posted
I get his kind of question when im out working on a window or on site installing a job and some one comes up and says" how long you been doinging this!?!?". i take a slow gase at my watch and say ..."oh..since about 8:00 this morning..."
some time i get a long stare..or a big laugh!
got any thing like this happen to you????
"hey Mister...were does this road go!"
"road don't go noware stays here allday!
chris...just an old red neck from N.Florida!
-------------------- "We have been making house calls since 1992"
Chris Lovelady Vital Signs
NOW WITH 2 LOCATIONS! Tallahassee, Florida Thomasville, Ga.
posted
That's a nice job.... What do you do for a living?
I bet I could do that if I had time..
my son can draw..do you need some help?
You make that look so easy!
IS that special paint?
I know all about those brushes..they get the hair from Camels...
I bet you dont drink coffee...
Can you do that with a hangover?
Why do you charge so much....?
Can I borrow a paint brush?
You're almost a real artist...aren't ya...
I could get this done a lot cheaper...where I useta live.....
If you give me a break on this..I'll send ya a ton of work..
I need a price(over the phone)..
Why cant I have 30 days to pay....everone else gives me credit.
How smooth do I need to make this painted plywood sign..so you can letter it?Special plywood? Huh?
They do all that with computers now..ya know.. I have a friend who makes letters on a machine in his basement....and he does it for A LOT LESS than you charge!
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Michael Boone ]
posted
i tell em this is my 1st job....and what do they think of it?
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: old paint ]
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
The only thing I find dumber then people pointing at my signshop lettering on my truck & asking "did you do this" is when they ask "where did you get that done?"
posted
I always liked to reply to the people who asked, did you do that by hand? I would say yes, I got tired of doing it with my foot. The other one is when giving a price on truck door lettering. Is that for one door or two? The temptation was always great to say one, but I just couldn't.
-------------------- Bill Riedel Riedel Sign Co., Inc. 15 Warren Street Little Ferry, N.J. 07643 billsr@riedelsignco.com Posts: 2953 | From: Little Ferry, New Jersey, USA | Registered: Feb 1999
| IP: Logged |
"Well, this one is Free, but this one will cost you $50. an hour...."
Or " I have a Cousin who can do that!.....boy,he can really draw!" Oh Yeah ????? what does he draw ????....GREEN FLIES ???? and on and on and on. Shep'
-------------------- Arvil Shep' Shepherd Art by Shep' -------- " Those who dance are thought to be mad by those who cannot hear the music "
How long have you been doing this? (I reply similar to above, then take out my tape measure to see EXACTLY how long...)
How long did it take to learn how to do that?
Is that Free-Hand? (Yes, Every finished project magically comes out of my brain, into my hand, through my brush or plotter and ends up exactly like this ON THE FIRST TRY without giving any thought to how it should look. I know exactly how EVERYTHING should look all of the time, everytime. I can take a bucket of paint and throw it on this board and there you go. Magic.)(No, stupid)
Bet you can't drink too much (beer or coffee) and do that.
How much does a brush like that cost?
Did you go to school for that?
I know exactly what I want, but I can't describe it or tell you what it is.
Put some of those (pinstriping) stars here, here, here, here and here, here, here and a couple on this.
It's all fun.
-------------------- Jeff Vrstal Main Street Signs 157 E. Main Street Evansville, WI 53536 1-608-882-0322
posted
What's an outside job without an audience? Many will tell you about "the guy they watched.... he didn't use that stick, had to have a couple of belts first, but, man, his brush was shakin' bad, til it touched down onto the truck,wall,window,etc, and then, wham! it's the most beautiful script!. yeah, he did'nt use no stick. Course, after he finished, got paid, he'd disappear on a 2/3 week bender. "Oh, you're cheating...(they see pounce dots or a pattern."Thought you did it freehand"
Occasionay, I will tell them of a signwriter i knew of, "he'd just walk up to the wall,truck,etc. and start painting. No pattern, no copy to follow, hell, he didn't even know whose sign he was doing, he was that good" Course, he did wander away after finishing, probably going for a beer... The audience is there for our amusement!
John / Big Top
-------------------- John Lennig / Big Top Sign Arts 5668 Ewart Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada bigtopya@hotmail.com 604.451.0006
Posts: 2184 | From: Burnaby, British Columbia,Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
oh...and some times i get the guy or gal who thinks they are being funny, will trace the image that im painting on glass from the opposite side of the window..."who's kid is this!"...lol
then there is the mother and child that walks by..."hey mister what you doing!" now that is a hard one for a snappy come back...so i smile at MOM "im paintin a sign there young fella"
these have been great post! keep-m coming!
chris
-------------------- "We have been making house calls since 1992"
Chris Lovelady Vital Signs
NOW WITH 2 LOCATIONS! Tallahassee, Florida Thomasville, Ga.
When someone says "The way you do that, itlooks easy!" I turn around and hand them the brush and say "OK your turn!"
