Cleaning the Rings

As an impromptu part of our anniversary evening out together Cowgrit wanted to stop by the jewelry store and get her rings cleaned. We went to the store where I bought her a new, bigger diamond ring a couple years ago. At 8:00 in the evening (yeah, we were out late!), the big store was almost vacant.

A salesman greeted us immediately when we walked in, and he graciously pointed us to the jewelry repair/cleaning section of the store.

The security guard, a 50-some-year-old man that looked nine months pregnant, had his back to the front door while he talked (read: flirted) with a 50-some-year-old woman employee at a back counter. A single customer was seated at a glass case talking with a saleswoman about diamond rings.

Cowgrit turned her rings over to the jewelry repairwoman, then the woman asked me if I’d like to have my ring cleaned as well. “I guess,” I said, “sure.”

We wandered about the store for the several minutes it took for them to clean our rings. We looked briefly at some jewelry with pearls, and then I meandered on to the left side of the store where they had a children’s room. That’s a pretty good idea for a jewelry store — let mom and dad look and talk while the kids play or watch a movie.

While Cowgrit looked at some more jewelry, I watched a minute of Cinderella and then tried to play a Nintendo game. Unfortunately, the game introduction is so long that I didn’t get to play even a second before the rings were finished.

Cowgrit brought our rings over to me. “They look great,” she said, holding her hand out for me to see the sparkling gold and gems.

“Yeah,” I agreed, while pretending to shield my eyes from the glare beaming off her hand.

When she handed me my ring, I really was surprised. My simple gold band was seriously gleaming. I slid the ring back on my finger and said, “Daddy’s got some bling.” I could actually see my reflection in my ring. I hadn’t realized really how dull it had gotten over the years. I don’t remember the last time I had my ring professionally cleaned.

I took off my ring again and laid it on a wood table in the store. I took a picture of it, but getting close enough to really see the ring resulted in a blurry picture, as the camera couldn’t focus that close. Staying back far enough to get it in focus was too far away to really see it. So, sorry, but I don’t have a picture to show you of my ring. I know you’re sad about that.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com