Not understanding how it would bog down lines at the checkout area.

Also, surprised they would even stock ice scrapers in LA.

Frosty enough to need them in SoCal... even in San Diego.

I went there once in July, and it was fucking cold,
especially at night.

and was surprised just how cold it got at night ...

Of my family have lived there for decades, I have too off and on before the '90s. It gets frosty whether you're at the beach, in the mountains or out in the desert.

It just does.

Unlike the inland deserts, humidity in the coastal areas increases as the temperature drops. So it's a damp cold, with the reverse effect of humid heat.

Tell that to those of us who live in the upper Midwest snow belt.

Hell, when it's 50, we put shorts on.

Here in Boise it's much the same. A 50F day in winter means shorts and t-shirts. In coastal SoCal, people are acclimated to constant 65F-85F daytime temperatures with low humidity. Whenever it gets cooler and damper at night, it's perceived as being very cold. After a couple of weeks, even folks arriving from much colder climates will experience the same effect, myself included some years ago.

I'm acclimated to heat. It has to get above 80F
before I even start to feel warm.

I was at a protest at the capital a few years ago
and met some people from Minnesota who were
struggling with the heat, which of course I didn't
even feel.

I told them you have to get acciimated by getting
out in the heat often, every day.

I think that's why the Pacific coast felt so cold to me.

cold in the 50's. I'm from KCMO and we have cold winters and I love cold weather. I run hot and know how to dress for it but that's back home - when I visit. I've also been in Minnesota, during winter, a few times when I was in my teens, once when it was 40 below. That was insane.

However, I've lived in SoCal for 35 years and I do find I have to put on a long sleeved shirt around 65 degrees or below if I'm idle (working from home, watching a movie, etc). 50's are definitely chilly and can feel downright cold especially at night.... but a couple of blankets and warm PJ's are good for me. I can only imagine how cold it is for people who don't run hot. The mountain areas and the cities closer to them tend to get more intense weather, thunderstorms and wind, which exacerbates the cold.

The only place I cannot beat the cold has been at the beach at night. That ocean air is penetrating.

And, when it hits 70F, you are all hiding in your house with the AC cranked up.

When it hits 80, you are passing out in the streets.

Meanwhile, people on the Mid-Atlantic coast are out sunning on the beach in 96F with 90% humidity all freaking day with a bottle of water and a pack of nabs.

So, yes, after moving up here I freeze to death every winter. (Although not as much as when we first got here. So much for climate change being a hoax, eh?)

But, now that it is normal for summer days to be in the 90s around here, I spend the summer laughing as I walk down the street wearing jeans while the locals are in shorts and only going outside in order to get the mail.

(Hell, one person I know doesn't even go outside if he doesn't want to. He gets into his car in the garage, drives to his work garage which is under his building, gets out and goes into the building. That building has a few restaurants and a bodega so he literally doesn't have to leave it all day. Then, back into the car and back to his home garage. Never sets foot outside. That thought makes my skin crawl, to be honest.)

It ruins you for the real world. Not to mention the state sucks.

to defrost my chest freezer.

No need to shit on it repeatedly.

I'm about 1.5 hr away from several options. I'm in Hollywood. You need to be ready w/ scrapers and chains.

She says there’s maybe a couple of days every three years or so in her part of Monrovia where if you don’t have an ice scraper you’ll be late for work.

She also reminded me that Home Depot is a huge chain, and they might stock a few thousand here and there in SoCal so they can move them to Ohio or whatever when they’re running out.

If they use self checkout, they could have "problems" that require assistance.

Flood the store and get in shoppers way. Give the store a bad yelp rating.

The poor clerks and the customers who may not have an alternate similar store to go to.
I doubt that corporate really gives a shit about long lines in this season.

And I’ll remind you, protests need to be inconvenient to be effective.

protests need to be inconvenient to be effective. I know protests need to be visible. I like education as a component. Frankly, I think friendliness is appropriate. I attend a weekly vigil, and people drive by with a wave or thumbs up. They may honk. Some walk by and thank us for being there. A few argue. We try not to inconvenience anyone.

As for HD, I don't shop there.

If it doesn’t bother anyone, it doesn’t matter.

Maybe a few of them.

Stealing is not the right course

I don't even take extra ketchup packets from Burger King.

as clever protest strategy ?
Wowzah !

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we're not republicans

Last edited Sun Nov 23, 2025, 06:38 PM - Edit history (1)

It looks like self service return. I think we have that. It requires a lot of store assistance. Not really sure since I go to an independent. local hardware store.

Seeing huge lines discourages other customers. They dump what they were going to buy and go elsewhere.

It’s worth watching just to see the expressions of the protesters.

How many returns were made and know that their policy is disdained by customers. They will also see how much in resources their policy costs.

Add in a bunch of random plumbing fittings etc. Stuff that would be really aggravating to have to restock individually. That would take a lot more time to return than one item. One could also get in line and then right before getting to check out, just abandon it and walk away.

to restock all of that crap before they can punch out and go home to their lives.
Don't do that.

You're out in the store away from management's eye. Customers stop & ask you where things are. I enjoyed it much more than checking.

Stated intent is to bog down, inconvenience and frustrate ... Disgusted employees are clearly a cost considered acceptable, or necessary. Can't deliberately piss a bunch of people off - then claim .....
Doesn't work that way.

low level, low paid employee.