When little kids are watching, skip over a letter and watch the look on their face when they say "You forgot a letter!"
Or "How do you do that so easy?" I tell them that I have a trained brush.
Or "there used to be an old guy who had to have a few drinks before he could do that!" "Yep! but he got the DT's so bad they got him on Industrial Strength Thorazine now."
"How long did it take you to learn how to paint?" "About 10 minutes and 10 years of practice!"
"Gee! I can't even draw a straight line." "Me neither, that's why I use a yard stick!"
"How much do you charge to paint a sign?" "All that I can get!"
"I always wanted to do that, need some help?" "Sorry, I already fired ya!"
"Do you ever make mistakes?" "Only when I let people bother me!"
"I'll give you $30 to letter the doors on my truck." "Hah! You already spent that much talking to me!"
"Arew all you sign guys a bunch of drunks?" "Nope! some of us are dopers and some are perverts!"
And of course there are some comments that would get this post deleted if I posted my answers to them
-------------------- Si Allen #562 La Mirada, CA. USA
(714) 521-4810
si.allen on Skype
siallen@dslextreme.com
"SignPainters do It with Longer Strokes!"
Never mess with your profile while in a drunken stupor!!!
Brushasaurus on Chat
Posts: 8831 | From: La Mirada, CA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Ok, true story... I was going to stripe a guy's new pickup. Went to his house to do it. The guy had a nice 2.5 stall garage, very clean... door was open, it was a nice day. It was in fact a Sunday afternoon. I unloaded my paint kit, went over some general ideas with the guy and started prepping the truck.
As it was Sunday, there was also some football game on that this guy HAD to see... but he figured that his 4 or 5 year old son might enjoy watching me so in went the dad and out stayed the boy.
I started pulling a line down the driver's side of the truck when all of a sudden I heard this "scaping/screaching" sound... and I could feel a vibration in the truck.
I stopped the line and walked around the other side of the truck to find the boy "pulling a line with the claw end of a hammer"!
Hey, he was doing a nice job until I wrestled the hammer from his mighty grip.
After the boy, the Dad and myself had a little planning session, and after a trip to the body shop, I did get the truck striped.
It seems pretty funny now!
-------------------- Jeff Vrstal Main Street Signs 157 E. Main Street Evansville, WI 53536 1-608-882-0322
posted
The question that I get most frequently is "how long does it take you to make one?". I always struggled with that one because for the most part the folks who ask it are genuinley qurious, but of course if you tell the truth, they automatically do the math and assume that you charge a fortune. I've tried most of the cute comebacks but I was never comfortable about that. So now, I tell the truth and come back with a C.W. Fields imatation and say, "but that is after 45 yrs of warmin up!" It usually gets a chuccle and they forget to do the math. Works for me! Joe, Makin Chips and Havin Fun! Sorry for all th sp errors John.....
-------------------- Joe Cieslowski Connecticut Woodcarvers Gallery P.O.Box 368 East Canaan CT 06024 jcieslowski@snet.net 860-824-0883 Posts: 2345 | From: East Canaan CT 06024 | Registered: Nov 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
It seems like every time I'm 15' high on a ladder holding a 10' wide sign or awning tring to get it into brackets, somebody will stand under the ladder, look up and ask for directions! Sometimes it's really hard not to yell or call them a DumbA**.
-------------------- Tom & Sharon Giampia Creative Image Design Port Chester, NY Posts: 285 | From: Port Chester | Registered: Mar 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
....never fails.....people will ask at stop signs...or while I am on a job...."HOW MUCH does a SIGN cost?" So I ask.."what kind of sign?" they say...."oh you know....the usual ones!" ???????????????? what does this Mean?????
Posts: 3729 | From: Seattle | Registered: Sep 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
After reading a few of the replies I had to laugh about folks choking on the price. You can give them any price. For those that enjoy the urban legends on a little bit of outrageous pricing check this page. http://www.snopes2.com/business/genius/where.htm
Makes me want to do that to and for that kind of price
-------------------- Brian Diver PDQ Signs Everett, Wa
posted
Si's bit about someone saying "you make it look easy" and his handing the brush over with "here, it's your turn" calls to mind something that happened to me some years ago. Working on a fire truck at a volunteer dept., doing it with paint ( no money for gold leaf)-- kid comes along and just watches, doesn't say a word-- finally I said to him "You wanna try it?" A little hemming and hawing on his part, and I told him not to worry, if he made a mistake it would be easy to fix-- so he tried it. Didn't do half bad either. Now he has his own sign biz on the side from his regular job. He's probably lurking here somewhere.
The other thing has to do with the questions people ask. Sure, some are being smart a**, but some are not. I try to give a straight answer most of the time, 'cause you never know, this might just be a client/customer some day. And they remember how they were treated.
-------------------- Bill Preston Fly Creek, N.Y. USA
Posts: 943 | From: Fly Creek, N.Y. USA | Registered: Jan 2000
| IP: Logged |
"im paintin a sign there young fella"
Printer-friendly view of this topic