The Missed Opportunity

Sunday, as water was quickly flowing into my basement during "the flood," I figured it was worth a small investment (or even a large one!) in a sump pump, or some other water pumping solution. So, off to the big box do-it-yourself store.

Having never looked for sump pumps before, I decided to save walking all over the store and asked information where pumps were. (I don't know if I intentionally left the word "sump" out or not, but I'm glad I did) The associate quickly said "we sold out of sump pumps hours ago, but we have garden and fountain pumps in the garden section.

Fountain pumps and sump pumps are not interchangeable, but in a pinch, a fountain pump was a whole lot better than trying to man a bucket line. Found one that would do a few hundred gallons per hour. It is also amazingly simple -- it's waterproof -- you hook up a hose and throw it in the water and it works. All I had to do was find the exit hose to use. Nowhere near where the pump was, of course, and no employees to be found. Now I had to walk the entire store to find where other plumbing stuff was. I did finally find everything, but no thanks to any store employees.

In the process of searching, I found where sump pumps would have been, and there were dozens (literally) of people standing there, long faces. The pain was so clear -- some of these people had water approaching their living space, and no sump pump to be found anywhere. And from the store's perspective, that was the end of the story. I don't know if a big fountain pump would have saved anyone, but it sure seems like something worth mentioning to desperate people.

So, I decided to be a bit proactive. I tracked down not one, but two different employees. I mentioned what a service they could provide if they just directed people to the other pumps and then helped them with the accessories needed to make it work. Both employees gave similar responses along the lines of "yeah, that would be a good idea." That was it! they responded to my idea and then went back to what they were doing. That pains me.

I left the store and I've felt a little guilty ever since. I wish I'd been more forceful getting somebody to take action. I came home and pumped a lot of water. I lost a little stuff. Some people lost everything. I don't know if a fountain pump would have helped, but I wish it had been offered as an option.