The title of this thread "at the shop", reminds me of this guy who I used to see once in a while. He was into straight grains and when I would see him at the shop or a pipe show, he would be walking around with an expression on his face like his dog just died. Never once saw him grin, let alone smile. He seldom spoke to anyone. When he saw something that caught his eye, out came his jeweler's loop and he would examine the pipe under 10X magnification looking for a flaw. After a moment he would put the pipe down and walk away with a sour look of contempt. Never knew him to actually buy a pipe.
Funny thing is, there were quite a few pipe guys who admired this prima donna. He had a reputation of being a connoisseur and only perfection was good enough for him. I always thought he was a pompous twit. After all, how do you find perfection in a briar? The best straight grain I ever saw had a few flaws. It's strange how some people are into hero worship. I have a lot of "flaws" myself, but hero worship is certainly not one of them.