The subject heading is the punchline from a Bizarro cartoon of several years back, in which the builder and the queen for whom he'd just completed a tomb were having a conversation. Evidently, there were some unspoken expectations on the part of the client -- similar to those I encountered.

I was hired to build a simple wrought iron gate for a client. Here in SoCal, these gates typically have either solid steel panels (with zero visibility) or perforated privacy mesh (with 50% visibility) attached on the back. My contract, in response to the client's directive, specified solid steel backing of 26 gauge steel. Completing the painting, I collected a progress payment and left.

Upon returning a week later for touch-up painting and final payment, the client -- a sweet little old grandmotherly type -- expressed her unhappiness with my work. She refused to finish paying for the job, saying (and this is an EXACT quote):

"I wanted something you could look through, but not see through."

Oh, how I'm gonna miss contracting!

Leland

(Yeah, I could slap a lien on her property, and yes, I'm pretty certain that a court of competent jurisdiction would grant my motion to perfect that lien...in another 6-9 months. For the dough involved, it's just not worth the hassle.)

"So will the actual Stonehenge be identical to this one?"

Paraphrased from my memory of Spinal Tap

Well heck Leland! You should have known that if you made the gate to swing both ways you wouldn't have had this problem!

You don't offer one way mirror gates?

Shame on you!

You should have insisted that it WAS see through, and that the lady needed to have her cataracts looked at.

(Day 10)

Get her a pair of x-ray specs.

Maybe she heard you are a magician...