{"by":"jacquesm","id":738856,"kids":[738929,738914],"parent":738839,"text":"My story is just about the opposite of yours. I grew up in Amsterdam, there were only a few stores that sold electronic components and radio shack (tandy in europe) was one of those.<p>So, I went there quite frequently (age about 12) and became friends with the store manager. He would give me discounts on all kinds of stuff and allow me to scan his 'to be destroyed' batch for interesting bits & pieces.<p>When computers arrived (the trs-80 series) he allowed me to play with them as much as I wanted as long as I would help to explain to customers what they could do. This probably played a large factor in getting me on the track to programming for a living, which in turn led to just about everything else in my life.<p>So, even though radio shack the company has done lots of bad stuff in their time (their pull-out from europe was one of the nastiest business maneuvers ever) some of the people there were absolutely great.","time":1249289171,"type":"comment"}