Strange stories from the front linesPRECIOUS SILVER
?I was selling at an open-air festival. A woman and her daughter came in to look at earrings. They chose a pair of 6mm garnets and a pair of 6mm citrines. Each was well-cut, brilliant, eye-clear, prong-set in sterling silver. Though economical, the earrings were clearly out of her price range. She hemmed and hawwed a bit then asked me why they cost so much. I explained they were natural gemstones, well cut, and set in sterling silver. “Oh, silver,” the woman exclaimed. “That explains it.” They left. My husband and I smiled our biggest grins.
BETH S.,
AUSTIN, TX
“A woman we had never seen before came in to return a gift that she said her daughter had just received for her Bat Mitzvah. She proceeded to pull out one of our boxes that held a piece that we had sold earlier. We said we would have to check our records first because we didn’t recognize the piece. When we told her that it was from four years ago and that we couldn’t take it back, she looked embarrassed and sputtered, ‘Oh, I guess this must be a gift that our older daughter received at her Bat Mitzvah four years ago!’ Uh-huh, lady … nice try!
GINA W.,
LARCHMONT, NY
?A lady came into our store and said she had a really fantastic idea ? she wanted us to gold-plate her baby’s umbilical cord! We all laughed but the thought of the smell really turned us off. We talked her into a very nice baby bracelet. We like win-win situations!?
MARY A.,
RIDGECREST, CA