DECLINED
It could have happened to anyone. It was an ordinary day. My wife and I had a major celebratory event occur in our lives and I wanted to commemorate it with a piece of jewelry. I had picked something out a month ago. I even put it in layaway and had been making weekly payments on it getting it down to a balance that I could afford to pay off. I owed $x,xxx.00 on the balance of the bauble, and this weekend marked the event. Would she be surprised! Being the pseudo computer geek that I am, I paid the balance owed to my credit card company on line the day before I went to pick up the little sparkly so I wouldn’t have to write a check. On Friday, off to the jewelers to get my shiny gift out of hock. It was soooo pretty, all laid out in the leather bound folder. “Do you want it gift wrapped?” asked the lady. “Of course I do!” I responded. The owner of the store is a friend of mine. We belong to the same club. He runs a hell of a business. The store, as usual, was filled with customers. Bill...