Shopping Experiences with the Chick...Ace Hardware

Do you recall that I have a thing for chickens?

Farm Girl Feeding Chickens by Julien Dupre (1851-1910)

Anywhoo....rather than order chicks online, I decide to ask around and it turns out Ace Hardware here carries baby chicks! Yayyyyy Chicks!

It had been snowing, so I was all decked out in my rain boots. I had on big, loose jeans, red sweatshirt and my hair up in a loose knot. Sexiness, at it's best. Well, for this "farm" girl. I swear I looked the part.

I speak to the cashier and ask when they get their baby chicks. She tells me the end of February.Then she asks me if I would like a membership to their Agriculture group. Sure, is what I tell her and she wants to know if I would like to become a member. Cool, okay. Then she waves over one of the guys. She tells him I want to order chicks and want to become a member of the agriculture group.

His eyes light up, apparently this is a big deal!

Then he puts me on the spot.

What kind of chicks are you interested in, he asks.

My mind races. I tell him I am new to the area and I'm not sure if the breeds that I like will do well here. I rattle off a half dozen chicken breeds. He is obviously impressed with my chicken knowledge and we discuss the pros and cons of each breed. Then he asks how many am I interested in.

Well, Hell.
So, I bow my head down thoughtfully and come up with a rough approximation as to what I want.
I lift my head and tell him.

All light dims from his eyes. Well, he says, we get in about 9,000 chicks all different breeds starting at the end of February. He turns, shoulders slumped and walks away.

I finish my shopping and get in my vehicle. Before I leave the parking lot, I read over the membership form. It's a good program. Then I realized, OMG! He thought I was a bona fide chicken farmer and it turns out I'm just a city chick dressing like a farmer.

Ace Hardware brings in almost ten thousand chicks and I had only wanted a dozen chickens.

Sorry, Ace Hardware.  I'm an idiot.