Okay so last Thursday I’m staring at this pile of deflated pool floats – unicorn, pizza slice, that giant flamingo – and my crappy manual pump just snapped. Again. Summer party’s in two days and I’m like, screw this, need an electric inflator NOW but Amazon delivery window said four days. Four days! Flamingo’s gonna be flat as a pancake by then.
The “Oh Crap” Moment
Grabbed my phone like a madman typing “pool inflator near me” into Google. First results? All big box stores ten miles away. Checked Walmart’s site – showed “limited stock” but you know that lie. Last time it said “in stock” I drove 20 minutes just to find empty hooks. Refused to get fooled again.
Gas Station Goldmine?
Remembered that sketchy gas station near the interstate exit always has weird seasonal stuff. Drove over hoping for a miracle. Walked past the beef jerky tower and found exactly two things: a dusty bike pump and pool chlorine tablets. Clerk shrugged: “We sold the last inflator yesterday, bro.” Waste of gas, literally.
Swimming Pool Savior
Then it hit me – duh, check actual POOL SUPPLY stores! Searched “pool supplies” on maps and found three within three miles. Called the first one: straight to voicemail. Second place picked up after eight rings, guy sounded half asleep but said: “Yeah we got handheld ones and big blower ones.” Jackpot.
What I Saw On Shelves
- Three handheld electric ones around $25 – batteries included
- One industrial plug-in beast ($60) that looked like it could inflate a car
- Zero manual pumps (good riddance)
- Aisle full of floaties literally mocking my empty backyard
Snagged the mid-priced handheld one, paid cash. Whole trip took less than 90 minutes. Back home, that unicorn was puffed up in 30 seconds. Best part? Saw the same inflator online later for $5 more. Sometimes old-school legwork wins.
Moral of the story? When summer emergencies hit, skip the delivery wait and just call those weird niche stores. Their dusty shelves might save your party.