THE STAINED GLASS WINDOW - part I

THE STAINED GLASS WINDOW

 

In a former lifetime I lived in a 100 year old home one block from Main Street in a cute little New Jersey Town.   It was a three story, big front porch, white picket fence kind of a house.  The front door opened to a large foyer which had a small window just to the right of the stairway.

It was a plain window which my wife and I felt needed to be upgraded as it was somewhat of a focal point in the entrance.  I thought it would be nice to replace the plain glass with a stain glass decorative window.  We were referred to a man who specialized in stain glass windows, “Walter the Glass Guy.”

I called Walter to see if he could come and look at our window.

“Hello, Is this Walter the glass guy?”

“Yup”

I explained the project; we wanted to exchange a small glass pain with a decorative stain glass window.

“Sure, I can do that; I’d like to come out give it a look, take some measurements and show you some examples of my work.  Ah…just one thing…don’t be afraid when I come to the door, I’m harmless.”

Walter’s admonishment may have been the strangest thing anyone trying to do business has ever told me.  I was curious and somewhat nervous the night he was scheduled to visit.

When I answered the door to Walter’s knock I understood.  Walter the glass guy was over 6’ 6” tall.  He must have weighed 325 pounds.  He had hair and a full beard which resembled someone who has not seen civilization for years.  Without his warning I might not have opened the door. 

Walter recommended a stain glass pattern which included a dove and a rising sun emitting large beams surrounded by a blue sky.  We chose his pattern, he measured the window and left.  When he was gone we realized we never agreed on a price.  We tried to call, but for the next week Walter the glass guy would not answer his phone.

Needless to say I was a bit worried.  I didn’t want to pay…make that I could not afford to pay more than $300 for the new window.  I was hoping for $250.  What would I do if Walter showed up with this custom window and charged me $500, or even $1000?  The man was a giant.  If I pissed him off he might kill my wife and I, disappear into the mountains and never be seen again. 

My imagination may have run wild, but this dude was huge.  His hands were twice the size of mine and no matter how gentle he seemed or professed to be, Walter was scary!

Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of THE STAIN GLASS WINDOW