A fella working at a paint supply store has a particularly challenging customer one day.
It's a Saturday morning, so the shop is pretty busy; there's quite the line of people needing paint mixed up.
This lady's completely out of place; dressed to the nines, talk-to-the-manager haircut, the works.
She hands our man Joe a tiny paint chip and says, "I need this exact colour. It has to be perfect."
Joe says, "Well, it's a bit smaller than we like to work with, but let me see what I can do." He puts it through the spectro -photometer, gets a formula, and mixes it.
Upon inspection, the lady says, "That will never do, it's not quite right."
So he tries again, and again the results just don't measure up.
A third try, and not only are both Joe and the customer getting frustrated, he can see that his coworkers and other customers are starting to get annoyed by how much time it's taking.
The lady says, "Look, you're obviously just not gonna get this right. Let me have my chip back and I'll go somewhere where they know their job."
Well, Joe's already on edge, and this fresh insult is the last straw. But he's been at this for years, he knows how to keep a customer service face.
"Ma'am, let me try just one more thing, and if I can't get it right then you have my blessing to try another store."
"Well, all right. But you've already wasted enough of my time. You have five minutes."
Joe nods, and takes the chip and disappears into the back room.
(Meanwhile, his coworker just rolls his eyes at being left alone.)
Shortly, noises can be heard from the stockroom. There's thuds, some grinding, the occasional swear... it sounds like a paving crew have set up shop. Just as the five minutes runs out, Joe reappears with a gallon canister, which he opens and puts together a sample for the lady to compare to her chip. Immediately her demeanour changes.
"That's perfect, young man! You've absolutely got it." and just on and on.
Joe grins and wishes her a good day, and watches as she pays and leaves, then calls the next customer over.
"I don't know how you dealt with that woman. You didn't even get mad! But, you've gotta tell me. How did you manage to get her colour?"
"Oh, simple, ... I just repainted her original chip!"