...to support your cause?

If not, then don't worry about it.

Just curious if you would support the tactics in the OP at your store? Dozens of people buying cheap items and then returning them immediately to make it difficult for customers.

ICE going to a place where one would expect undocumented workers isn't unexpected. What exactly is Home Depot supposed to be doing? Putting an employee outside isn't going to do anything. They can't ban ICE from the property preemptively.

We all work with mutual friendly objectives of providing our customers with what they need and getting them out the door to get to their jobs.

Abandoning loaded carts or platforms in front of the cashier sabotages our job; creates time and frustration jams for our customers.

Mass buying -and-returning actions, to jam up what is already a difficult and fast-paced activity for employees and customers, would not be viewed as helpful by either employees or our customers. Basically, the people doing this would be viewas misguided unwelcome shitheads. All they do is cause pain and problems for working people trying to get the job done.

That's pretty cheap

I'm a little confused. The article states:

My impression is that ICE targets Home Depot parking lots, because that is where (mainly Latino) day laborers congregate. That is certainly my experience in California and other states. But ICE swooping into the parking lot to have a go at what they think is a target rich environment isn't the same as the company itself taking steps.

If anything, day laborers in the parking lot help Home Depot. People looking for workers are also going to pick up materials while there. Given how synonymous Home Depot has become with the practice, I imagine their financial interest was to turn a blind eye to whatever was happening out in the lot. Which would be the opposite of assisting the Trump administration.

This seems . . . unfocused. I read the article with some protesters' rationales, but it isn't convincing. Like this:



I guess I just don't understand the desire to affect customers and the business. Home Depot has always been really chill about day laborers. ICE isn't in their stores. They're swooping into the parking lots.

I see all kinds of social media accusations that Home Depot is "colluding" with ICE somehow, but I haven't seen any real evidence of it. Just assertions that it's happening. Sounds like people want a target for their anger. They can't affect Trump, but they can go down the street and find a store to be angry at.

I dunno. Activism should have obtainable goals. Activism for the sake of activisting can devolve into futile masturbatory posturing. This Home Depot stuff feels more in that vein. They've bothered customers and sent the company a message that maybe they should be more mindful of what's going on in their parking lots.

Which would seem to veer towards the opposite outcome of what people like Ms. Andiola say they want.

Any indications that HDepot is actually 'dimeing' these folks - or inviting or offering coordination with these raids?
I'd be surprised if 'corporate' is doing any such thing. Simple reason, that it is NOT in any way adding to their bottom line.

And all I see are the assertions without cited evidence.

I am much more receptive to boycotts/disruptions if Home Depot is actively colluding with ICE. But so far, it seems like people are mad that Home Depot employees are not manning the parapets with rifles to shoo away ICE or something? Do they want the parking lots barricaded?

I'm pissed about this stuff, too. But reading the article, I just didn't get it. Feels like spraying attacks wherever to feel like something's being done.

At the end of the day, only something as large as a general strike (which will never happen) or - and I'm just spitballing - actually voting will achieve the ends people claim they are seeking.

Smart .. ? Effective .. ?
About the best I can come away with is that - sometimes making some noise and drawing attention, is a positive in and of itself .... So there is that. And kudos and nods to people that are trying ....

People are free of course to not spend their $$ anywhere they like. My favorite is people boycotting some business that they would never frequent in the first place. Even though I haven't drank any coffee beverage for 50 years, I can smugly say I'm boycotting Starbucks over their union stance and gain some street cred.

There is often some umbrage at a comment a CEO supposedly said a dozen or more years ago. When the boycotters are told that the person hasn't been CEO since 2015, the typical response to justify it is that the former CEO still likely owns stock, so a boycott is still costing him/her. If they are deceased, then it hurts the estate. Whatever. My BIL who is an avid gun enthusiast is adamant about boycotting McDonalds over some anti gun something or other that happened 20 plus years ago.

Nearly every business bans solicitation in their parking lots. Wouldn't surprise me if HD does the same; too much liability. I personally don't understand how people have this much spare time to wait in lines to buy a 17 ¢ item and then wait in more lines to return it. Volunteering at an animal rescue group or food bank would seem be much more beneficial IMO.

that no ice/border patrol can enter without a valid warrant signed by a judge.

When there's reasonable suspicion of a crime law enforcement can investigate. If the cops see someone driving without headlights at night in a parking lot, they can pull that person over. With it being common knowledge that undocumented people hanging out in a Home Depot parking lot looking for day work, and the court having ruled a broad interpretation of probable cause including being Hispanic and speaking Spanish, I don't think a sign has legal authority to stop the police in the parking lot. Inside might be different because it's less public. But I haven't heard of any arrests happening inside a Home Depot.

If we want to counteract the propaganda that "Democrats don't support working people," maybe we shouldn't do things that create more hassle & hardship for working people.

Just a thought.

The fact my daughter works the return desk at a HD store has no bearing on this....

Haven't shopped there in a decade.

...thinking outside the box. Love it when people are both smart and clever.

Take your negativity and stick it up your tight behind.

Link to tweet

That explains why a HD in LA would stock them because they aren't actual auto windshield ice scrapers. Those they don't sell at that store.

Here is what an ice scraper looks like