laefd
05-31-2005, 02:54 PM
Had to have my car inspected (state requirement) and while waiting for over an hour for the 10 minute process to begin, I watched those in the service bays go about their assigned tasks. One fella in particular caught my attention. He was replacing the wiper blades on a Honda Civic which is a fairly simple and straightforward task. But this fella`s technique, rather than his skills, is what caught my attention. As he popped off and removed the blade arm, he simply dropped the arm onto the hood of the car - OUCH!!!! I cringed again as he repeated the process on the other wiper arm and then again and again as he tossed the new wiper arms (complete with hard plastic packaging) back on top of the hood.
Now I`m not one to get involved, especially when uninvited, but I just couldn`t help myself. In striking up a conversation with the fella and mentioning that he must be very careful to just flip the stuff around all over the hood like that and not scratch the paint, he calmly looked puzzled at first and then simply stated, "It`s automotive paint...you can`t really scratch the stuff unless you really try or don`t know what you`re doing". WOW, I said. I then asked him what all those small swirly looking scratches were in the hood of the car he was working on (car was only a few years old but swirl city). Again, he didn`t seem to initially appreciate the question, but upon further review simply replied that the swirls were from polishing and that`s what gave cars their shine.
I made absolutely certain of a few things that very moment.... 1) kept an unblinking eye on my car the entire time it was being inspected, 2) make absolutely certain not to allow this fella anywhere near my car, 3) made an unforgettable mental note to never return to the establishment, 4) got the heck out of there ASAP!
Oh yeah, my car passed easily with no grease stains on the leather seats or carpet! I told `em I was in a big rush and to forget the carpet vacuuming and window cleaning (I always hate to pass up the complimentary community bucket of dirty water and squeegee, but enough is enough)!
Now I`m not one to get involved, especially when uninvited, but I just couldn`t help myself. In striking up a conversation with the fella and mentioning that he must be very careful to just flip the stuff around all over the hood like that and not scratch the paint, he calmly looked puzzled at first and then simply stated, "It`s automotive paint...you can`t really scratch the stuff unless you really try or don`t know what you`re doing". WOW, I said. I then asked him what all those small swirly looking scratches were in the hood of the car he was working on (car was only a few years old but swirl city). Again, he didn`t seem to initially appreciate the question, but upon further review simply replied that the swirls were from polishing and that`s what gave cars their shine.
I made absolutely certain of a few things that very moment.... 1) kept an unblinking eye on my car the entire time it was being inspected, 2) make absolutely certain not to allow this fella anywhere near my car, 3) made an unforgettable mental note to never return to the establishment, 4) got the heck out of there ASAP!
Oh yeah, my car passed easily with no grease stains on the leather seats or carpet! I told `em I was in a big rush and to forget the carpet vacuuming and window cleaning (I always hate to pass up the complimentary community bucket of dirty water and squeegee, but enough is enough)!