Help – I see paint flaws everywhere!

No panic is the motto

It’s good to know that I don’t tend to panic. With the thought: “Coatings for airplanes are very well and very long tested, until they get the approval”, I board the plane without any bad feelings. I have never seen exterior parts of the plane getting lose or even passing the machine while we were in the air – nevertheless these thoughts will pop up again when I go for my next flight. Although the maintenance work is absolutely satisfying.

No thoughts at the steel struts

When I take the train instead of an airplane, I see what dogs leave behind to mark their territory on concrete and steel struts at the main station in Berlin. There, corrosion starts below knee level. I could start thinking what could happen with the static, but I just don’t do it. I never saw any station buckle, because the struts yielded.

Amused about automotive paint flaws

Not every coating failure initiates a cascade of security thoughts in my head. Still there are cars running, mainly red ones, where the coating is nearly faded to a very light red. They are as rare as the cars with obvious corrosion at the door locks or on the hood. In all these cases I am rather amused, as these cars are more some kind of antique. But of course, I don’t think about the underbody and if it will survive each pothole in a road without damage.

Who else observes in the same manner?

Dear reader, please let me know if you observe paint flaws whenever you leave your work place, too. Even if you don’t llok out for them in particular. Or am I the only one? Sometimes I feel weird when I catch myself looking for and thinking about paint flaws. PS: I painted my powdered bike frame after I accidentally spilled nail polish on it. Less because of the material safety, more for aesthetical reasons.