Just Because

I recently returned from the Great White North, Bangor, Maine, to be the exact locale, visiting a family member born and raised here who had recently moved east. (Why?) My stepson’s answer was… Just because! (Personally, I think he has a few loose screws!) Stepping off the plane in thirty-one degrees with a wind chill and wet sleeting weather… that my friend, was a wake-up call moment for my wife and me. An early evening drive through downtown Bangor was an eerie experience - it was a ghost town. It’s no wonder that to me, the island sinks two inches into the gulf each season, the Down Easters are all here in South Florida!

“Just because” is close to another annoying term, “because I said so,” and that can be an infuriating statement to most folks. I heard it most of my childhood, and it irked me then at the age of three! Many years ago, while in the process of getting an occupancy permit for one of my wife’s businesses that would offer jewelry and ladies clothing, I was being held up from opening by a city permitting official because he said I required additional sprinkler heads in the store. When I questioned the city official on why in heavens do I need individual fire sprinklers in the store’s three open stall changing rooms? (No other ladies clothing stores on the island had them!) His answer was, “because I said so!” He then handed me a business card that belonged to one of his friends who, low and behold, just happened to be in the sprinkler business! I was livid. I ripped it up in front of him.

The next day, while changing a watch battery for a gentleman, I noticed on his work shirt he worked for a fire sprinkler company, and he just happened to be doing a huge replacement project at one of the island's big hotels. I told him my plight and that weekend, and $3,000 bucks later, I had three brand new changing room fire sprinkler heads. Even the installer said he never heard of anything so useless - what did this official think someone was going to do in there? Barbecue their lunch, or maybe someone would ignite spontaneously while trying on a dress that is too tight? Boy was that city official surprised on Monday with the job completed! I finally got my permit. (Lucky for us business owners and by the grace of God he no longer works for the city!)

A lesson learned, so now I explain in detail to folks the reasons why an article of jewelry they bring in can’t be done economically or is impossible to do. I never use that term “Just Because”…  because that is just rude!

 And rarely a day goes by where the question ‘Why not?” or “Why can’t you?” is asked. It usually involves repairing or adjusting a piece of less-than-desirable quality jewelry that was originally created with the concept it would break within hours after wearing it. Or I’m asked why I can’t find someone a flawless D color 2.00 carat plus diamond for two thousand dollars when the rest of the world knows they cost closer to twenty thousand dollars…Just because! That would be an easier answer to the question. Wait, I stand corrected, you can find a Lab–created diamond for around that price, in no way a natural one. 

In case some of my readers just recently emerged from being marooned on one of the 10,000 islands these past few months, the precious shiny yellow metal also known as gold has skyrocketed to over $2,175 per ounce. And believe it or not, that affects the jewelry biz and everything else in the world that happens to be made from gold. I’m already hearing… WOW! While they point at this and that and why is everything so darn expensive? Or, gee that’s more than I want to spend. Yes - no kidding, it’s more than I want to spend too, but I have to buy it to stay in business. It’s a tough pill to swallow for the jewelry industry and certainly our customers…It is what it is!