Dobleve

I end up at the local hardware store a few times a month; most hardware stores here are small independent affairs with a small selection of very common things available to browse but with the bulk of the inventory upstairs or downstairs in a place for employees only. So of course to get most anything you have to go to the counter and ask for it; I enjoy chatting with the owner of the store when I go in but almost always end up trying to describe the item I want since I rarely know the specific word. It’s a little intimidating and embarrassing at times but it works.

A month ago we bought a new gas grill in preparation for summer; the gas part comes as a do-it-yourself kit. I needed to first decide which type of gas bottle I would use, there are several companies that sell them and they have different fittings on them. Next I needed to buy the regulator, some hose and hose clamps to hook it all up. I know 2 out of 3 of those words in Spanish, so I set off to the hardware store. After some fumbling I got my order in for all of it and learned a new word – hose clamp. Its embrazador, or literally “hugger”.

Today I found myself at the store again, this time to buy some parts to fix the door lock mechanism for one of our doors. I don’t know the words for these parts in English or Spanish but off I went. After the usual fumbling for the words we came to an understanding of what I needed and they went to look for it. It took an unusually long time to search, so I had some time to wait at the counter and observe.

I watched several people come in and ask for equally unique things – those magnetic latches you often use on kitchen cabinet doors to hold them shut, cotter pins, and something else I didn’t recognize. What became clear is that I’m not alone in not knowing the words for these things, everyone who came to the counter had a routine similar to mine – try to describe the thing, perhaps have an old broken one to show. I felt a little better afterwards.