On Professionalism
 
As an aspiring professional writer, it's pretty much what I'm best at.  I partially attribute it to a bizarre spontaneous thought process (I'm a really good guy to have on teams when playing Charades), a large vocabulary, and a degree in English lit (would you like fries with that?). 
 
In about five minutes, I was able to bang out a complaint letter on behalf of my mom.  Since we moved into the new place, the level of quality seen in the aspects of the house, whether it be the overall construction to the paint has been pretty dicey.  And then they decided to paint the exterior last week.
 
I wouldn't consider myself a good painter by any means.  Even though I've been working for a painting company for about three weeks and they do seem pleased with my work, I know I'm not a professional painter.  However, if I was to produce work like that done on my mom's place, I wouldn't last very long.
 
Admittedly, accidents happen.  I should know.  But the things that have been happening are simply stupid and preventable.  Among them:
 
-Back deck has several drips of yellow paint on it.  This could have been prevented by putting a drop sheet on it.

-My car is speckled with yellow paint.  This will take a while to restore back to normal.  This could have been prevented by asking me to move the car and would have taken all of fifteen seconds.  I was home all day when that happened.  Guess what.  Somehow I'm reminded of the time UPS came by the same place to deliver a package, but assumed the place was still under construction.  I was home the entire day and a ten second phone call would have saved me a 45 minute drive in rush hour traffic to pick up my package.

-There is a large dried puddle of paint under the patio, plus there are large spots of yellow paint splattered on nearby plant life and sprayed over the nearest storm drain.  Did they think no one would notice?
 
I mentioned this off-hand to my supervisor in the painting company I work for.  He defined for me the word professional as someone paid to do a job.  I then said, "That may be so, but that's not the type of work we'd want to be handing in."  Since the word "professional" isn't too liberally tossed around to the point that it loses meaning, it should still mean someone who is actually skilled and engaging in said standards.  I hestitate to refer to myself as a professional painter, as I still lack experience.  I really hesitate to refer to the hired painters on my mom's house as professional as they lack skill, or at least skill and standards.

I really hope someone is going to be paying to have my car detailed.  While the paint could be removed with some effort, it's effort that I really should not have to be expending.

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