Ha!
faron, it wasn't
quite a
hot mess. He was actually pleasant and nice enough. He just had some goofy habits and he didn't understand the *service* part -- the fact that he held the fate of a person's worldly goods and belongings and ability to function as close to normal as possible in their home thru a paint job literally in his professional hands.
The trick is to make it look easy and unimposing, right? It's a big deal to paint. It's messy and creates chaos. Big ladders, ladders of all sizes, lots paint cans and misc.stuff, and often lots of people in a few thousand sq. ft. or maybe less room than that. Part of the reason people hire a professional painter is for mess and chaos management.
Painting neatly and neatly painted is beyond a lot of people's ability. That's one of the biggest benefits of paying a pro. They have the process of painting down to a detailed science so mess and imposition is as minimal as possible.
I did mention I think Ben Moore's Super Spec is the ugliest finish I've ever seen, didn't I? Talk about a hot mess...