There's so much unnecessary noise pollution in our society, it makes me really sad.
I was in my garage with my keys in my back pocket, checking the tire pressure on my truck, when it started honking at me. My butt triggered the panic button.
I have acute hearing. That was painful and hardly deliberate!
Once you first notice it you'll realize these machines are kinda everywhere
It is frequently referenced in American media, like South Park (in "D-Yikes") and Mike Judge's Beavis and Butthead (in "The Day Butt-Head Went Too Far"). And well, probably some other media that isn't adult cartoons, but for some reason that was what first immediately came to mind.
I was aware of the stereotype of Hispanic day laborers hanging out in Home Depot parking lots for a long time, but it was interesting to see the degree to which it seems to be true in California, where I often saw fairly large groups of people that I believed to be day laborers in the parking lot. I'm sure there are also day laborers at home improvement stores in the Midwest too, but I don't really pay that much attention, so I haven't noticed it much.
edit: I see I took too long to reply and now am the sixth or so person to point this out, sorry. Race condition.
Stereotype Accuracy is One of the Largest and Most Replicable Effects in All of Social Psychology - https://spsp.org/news-center/character-context-blog/stereoty...
In fact, quite shockingly to many, that prevailing twofold sentiment, which sees stereotypical thinking as faulty cognition and stereotypes themselves as patently inaccurate, is itself wrong on both counts. - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/2018...
Most stereotypes that have been studied have been shown to be approximately correct. Usually, stereotype accuracy correlations exceed .50, making them some of the largest relationships ever found in social psychology. - https://www.cspicenter.com/p/the-accuracy-of-stereotypes-dat...
I go to Home Depot more than is reasonable, and I’ve never been approached by them. You typically would need to solicit them yourself. In general I find them to be respectful and pleasant - I imagine otherwise they would get customer complaints and Home Depot would have them trespassed immediately.
From others experiences I’ve talked to, they usually form “crews” with one main “crew chief” guy who speaks English you negotiate a rate and number of workers you need, and any specific skills like concrete, framing, etc. beyond simple labor. You generally are expected to provide any tools needed to complete the job beyond what fits in a standard tool belt.
You need to go to the home improvement store to get materials for your job anyway, you can also pick up some people to help, too.
Why fuss on an app trying to figure out who to hire, when you can head over, say 'hey, who knows how to dig a foundation' or 'who can help me hang a door' or whatever your job is. Maybe find the worker first and they can help you shop for the stuff you need.
Drive them back to the lot at the end of the job.
Then you'd need to prove your identity and pay taxes on what you earn. This is for illegal immigrants working under the table.
Lots of illegal immigrants desperate for work
Noise Pollution Clearinghouse - https://nonoise.org/
Acoustilog Incorporated - https://acoustilog.com/ Of special note are the legal caveats one must consider to prevail in a lawsuit. (https://acoustilog.com/daniel.html) Consistent documentation is key.
Maine Code of Rules - Control of Noise https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/maine/06-096-C-M-R-c... Note document search terms "tonal" and "one-third octave".
I'd love to know the tech (and company) that provided the devices.
Home Depot's hands aren't totally clean here.
> The Home Depot leveraged Flock Safety’s technology to close a case involving a multi-state gift card tampering ring, resulting in fraud and property theft charges exceeding $300,000. This type of success underscores how powerful connected data can be in mitigating fraud risks. [0]
Aside from that, Home Depot has been dealing with massive, multi-state, organized theft campaigns. Earlier this month, NY prosecutors lodged 780 counts of theft against thirteen suspects who stole millions of dollars of merchandise from Home Depot stores in nine states [1].
Not everything is about illegal immigrants.
[0] https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/combating-retail-fraud-with... [1] https://queenseagle.com/all/2025/12/12/retail-theft-ring-tha...
It is really no different than having drug dealers set up shop on your corner and sharing footage with police. You have people who are likely committing criminal activity (multiple crimes in the day laborer case) and are sharing footage with the relevant authorities.
The politicization of enforcement doesn’t change that as a business owner I would not want to own the location people facilitate illegal transactions.
In your world view immigrants working jobs you find beneath you is the same as someone selling drugs?
> likely committing criminal activity
You understand that exploiting day laborers to circumvent labor laws puts the, mostly civil though vanishingly rare criminal, liability on the employer rather than the employee, right?
We use laws rather than your own personal hatred of immigrants to define criminality.
Working under the table without work authorization is actually spectacularly illegal as an employer and employee. Tax evasion is also spectacularly illegal as an individual.
What are you talking about?
But that's what you get with a fear-based political leadership. ICE targets day laborers not because of the horrible damage they do to the US economy, but because they have been selected as the scapegoats du jour.
Nothing? Why should they do anything?
Despite what is democratically voted? What is this, a threat?
Go cross illegally into Mexico and you can experience this.
I find it misleading to add this line in the article without mentioning if the decibels exceed the applicable noise ordinances, or situation this is just people on HD's property complaining about the noise they are making on their own property. In that case people are free not to visit.