Hardware Stores: The Land that Time Forgot

I know nothing about home improvement. I am the least handy person on the face of the planet. I am fine with this. But every once in a while, even I must go to the hardware store. And it always fills me with dread.

We have two hardware stores here in town. They both smell the same (that identical dark, musty, "you're in a hardware store" scent). Neither one is well lit. They both have a very eclectic mix of products (smoke detectors, Crayola crayons, vacuum cleaner bags, bike locks, etc.). Neither seems to have been touched by time -- I expect to see Andy and Barney wandering the aisles along with me.

And I hate asking for help in both stores.

In the first store, I'm "Little Lady." The store manager smiles too wide, talks a little too loud, and pretty much treats me as though I'm brave but benighted. Poor thing, all alone, no man to help her navigate the world of hardware.

In the second one, I'm invisible. I don't know enough, and I'm not going to spend enough, to bother with. The store clerk wordlessly pressed the replacement toilet flapper in my hand and then returned to his conversation with a coworker.

So what's worse -- to be condescended to, or ignored? And is this unique to hardware stores? Are there other establishments which seem determined to make their customers feel not worthy?