DuPont Pinturas

DuPont Pinturas

Since the move to Mexico I have not been to the movie theater and have rarely watched TV except for the occasional 10 o’clock news. Oh we can’t forget the World Cup Games that Mexico played in. We have been watching a lot of movies on DVD that we pick up at the market where they are priced 3 for 50 pesos. Today I did splurge and buy X-Men 3 for 25 pesos – it’s a clone of the original. Yes we are buying pirated copies but if you get a bad copy you just go back, tell the vendor you’ll report him to the police and they are happy to refund or replace the DVD. The funniest thing is you can purchase first run movies before they are even released in the theater. The quality is generally very good and we have had only one where it was so bad as to be laughable. The film must have had a pretty cheap budget to begin with (Splice) and the DVD was actually recorded in the theater. The first part of the movie had a finger obscuring the top right hand side of the screen. At another point you could hear the audience laughing during a scene that was never meant to be funny and during the credits you could see the shadows of people getting up to leave the theater. What this movie lacked in production the pirated copy luckily made up for in entertainment value.

When it comes to entertainment sometimes all you really need to do is go to your local paint store. The house I am living in is currently under a major renovation so there have been many trips to the paint store. At first I realized there was a difference and was intrigued, then on subsequent visits frustrated and finally I appreciated just how much entertainment and hours of conversation we were getting with each gallon purchased. This will be one of those stories filed under “Things Work Differently Here”

Now before I go any further I want to make it perfectly clear that I have the utmost respect for everyone that I have met. Because that is what everyone has always shown me, nothing but kindness and respect. But, sometimes people and life are just funny. It’s not that it’s wrong, it’s just the way it is and sometimes with the way my mind works……….

Yes we have Home Depot and Wal-Mart where you can go in and just grab a can of paint or get your color made special with the latest paint making technology. The thing is those stores are considerably more expensive than your neighborhood store which is just the opposite of the States.

On that first visit to the DuPont Paint Store I became intrigued. Our order was simple; a color was picked from the color swatches – dark green, flat, oil based. After some time mixing paints the young girl helping us produced a plastic container like you would get potato salad in at the deli. After returning to the house we found the paint was so dark as to be almost black and it dried to a glossy finish. So back we went. Twice. In the end the color was almost there but still glossy.

It’s important for you to know that they use no automation, no machines to measure out the tints and hues and no machine to mix the paint. The color you want is made by combining various colors of paint till yours is reached. This can be a very interesting and drawn out process. If it’s too dark add more white if it isn’t red enough add more red if it needs to be flat add a matte liquid. It’s all mixed by hand, even the five gallon buckets are mixed by hand with what looks like a baseball bat. By the way all this hand mixing makes a mess and the buckets are covered with paint, so dress appropriately and have protection for your vehicle. We have visited another local paint store and this is how it works although they seemed to be a bit more efficient. I also found that you don’t just go home and paint, when you get it home you need to either add water or paint thinner. The gallon of white paint we had was thick like pudding and that one gallon can seemed to weigh at least thirty pounds.

The store we frequent is a family owned business and sometimes family business takes precedence over paint business. Kids are running in and out, to and from school, asking for snacks, money, keys, etc…When mom isn’t there your paint doesn’t get mixed for the most part. The daughter really works at being helpful; the dad is there but usually defers to the mom. And there is the son that works off to one side of the store mixing paint for the auto body shops. Again, by hand. He just quietly works, observing everything, never talking much, never getting involved in all the activity that is going on, because this place is busy.

On a subsequent visit a swatch of color was chosen and the paint was produced for approval. That’s when the questions started, is it right, is it too dark, is it too light. After much discussion back and forth it took me to be the voice of reason and repeatedly ask “where’s the swatch?” At first it couldn’t be located but when it was eventually found the color wasn’t even close.

Another time we dropped off two five gallon buckets to be made and they were ready in an hour and were a perfect match. The next time mom wasn’t there so the paint was delivered to our town later that afternoon – totally wrong in color and price.

At this point all the painting is complete, but every time we drive by our paint store someone will comment and it becomes the subject of conversation for awhile.