The other day I was in a large home improvement store because I needed to buy a coping saw. I was making a wood project--which I hardly ever do--that required lots of cutting of curved lines, and that's what a coping saw is for (in case you weren't sure).
So how often does one actually go to the store looking to buy a coping saw? Maybe once in a lifetime, right? I went to the tool section and looked in the saw area. I saw every kind of saw imaginable: hack saws, hand saws, sheetrock saws, keyhole saws, and tree saws to name a few. There was, however, one hanger that was completely empty...yup, you guessed it, there were no coping saws. The one lousy time I wanted to buy one - it wasn't there.
So, not to be outdone, I went to another large home improvement retailer. I quickly went to the tool aisle and found even more saws...but no coping saw. I cornered the dude that worked there and asked if he had any coping saws stashed away somewhere...
"No, I wish I did," he said. "I've had them on order for three weeks and I have no idea when they'll be here. Everyone keeps asking for them."
First of all I find it odd that so many people are looking for these saws at the same time. Second, is there only one lousy company making these things and they took off for the holidays?
So I was about to give up when I decided to go a little out of my way and hit the small county hardware store about 30 minutes away. I got there just before they closed and the place was a mess from the day's shoppers. I finally found a coping saw buried under some other saws. "Finally!" I exlcaimed. "The last coping saw in 50 miles!"
I got home. It was late. I decided to start my project the next day, so I went into the basement to find a good place to stash the saw. I had a packing box full of tools from my recent move and figured that was a good place for now. I opened the box and there on the top was--yup, you guessed it again--another coping saw!!
I guess maybe once-in-a-lifetime purchase was not the right phrase.