The Cousin-Painter-Handyman Fiasco

My friend Christine and her husband were vacationing in what they called a “quaint little Mediterranean village.” While there they found a perfect summerhouse for sale and immediately they began negotiations and purchased the property. As the story goes, the house was in fairly good condition but in need some interior work and a “facelift.” The exterior was weather beaten which gave the house an abandoned look when compared to all the other glistening white houses on the hillside overlooking to ocean. It was a spectacular view of mountains, blue sky and the aquamarine ocean. The new house owners were anxious to spruce up their new home and bring it up par with the other houses on the hillside. They welcomed the seller’s recommendation of a local handyman, who just happened to be a painter and his cousin.

After interviewing the cousin-painter-handyman they entered into an agreement that he would do the necessary work to make the place livable and in keeping with the original flavor of the villa and the community. After choosing the fixtures and the colors the happy couple were ready to return to the US. Since their flight was scheduled for the following afternoon, they decided stop by their new house on their way to the airport. To their surprise cousin-painter-handyman was not at the house though he was scheduled to begin work immediately. They did, however, notice that the color swatches they had given him were just where they had left them on the table. They took another look at their selection of colors and were very pleased with their choices.