Any ever hired a day-laborer from the Home Depot parking lot?

I have many times. I wouldn't take a chance on them for skilled labor but for doing some yard work or something like that its pretty safe.

I have a spinoff question. What do you do when you only need 2-3 out of the two dozen? Do they have a pecking order, first come first hired, or by task required?

My buddy works on a contract basis installing aluminum handicap ramps. He pays them $10 hr plus lunch. Normally orders pizza for them. He also biys them a case of beer when done.

My question is, why have I never seen any at hd or lowes in shreveport? I know we've got enough.

This is a service I would use lol.

I have hired them a couple of times and had good experience.

my advice is to remember that they are perfectly intelligent people...folks who are willing to travel to another country to work are generally pretty high quality people.

there will generally be a few in the bunch who speak English and kind of head the whole shite up...just go by and tell them what you are looking for and they will sort through the deal to find who is available for you.

be respectful and don't expect them to work all day for $5 or any kind of shite like that...you are generally going to pay $10 or so per hour for someone who will work hard and can speak a little English.

buy some lunch for them and act respectful and you will have a good experience...

No, but once I was approached by a crack prostitute in a Home Depot parking lot and for a second I considered hiring her. I decided not to. Probably a good decision.

Yes, it's awesome. Be nice and generous when you get some serious stud workers. I figure about $15/hr if I'm going to have them all day. Do a few other nice things like a cheap lunch and some beers and they're ecstatic. If you only need them for a few hours, realize they won't get another gig that day so be up front about it and be prepared to go $20ish/ hr.

Bottom line, I might seem uber cheap or generous from the experiences I've described but everyone I've hired has been grateful. I've done it 10 or 15 times and I've never once had a bad experience. It's really eye opening to see how hard most of these people are willing to work.