I was running around today comparing dovetail templates for routers. I stopped at Lowes and asked the clerk in the tool section if they had any." Yep, right in the cabinet with the router bits," she replies. I asked her if they're behind all the ones showing and she says yes.
She hunts for the keys to open the case and starts to slide the bits around. I notice there isn't any room behind the bits and tell her I need a template not a bit. She asked me again what it was I was looking for -- dovetail template for a router I say (again). Oh, she says, would that be a like a drill bit or saw blade, because those are over here. So (I wasn't in a hurry and wondered just how stupid this was going to get before I gave up) I explained what it was and how it worked. She finally said, she didn't think they carried them anymore
-- sigh.
BTW, she was training a new clerk in that section at the time!
P.S. for those Sears bashers out there, I asked the same question at Sears. Not only did he take me where they were stored, but we opened the boxes and read the instructions and looked over what kind of bits to use. Then he invited me to the next meeting of the local woodworkers club. While I will I admit this is not always normal service for Sears, it sure was refreshing after Lowes.