here in the States.
The nerds haven't hung out at best buys in years. They're a glorified appliance store now.
Last time I went into one for a computer part, they had 3 colors of the same case fan and two different GPUs, and that was it.
Now MicroCenter, that's where it's at.
Ah, right, Best Buy was the Geek Squad. That's who would be hanging out there.
Where is there one? I know of one north of Atlanta and one in Dallas. There just ain’t one in Washington
There's 1 in most major cities. I love Micro Center to death, but I sincerely doubt that most Americans live within 20 or 30 minutes of one.
Yeah, west coast is a bit barren for micro center. One in LA, one in SF (when they open). I have 3 in my state (Ohio) but their headquarters is also here so shrug
I've seen this at every Home Depot and Lowe's that I have ever been to. There are always day laborers looking for work.
I wonder if it's regional
I've lived and traveled all over the Pacific Northwest and been to many hardware stores throughout, and never seen it myself.
Not sure about lately, but ten years ago the Home Depot on Aurora in Seattle always had a group of guys hanging out near the entrance.
This is probably it and I was totally lost. Thank you.
I didn't get it either and am American.
Day Laborers Home Depot Parking Lot
I have not seen this myself, but I have relatives that own several rental property and they often see people in Home Depot parking lots just standing around waiting for work. They'd then talk to them and offer them to work on their properties. I think the reason is that these are likely either undocumented immigrants or new immigrants that cant find a job, so they just stand around hoping someone will offer them work. They are probably cheaper than a US citizen worker doing the same thing. Although, the quality of work will vary, and the quality of their work is... questionable. (I mean, they aren't gonna have licenses or anything)
I'm not sure about Home Depot but Walmart is known for letting people camp in their cars on the parking lot where as many other stores don't so I assume this is a joke about IT people sleeping in their cars on the Best Buy parking lot.
Letting people camp? What do you mean ?
Homeless and van-life people for example tend to favour these kinds of parking lots for when they need a place to park overnight and sleep in their vehicles. Some other stores send staff knocking on your window and telling you to go elsewhere.
Walmart sends the police after people who sleep in their cars. I know because it happened to me when I was homeless.