Rathbone's Ace True Value Hardware is on C-Street. It is my favorite hardware store of all time. If at all possible, I try to buy my supplies for the trailer there. There's a heavy set woman who sits all day at the one and only check out counter and as soon as I walk in the door she says, "What are you looking for?" I might say something like, "Aluminum polish." And she'll say, "Down the middle aisle, at the end, on your left." And there it is: Never Dull Aluminum Polish in the blue can. Exactly what I am looking for.
I am pretty sure it is the oldest hardware store in Springfield, and I am pretty sure that aluminum poilish has been stocked on the shelf at the end of the middle aisle since the 1950's. The lady at the checkout counter always asks to see my I.D. Even if I have been in there two days in a row, which I have been known to do.
She takes my debit card when I offer it for payment. Studies it. Then says with unvarying skepticism, "Can I see your I.D.?" She scrutinizes each card, then my face, and finally, grudgingly runs my payment through on the machine. I love this.
The other day I was in the store when a woman came in behind me. "What's this Rat Bone Hardware?" she says.
"Huh?" The check out lady says.
"Rat Bone. Why Rat Bone?"
"It's Rathbone," Check-out Lady says with a surprising degree of patience. "The "H" must've fallen off."
When I leave, I look over my shoulder at the sign but I see the "H" is securely attached. I like how it sounds though. And I like imagining the inventory of such a place.
Rat Bone Hardware.
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