Owner loyalty

Biked up to Stan's Body Shop this morning to pick up our VW. Last month I backed into a parked Honda. I know. Don't say it. Mike called last night to say the crushed bumper was replaced. When I got to the shop the car was out front in the sunshine, the new bumper in place, so the vehicle looked good as new. To me. Mike wasn't satisfied. He asked me whether I'd be willing to wait for a few minutes `til the guy from NAPA auto parts showed up with the spectrometer. Spectrometer? "You're going to check the paint-match scientifically?" Yep, said Mike, it looks just a shade dark to me. If it is, I want to take it off and repaint. "How are you going to get paid for all that extra work," I protested. Hey, Mike said, look at all the years you've been bringing your cars here for me to repair, even bike frames to paint. I call that customer loyalty. So think of this as "owner loyalty." I could think of nothing to say to that except thanks. So I said it.

(The `39 woodie, incidentally, belongs to my friend Harry Linden in Santa Barbara.)