That LBS employee was engaged in what I often hear of as "man-splaining". His mention of the directional chain may have just been his modern bike bias showing. I've had FLAPS or dealership employees offer to sell me the belt tensioner when I'm buying v-belts for my '85 Ford; I try to answer as politely as possible.
I liken LBS and car dealership employees to "pediatricians", trained and accustomed to dealing with 1 to 5 year olds. Technologies that we take for granted, that were once "conventional", are "exotic" to them. C&V-ers, and those who keep "older" motor vehicles, should be on the lookout for "gerontologists", the people who work in old-school self-managed shops, who know where every obscure tool and every squirreled-away part is located.
The "rule of thumb" I recall from BITD, to measure chain elongation -- remember that the span between two pins is (well, should be) exactly 1/2 inch. So a "full link" (outer + inner) is 1 inch. So measure 12 full links, center-of-pin to center-of-pin. If the pin center of that last link is more than 1/16 inch beyond the 12 inches, the chain is shot. If you work on a lot of bikes, this -
https://www.parktool.com/product/chain-checker-cc-2 - comes in handy. A little spendy brand new; I think I got mine at "the swap" a few years ago for $10. It's paid for itself in spades.
Originally Posted by
TriBiker19
When I was in Seattle and didn't want to upgrade to leather seats, I'd tell the salesperson I was vegan and then act offended.
I parlayed a similar experience into a few thousand 20-ish years ago. Attended an informational gathering at the local furrier, handing out info about the fur industry to customers as they entered. Totally friendly/cordial. Happened to be across the street from a car dealer, that happened to have a 5-speed Saturn wagon on the used lot (unusual sight) that I happened to be in the market for. Went in the next week for a test drive, decided to buy the car, and as the sales guy went off to do some paperwork, I overhear another salesman talking about "those radical protesters last Friday, probably wearing leather shoes, blah blah blah". I stepped up and asked how he knew what they were wearing. Told him I was there, wearing hemp shoes, and that's when I saw the car that I'm now thinking of NOT buying. The other guy present was the manager of the dealer. Without my asking, he knocked two grand off the price, added an extended warranty (which I ended up using, twice), and gave me a grand more in trade than I was going to sell my old car for. Got a feeling that salesman didn't even get the set of steak knives that month...
And yes, I was "acting" offended; takes a lot more than a blowhard uninformed car salesman to offend me.