“A SCREW? What good is that?! Where’s the stuff that civilization was built on? Like FLASH #177, and his super giant head? THAT”S where I spend my money!" (20 SECONDS AGO) “Oh wait, random child…I was asking about where the bathroom was.” (5 SECONDS FROM NOW, shaking something from pants leg) “Umm…Never mind!”
Been away for a couple of days, and I see we are plunging once more into a “local mom-and-pop institution stops being used by its customers, who then wonder when it goes away” storyline that is supposed to make readers think wistfully about vanishing small businesses, movie theaters, print newspapers, etc. in our own lives. Sorry, not happening.
Also, whoever the friend of Batiuk or Davis is that was the model for the store clerk in today’s strip, I hope you liked it.
Coincidentally, Ed’s policy of purchasing only one screw at a time is the same reason that Centerville’s oldest continually operating bordello is also going out of business.
I like how Davis has everybody facing one direction so that Ed can look us all in the eye to deliver his ‘punchline’, that he’s emphasizing to us all that, “Yes, I’m Ed Crankshaft, and I’m an a**hole.”
Anyway,if Ed made a large purchase the st ore owner would phone warnings to the neighbors about a disastrous home improvement project that would start soon.
Ya’ll remember the day? Our town had Martin’s Lumber Co. and Cramlen’s Hardware. Nothing was sealed in hard air-tight plastic. You could buy just a few nails or screws if that’s what you needed. If a kid went in to ask for one screw about yay long, the clerk would help him find it and probably give it to him no charge. Don’t tell me the old days weren’t better. Sure kids would fight but only until one gave up. The fights didn’t end in stabbing or shooting.
Cranky, you’ll need to buy more than one screw at a time to save the hardware store; you’ll need to stop patronizing the online stores for what you can buy (without shipping) in the local stores; you are missing more than one screw.
If we’re seeing the exact same characters from essentially the exact same angle, why are the backgrounds in both panels so drastically different? (I mean, yesterday, one could assume that Ed and Rictus Humonculus had walked past the store in panel 2 and only then saw the sign that the hardware store was closing in panel 1, so it at least made some sense. But here… even if we assume they moved to a different part of the store… WHY would you structure the comic like that? Especially since Davis recycles at least 90% of the artwork anyway, so it would make more sense to have the same background in both panels.)
That’s what happened to Radio Shack. Both amateur and professional designers would run to Radio Shack for a part they didn’t know they would need. But you can’t pay the rent selling a capacitor or a pack of resistors or an LED. That part might go into a big time project, but that didn’t make any difference to Radio Shack.
It is a shame we are loosing the neighborhood hardware store like ACE and are left with the big box stores. Where else can you buy one screw rather than 19 more I don’t need. I have piles of nuts, bolts, screws, and nails cluttering my workbench but never the one I need.
Unfortunately we have reached a point where this is becoming increasingly inevitable. Previously the big boxes and malls were killing the downtown stores. Now even the big stores carry limited selections with many options available only online. Used to have a large grocery store downtown within walking distance was convenient and enjoyable walk . Then a new store was built at a mall at other end of town. Yes it is newer and bigger, i would not say better and more convenient. Of course the mall continues to grow so they are serving the larger community which I understand. Meanwhile the corporation is willing to allow the old store to sit vacant, decay and become an eyesore rather than allow someone to use a prime downtown retail space to become their competition.
Bill Thompson about 1 month ago
Now watch Ed drop it on the way home. Or maybe Mitch will swallow it.
[Unnamed Reader - 8bb645] about 1 month ago
Usually, they’re packaged many places, but I still get several, probably will need/ find a use for multiple.
billsplut about 1 month ago
“A SCREW? What good is that?! Where’s the stuff that civilization was built on? Like FLASH #177, and his super giant head? THAT”S where I spend my money!" (20 SECONDS AGO) “Oh wait, random child…I was asking about where the bathroom was.” (5 SECONDS FROM NOW, shaking something from pants leg) “Umm…Never mind!”
J.J. O'Malley about 1 month ago
Been away for a couple of days, and I see we are plunging once more into a “local mom-and-pop institution stops being used by its customers, who then wonder when it goes away” storyline that is supposed to make readers think wistfully about vanishing small businesses, movie theaters, print newspapers, etc. in our own lives. Sorry, not happening.
Also, whoever the friend of Batiuk or Davis is that was the model for the store clerk in today’s strip, I hope you liked it.
comixbomix about 1 month ago
They’re both screwed, turns out.
