A Brush With Stupidity, Part 2
A customer asks me for exterior house paint.
Me: “What are you painting?”
Customer: “My baby’s nursery.”
Me: “Then you need interior paint, preferably a low- or zero-VOC paint designed for nurseries and bedrooms.”
Customer: “No, I want exterior paint. It’s tougher.”
Me: “Exterior paint isn’t intended for use inside a home. It can contain additives and produce fumes that you shouldn’t expose a baby to.”
Customer: “Paint always smells.”
Me: “Interior paint is formulated for indoor spaces. Exterior paint is formulated to withstand weather, mold, and mildew. Those are very different requirements.”
Customer: “But the exterior kind lasts longer.”
Me: “Outside, yes. That doesn’t make it safer inside.”
Customer: “The smell will disappear after a few days.”
Me: “The smell fading doesn’t mean the paint was safe to use in an enclosed nursery.”
Customer: “I’ve used it indoors before, and it never hurt me.”
I open the can just enough for him to smell how strong the fumes are.
Me: “Do you smell that?”
Customer: “Yeah. It smells like paint.”
Me: “Exactly. Now imagine that lingering in a room with a baby.”
Customer: “You’re making a big deal out of nothing. It never did anything to me.”
Me: “Sir, the fact that you’re still asking me to sell you exterior paint for a baby’s bedroom makes me think it may have done something to you after all.”
Related:
A Brush With Stupidity
