Steven and the Jewelers.
“What can I say about Steven?”
A short stocky man. Very stocky. Not an ounce of fat. Always superbly dressed, in a well pressed business suit. A thorough gentleman. When he smiled his gold teeth glistened in the sunshine.
“Why are we talking about Steven?”
He was my employer in Australia during a period in the early 1950’s.
An immigrant from Austria he landed in Australia like most of us , with very little money, and an uncertain future, but a future far better than that of war torn Europe.
His background in the old country was in jewelry, and he soon found a position with a prestigious jewelers in the city center. The position was short lived however, and I will describe to you why, as Steven related it to me.
A lady entered the shop one morning. She was dressed in a fur coat, her neck adorned with a very expensive necklace, bracelets on her wrists and rings on her fingers. A picture of wealth.
He left her to browse and then approached her when she indicated that she wanted to try on some rings.
As a recent immigrant his command of English was passable, but the pronunciation questionable.
The word to describe jewelry in his own country was in the English context “treasures”.
He looked at the lady and in his best command of English he said:-
“yes madam, but would you first take off your Trousers”.
Trousers/Treasures it was that pronunciation.
The lady erupted indignantly, calling for the manager to complain about what she conceived as a crude insulting remark.
In those early days there was no such thing as employee’s rights. The manager with a view to placating a well paying customer escorted Steven to the sidewalk outside the shop and promptly fired him on the spot.
He stood there dazed trying to figure out what had happened.
His story however has a happy ending.
Immediately opposite the jewelers was a high rise office building.
Steven succeeded in opening a physiotherapy clinic there specializing in electronic treatments, in which role I was employed.
There must have been times when he looked down at the place of his first employment from his office window on one of the upper floors, remembering what had transpired.
He was probably at that time richer than that irate lady, and must have thanked her in his thoughts many times over.