Cynthia , A Determined Force @ 93 Years Old

Cynthia 

We were just passing our third jewelry shop at the seaport in Honduras, heading back to our ship,  when I turned to Cynthia and said, “Who buys jewelry at these stores.  They are so expensive.”  

I don’t think she heard me because she chirped up just as I was finishing my sentence. “Oh, can we go in here?  I want to look at the tanzanite.  Do you know tanzanite?  My late husband gave me a wedding ring made out of tanzanite.  It’s very hard to find.”  And off she strolled right up to the counter that came up to her chest.  Cynthia is 93 and the oldest passenger on our voyage.  Time may have shrunk her body but not her spirit.  Standing at 4 ½ feet, she commands the attention of the jewelry clerk. 

“Do you have any earrings with the French clip?  I need the French clip because I live alone.” She tells the clerk, oblivious to the clerk’s greeting.

Several pairs of earrings are brought out and she tried them on and a perfect pair is found.  A price is given and Cynthia said it was too high.  The quoted price was about $800.  “No, no.  You have to come down.  I don’t want to pay that much”, she says in a voice that is almost childlike.

The clerk looks at me.  I shrug my shoulders.  She looks at Cynthia and announces, “I’ll have to get my manager.”  And off she goes.  Cynthia turns to me and boldly tells me, “I only want to spend $500.  They are going to have to come down in price.  Do you think that is a fair price?”

I shrug my shoulders again. And now a little guilt seeps in me.  Did the three beers we just drank have any influence on this impulse to buy these beautiful earrings?  Had the alcohol bitten her emotions for her deceased husband?  Should I stop her and insist she discuss this with her daughter?  What is my responsibility, if any, to intervene on her behalf?  And how do I make sure they do not take advantage of this old woman.

Ellen, the manager, comes back and offers the earrings for $725 and states firmly that this is her best offer.

“No, no, no.” Cynthia tells her.  “That’s too high.  I can’t pay that. You have to come down.”

“Cynthia”, the woman says, “this is real gold and these diamonds are expensive.  I cannot come down any more.” 

But Cynthia does not budge.  Then the woman offers to show her some earrings in silver.  This pair has three gems on each earring and they are surrounded by small diamonds.  And they are the only pair with the French clip. So Cynthia is encouraged to try them on and she agrees and the clerk helps her and they look beautiful on her.  And the sales clerk suggests that Cynthia see if she can put them on herself.  And the three of us surround her and coach her as she attempts this feat on her own.  We are now like parents watching their child take off on his bicycle for the first time.  We lean ever so slightly towards her with our hands slightly extended forward, ready to catch the earring should it drop from her trembling, feeble hands.  She tries and struggles and we fight the urge to intervene.

“I don’t want to get them if I have to ask Louise to put them in for me.  I want to put them in myself,” she tells us.

And she keeps trying. And then the manager and the clerk look to me for direction, for the cue that she has tried enough but now it’s time to surrender.

And then she asks, “Do I almost have it.”

“Keep going Cynthia”, they coach her in tones of encouragement. “You’re almost there.” And the clerk mimes the clipping motion needed to secure the post.

“There, I think I have it.  Do I have it?”  And she does and we all sigh with relief. And the earrings dangle and glisten from her ears.

“Well, I really want them. But I can’t pay that much.”  She says now in a voice that now sounds a bit helpless.

“Cynthia”, says Ellen who towers over her. “You drive a hard bargain but I cannot go down too much.  This pair does not have the gold but there are six gems.  I can give them to you for $725.  But that is the lowest I can go.”

“Well, alright.  If that is the best you can do.”  And Cynthia speaks in a tone that I interrupt as resignation.  If that is the best that can be done, then she will have to buy them at that price.  But I quickly realize that I am wrong.  She is not resigned to anything but her bottom price.

“Sorry”, says Ellen, “I cannot go any lower.”

Cynthia just looks up at her, her safari hat, blocking most of her facial expression.  “If that’s the best you can do, so be it.  But I can’t afford to pay all that”.

This statement causes Ellen to flinch. “OK. $650, but Cynthia that is it.  I cannot go any lower.”

Cynthia still isn’t satisfied and I walk away for a moment.  I can’t stand the tension.  Again I can’t tell if she is playing her old lady trump card or if she can’t hear what Ellen is saying to her or if she now has herself so worked up over the emotional attachment that’s she has become irrational.  And what and when is it my responsibility to intervene.

But when I step back in to the conversation, I hear Ellen saying “$550” and Cynthia saying “but I can only pay $500”.  And then Ellen says “let’s split the difference, $525.”  And Cynthia announces, “deal.  I’ll take them.”  And then she turns to me and winks with great pride in a job well done.  And we all laugh. We laugh at Cynthia’s tenacity.  We laugh at Ellen for flinching.  And we laugh at Cynthia’s sense of victory.

And now it is time to pay and Cynthia can’t find her credit card.  She thinks she left it on the ship and we are at a tender port which means we have to catch a boat to our ship and then catch that boat back to the port. So off we go to get the money.

On our trip back to port, Cynthia announces that she is going to see if she can pick up a pendant as well and she is hoping to get this included in the deal she just scored.  This is too much for me to bear to hear.

We return to the shop and they treat her graciously and admirably.  At Cynthia’s request, pendants are now brought out and the clerk and she exchange comments.  I walk over to Ellen.  I am still amazed that this professional got so beaten by this small, 93 year old woman.

“She’s something else, isn’t she”, I proclaim.

“Yes, yes.  Usually, I do not let grandmother intimidate me.  But Cynthia, she is good”, Ellen admits. 

Our conversation is cut short because Ellen has been summoned.  Cynthia would now like to negotiate the price of the pendant.  The price starts at $325.

“No, I only want to pay $150”, Cynthia announces very matter of factly and confidently.  Well, the game of chicken starts again and in the end, Cynthia accepts an offer of $175.  And again, she is very proud of herself.  And again, Ellen is surprised at how quickly she surrendered.  And at my insistence, the clerk, Cynthia, and Ellen posed for a photo.  And Cynthia takes her bag of jewelry and walks out of that store with the presence of someone who stands six feet tall.