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...literally.
I've had a very long couple of weeks thanks to a certain group of “gentlemen.” For those of you who don't know, I work as a designer for a cabinet shop/dealer. We make custom cabinets, but we also sell high-end factory cabinets. Back in November, we got the opportunity to do an estimate for a model home in a high-end development. We're talking, homes starting around a million. I did an initial estimate, and the developers decided that they were interested enough to come pay us a little visit.
There are four developers in this group, and none of them seem to be what you might call “normal.” One lives here locally, and he seems to be OK. Another one will make a surprise appearance later on in the story. The third one is pretty much invisible, but the fourth...ah, he's special. Let's call him Steve.
Steve reminds me of a wannabe mafioso, very loud and demanding. He arrives at our showroom looking like he just rolled out of bed: unshaven, hair unkempt, rumpled clothing, and slippers. (No kidding.) He always comes to visit with the local developer and a mysterious third party, who we'll call Bob. Bob looks like he was a bouncer/boxer/hitman in his youth, and could probably break your kneecaps with a baseball bat. We don't know Bob's last name, nor do we know what he does. We simply joke about him being the “enforcer.” (Behind his back, of course.) Back to Steve, though. Steve decides to test the quality of our cabinetry by banging on every cabinet door in our showroom within range of his large knuckles.
*BANG BANG BANG* “I wouldn't put this in a laundry room!” (Banging on an expensive pine hutch.)
*BANG BANG BANG* “Now, this is solid. This is quality!” (Banging on a cheaper painted maple door.)
I attempted in vain to convince him that pine, being a softer and lighter wood, is not necessarily a lesser quality than maple, despite the fact that maple “sounds solid.” He is so convinced of his theory on the matter that he went on a banging spree in the other model home in this development, where another local company has already installed their cabinets. The local granite guy, who was on site at the time, called us in complete confusion to ask if there actually was a way to tell the quality of a cabinet simply by knocking on it. The poor guy has been in the business as long as we have, and we assured him that Steve is merely nuts.
I'll have to get to the rest of the story later, as it's getting late. Keep in mind that I've been dealing with the insanity of this development group for a couple of months now. There's plenty more to come!
I've had a very long couple of weeks thanks to a certain group of “gentlemen.” For those of you who don't know, I work as a designer for a cabinet shop/dealer. We make custom cabinets, but we also sell high-end factory cabinets. Back in November, we got the opportunity to do an estimate for a model home in a high-end development. We're talking, homes starting around a million. I did an initial estimate, and the developers decided that they were interested enough to come pay us a little visit.
There are four developers in this group, and none of them seem to be what you might call “normal.” One lives here locally, and he seems to be OK. Another one will make a surprise appearance later on in the story. The third one is pretty much invisible, but the fourth...ah, he's special. Let's call him Steve.
Steve reminds me of a wannabe mafioso, very loud and demanding. He arrives at our showroom looking like he just rolled out of bed: unshaven, hair unkempt, rumpled clothing, and slippers. (No kidding.) He always comes to visit with the local developer and a mysterious third party, who we'll call Bob. Bob looks like he was a bouncer/boxer/hitman in his youth, and could probably break your kneecaps with a baseball bat. We don't know Bob's last name, nor do we know what he does. We simply joke about him being the “enforcer.” (Behind his back, of course.) Back to Steve, though. Steve decides to test the quality of our cabinetry by banging on every cabinet door in our showroom within range of his large knuckles.
*BANG BANG BANG* “I wouldn't put this in a laundry room!” (Banging on an expensive pine hutch.)
*BANG BANG BANG* “Now, this is solid. This is quality!” (Banging on a cheaper painted maple door.)
I attempted in vain to convince him that pine, being a softer and lighter wood, is not necessarily a lesser quality than maple, despite the fact that maple “sounds solid.” He is so convinced of his theory on the matter that he went on a banging spree in the other model home in this development, where another local company has already installed their cabinets. The local granite guy, who was on site at the time, called us in complete confusion to ask if there actually was a way to tell the quality of a cabinet simply by knocking on it. The poor guy has been in the business as long as we have, and we assured him that Steve is merely nuts.
I'll have to get to the rest of the story later, as it's getting late. Keep in mind that I've been dealing with the insanity of this development group for a couple of months now. There's plenty more to come!
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