A more efficient but less personal world

In the mid-1990s, I'd regularly head into my local family hardware store - a clueless homeowner with a broken this or that resigned to spending $100-plus on some replacement.

More times than I could count, I'd walk out with a $3 receipt and the know-how needed to fix what I already had from guys in the shop.

The shop has long since closed, doomed by giant box stores and their ability to deal in bulk.