Page 48 of Tuned To Break
“Oh. Shit.”
“Oh shit is right. Mrs Williams just called, and her husband is furious. This car must be perfect for a show next weekend.”
The entire workshop goes silent. Even the radio seems quieter.
“Can we… fix it?” Asher asks hopefully.
“Can we fix it? We have to strip this entire paint job and start over. Do you have any idea how much time and money that’s going to cost?”
“I’m sorry, I thought?—”
“You thought? You THOUGHT?” I yell. “Asher, thinking isn’t good enough when we’re dealing with a thirty-thousand-dollar paint job! You have to be sure. No ands, ifs or buts about it.”
I’m pacing now, my heels clicking sharply on the concrete as my mind races through solutions.
“Right. Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m implementing new procedures that will prevent this from ever happening again.”
“Stella, maybe we should—” Chase starts.
I cut him off with a hand. “No. No maybes, Chase. I want everyone here. NOW.”
I point to the floor in front of me, and within thirty seconds all six guys are standing around me like school children called to the principal’s office. “From this moment forward, every single material, part or component that goes on any car gets double-checked. I don’t care if you’ve been doing this for twenty years—you check the specifications, then you get someone else to verify.”
I pull out my tablet and start typing furiously.
“I’m creating a digital sign-off system. Before any paint goes on any car, before any part gets installed, before any work begins, two people need to verify it’s correct and sign off digitally.”
“That seems a bit excessive—” José starts.
“Excessive? Do you know what’s excessive? Having to call a client and tell them their car-show entry is going to be delayed because we can’t tell the difference between paint colours!”
He shuts up quickly.
“Furthermore, I want photos documented at every stage of every job—before, during and after each process. If something goes wrong, I want to be able to trace exactly where and when it happened.”
“Stella,” Parker says carefully, “that’s going to slow down production quite a bit.”
“You know what slows down production even more? REDOING ENTIRE JOBS BECAUSE OF PREVENTABLE MISTAKES!”
They all flinch at my raised voice.
“I want detailed time logs, material tracking and quality checkpoints. If you don’t like the new procedures, you’re welcome to find employment elsewhere. But if you want to work here, you’re going to work to the highest standards.”
I look around at each of them, making sure my message is crystal clear.
“Asher, you’re going to strip that paint job personally and redo it correctly. I don’t care if you have to work until midnight every day this week. Robert, I want you to supervise and sign off on every step. Parker, you’re taking over Asher’s other projects until this is resolved.”
“What about the cost?” Chase asks.
“I’ll figure that out. I have some buffers that should cover it, but I won’t be able to do this every time someone stuffs up.”
Asher looks like he wants to argue, but one look at my face and he thinks better of it.
“And just so we’re all clear,” I continue, “I don’t care how long you’ve been doing this job or how many cars you’ve worked on. In this workshop, quality comes first. Always. If you can’t meet that standard, you don’t belong here.”
The silence that follows is deafening.
“Any questions?”