J.J. O'Malley about 1 month ago
Coincidentally, Ed’s policy of purchasing only one screw at a time is the same reason that Centerville’s oldest continually operating bordello is also going out of business.
Fetzee about 1 month ago
All hardware store owners look like that
French Persons Premium Member about 1 month ago
What’s with this confusing format of the second panel now being “XX seconds earlier”?
Gent about 1 month ago
Ya knows there a reason why punchlines is always come at the last panel. It no make it any better to screw up the order of the panels.
ladykat about 1 month ago
Because you only buy one screw at a time.
Foob about 1 month ago
I like how Davis has everybody facing one direction so that Ed can look us all in the eye to deliver his ‘punchline’, that he’s emphasizing to us all that, “Yes, I’m Ed Crankshaft, and I’m an a**hole.”
[Unnamed Reader - 14b4ce] about 1 month ago
They SELL one screw at a time?
Anyway,if Ed made a large purchase the st ore owner would phone warnings to the neighbors about a disastrous home improvement project that would start soon.
rockyridge1977 about 1 month ago
Don’t that beat all!!!!!
anamchara42 about 1 month ago
This is why I support local, small businesses whenever possible.
lemonbaskt about 1 month ago
hardware humor is a big trend in 2024
Irish53 about 1 month ago
P 3: [20 seconds later] – “…one screw? …you can just have it, now get the **** out of here and don’t ever come back, ya’ cheap b*****d….”
DawnQuinn1 about 1 month ago
These days screws come in packs of 25 or more. The days of a barrel of screws sold by weight is long gone.
JustPlainBob about 1 month ago
Ya’ll remember the day? Our town had Martin’s Lumber Co. and Cramlen’s Hardware. Nothing was sealed in hard air-tight plastic. You could buy just a few nails or screws if that’s what you needed. If a kid went in to ask for one screw about yay long, the clerk would help him find it and probably give it to him no charge. Don’t tell me the old days weren’t better. Sure kids would fight but only until one gave up. The fights didn’t end in stabbing or shooting.
JudithStocker about 1 month ago
The expression on the man behind the counter says it all about Ed’s question.
Linda Schweiner Premium Member about 1 month ago
Maybe if he didn’t order everything else from the ’Bean’s End’ catalog, the local hardware store wouldn’t be going out of business.
charliefarmrhere about 1 month ago
Never seen where I could buy just one, at least at the big box stores. They also seem to come in odd numbers, like a pack of five when you needed six.
B UTTONS about 1 month ago
Cranky, you’ll need to buy more than one screw at a time to save the hardware store; you’ll need to stop patronizing the online stores for what you can buy (without shipping) in the local stores; you are missing more than one screw.
Medtech4 about 1 month ago
It’s not a random child. It’s his great grandson!
Brian Perler Premium Member about 1 month ago
If we’re seeing the exact same characters from essentially the exact same angle, why are the backgrounds in both panels so drastically different? (I mean, yesterday, one could assume that Ed and Rictus Humonculus had walked past the store in panel 2 and only then saw the sign that the hardware store was closing in panel 1, so it at least made some sense. But here… even if we assume they moved to a different part of the store… WHY would you structure the comic like that? Especially since Davis recycles at least 90% of the artwork anyway, so it would make more sense to have the same background in both panels.)
WilliamMedlock about 1 month ago
That’s what happened to Radio Shack. Both amateur and professional designers would run to Radio Shack for a part they didn’t know they would need. But you can’t pay the rent selling a capacitor or a pack of resistors or an LED. That part might go into a big time project, but that didn’t make any difference to Radio Shack.
Al Fresco about 1 month ago
It is a shame we are loosing the neighborhood hardware store like ACE and are left with the big box stores. Where else can you buy one screw rather than 19 more I don’t need. I have piles of nuts, bolts, screws, and nails cluttering my workbench but never the one I need.
KenDHoward1 about 1 month ago
Seems to be the way of it … A lot of places I loved to shop at ain’t there anymore for the same reason depicted here … “Interesting times”, eh?
rbrt6956 about 1 month ago
Unfortunately we have reached a point where this is becoming increasingly inevitable. Previously the big boxes and malls were killing the downtown stores. Now even the big stores carry limited selections with many options available only online. Used to have a large grocery store downtown within walking distance was convenient and enjoyable walk . Then a new store was built at a mall at other end of town. Yes it is newer and bigger, i would not say better and more convenient. Of course the mall continues to grow so they are serving the larger community which I understand. Meanwhile the corporation is willing to allow the old store to sit vacant, decay and become an eyesore rather than allow someone to use a prime downtown retail space to become their competition.