Not long after my husband and I got married, we went on a Caribbean cruise with a group Louis's sister and her husband organized. We had a good time in spite of the fact I really am not a water/beach person. I dutifully laid out on the beach, went jet skiing, and acted the part when we were on the shore excursions. But truthfully, the parts I liked the best were shopping in the local markets.
On one of those shore excursions, Louis insisted on buying me some real diamond studs. I liked the fake diamond earrings I had been wearing. Besides these studs were quite a bit smaller--practically no more than a shiny dot on my ear lobe. But they were REAL, so I didn't put up a fuss.
I had been wearing them literally for years, day and night, never taking them out of my ear lobes except to clean them, when United scheduled me for a layover in Las Vegas. The shower in the hotel we stayed at was part of the bathtub assembly. Not uncommon for most hotels. But that particular morning as I was showering, I noticed a piece of lint on the bottom of the tub. So, I just moved it with my big toe over to the drain and continued on with my shower.
Imagine my surprise and shock when I got out of the shower and glanced into the mirror only to find that the stud in my left earlobe was missing! Suddenly, I knew exactly what that "piece of lint" had been. I was so mad at myself. Of course, I went straight to the drain to see if I could salvage the earring. Nope! It was gone.
When I got home from my trip assignment, I went shopping for a new pair of studs. Wow! Real diamonds were costly. Even little bitty ones in ear studs. So, I went to Kohl's. They just happened to have some Cubic Zirconia studs on sale for half price. And I just happened to have a 30% off coupon. And I just happened to have some Kohl's cash. Thankfully, Kohl's allows their shoppers to apply ALL coupons and discounts onto the same purchase. I walked out of the store with a nice pair of fake diamond studs for $43. Here's the plus....they were also bigger and the size I liked better than the real ones I had worn for years.
There was something about those earrings that caught the passengers' attention--all the time. Men even. Not just the women passengers would complement them. To their delight, I always told a brief version of the story--moved a piece of lint to the drain in the bathtub on a layover in Las Vegas only to discover it was my earring. Not going to spend a lot of money anymore for real diamonds that could get lost, so went to Kohl's and paid $43 after applying all the discounts for fake diamond ear studs. Cubic Zirconia ones. Everyone got a kick out of my sad tale of woe and the happy ending.
More years rolled by. You can bet I was careful EVERY time I took a shower, though, to make sure the earrings stayed in my ears. Wasn't going to have that same experience I did in Las Vegas.
A few weeks ago, though, I noticed the left stud was almost out of my earlobe when I looked in the mirror after I got out of the shower. Whew! That was close! I made darn sure I tightened the back securely. Sometime later when I got out of the shower and looked in the mirror the left earring was missing again! I looked all over the shower floor, did an inch-by-inch scrutiny of the bathroom floor--and found the stud! (The back was still bored into the back of my earlobe!) The loops on the terry cloth towel must have caught the stud and pulled it out.
Now I was ever more vigilant! Every day in the shower I would check my ears to make sure nothing was missing. When I got out of the shower, I wasn't as vigorous when I toweled my hair dry. And I made another adjustment every time to make sure the earring back was securely holding the stud in place. All was well....
Then one day last week, I saw a little piece of lint on the shower floor. I pushed it with my big toe to the drain and went on showering. I even wondered if it was some lint from Louis' towel, as he had showered first.
Just as I was ready to get out of the shower and pulled my towel down, I heard a little rock hit the floor of the shower. "Now where did that come from? When I took my towel off the rack, did it dislodge something on the decorative flower wreath on the wall just above it?" So, I pushed IT with my big toe to the drain and got out of the shower. A mystery....
...until I looked into the mirror. NOTHING IN MY LEFT EARLOBE!!!!! I had done it again in spite of cautious diligence on my part. Deliberately pushed my earring down the drain! How could I have been so careless? AGAIN!! I was so mad at myself!
It just so happened I had a 30% off coupon from Kohl's, and I hoped they had some Cubic Zirconia studs on sale because I was on my way to the store as soon as I got ready for the day.
No jewelry department at Kohl's anymore. I knew they had put all that SEPHORA makeup stuff in their stores during recent remodeling. But I had paid no attention to the fact that took the place of the jewelry section--costume and the real thing. Maybe they had moved the jewelry to a different part of the store. I spent 10 minutes wandering up and down the aisles, looking in every department before I saw this itty-bitty little glass case full of Ray Ban Sunglasses and a few pieces of jewelry.
I looked around for someone to help me and noticed the sign that I was supposed to take a picture of that QR code thingy and help would be on the way. Fortunately, Louis had just taught me the day before how to DO that QR thingy. So, I clicked on it, filled out my name and indicated on the proper box I wanted someone to help me with the jewelry, not the sunglasses. Then I waited. And waited. And waited some more before I went to the cash stations and said I had done my part, now could someone meet me at that dead-end little counter and show me what was in the glass case? The young man said he would go find someone. Five minutes later the same young man came back with a key and said he would help me.
There were very few selections on display--some pieces with real diamonds and a couple of Cubic Zirconia items. Amazingly everything was 60% off! Okay. Things were looking up. Only HIS version of "help" differed quite a bit from MY version of help. I said I was looking for a pair of Cubic Zirconia studs that were just a little bit bigger than the ones featured in the case. Could he check to see if there were any others? He unlocked the drawer and opened it. There were dozens of boxes, yet he said they didn't have any. Could you open a couple and see if there are other sizes? No. Kohl's was closing out all of their jewelry stock and that's all they had left. But could you look? No. There is only one size. Do you think they might have these online? Perhaps. But Kohl's is getting rid of all their jewelry stock. Okay. How long is this 60% off sale going on? Not sure. I think I could find out. THAT took a whole five minutes while he fiddled with his handheld device and finally announced it was valid until the 17th. Good, I won't have to run right home and get online now because I have some other stuff to take care of before I can sit at the computer and spend time checking out Kohl's website.
I left Kohl's, went grocery shopping, did the other errands, and headed home. Later, while I was thinking about this whole episode in the shower and at the store, I remembered that I had purchased some look-alike diamond studs from an Avon rep that went to my Curves facility. I started rooting around in my own jewelry box and found them. Not at all what I wanted. Why had I even purchased them? I did find a set that looked like the blossom of a flower. A little bigger than I wanted and also in sterling silver. I wanted gold. Oh, the price tag was still on them. Bought THEM at Kohl's quite some time ago, so long I don't even remember, on clearance for $10. Too bad they didn't fit the bill for me. I looked through more stuff and found a little gold box with some Cubic Zirconia studs, a little bigger than the one I lost. I have no idea where or when I purchased them. Looked like a department store tag. Original price--$250.00. I KNOW I didn't pay that kind of money for them. But whatever----I had a new pair of earrings! I put them on and haven't taken them off since. Only as yet no one has complimented me about them. Probably best not to let anyone know I am a dork! Enough said!
Deja vu!
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