The Local Beehive

At the end of our street is a "Premium Detailing and Auto Spa". It has always fascinated me. It seems to be run by a few guys who are constantly working in a beehive of activity seven days a week. Because space is at a premium around here, the shop has only a small parking lot. That forces the employees to constantly reshuffle around their customer's cars in various lego-like formations. Sometimes there is no room and they park the cars on the street.

I'll be honest, until recently, I didn't even know what car detailing was (for those who want to know, it's the act of performing a thorough cleaning, restoration, and finishing of a motor vehicle, to produce a show-quality cleanliness and polish). The crazy energy of this place made me wonder if I was living next door to some kind of illegal chop shop!

Then, my mother in law decided she wanted to have her car detailed and bought a package with Premium Detailing and Auto Spa. She asked me to drop off her car, which gave me an opportunity to chat with the owner/manager. He was very nice and recognized me from walking to school with Margot every morning. Because he recognized me he also upgraded my mother-in-law's detailing package on the spot - hooray for freebies! Further, he offered to pick up and drop off the car from my driveway instead of at the lot. To be fair, that's as much a benefit for them (given their limited parking) as me, but I really appreciated the flexibility.

Anyways, a couple of hours later, the car was back in my driveway sparkling like new. I'll chalk this up as another don't-judge-a-book-by-it's-cover life lesson for me. It's so easy to go with a brand name or franchise and settle for mediocre service. But give a chance to your local mom-and-pop (or local five-guys-running-a-store, in my case) and you can really be pleasantly surprised!