The Word - Vol 80

"This Diamond Ring"

The summer of 1967 was the summer of Expo 67 in Montreal and the summer of love. It was the same year that 9 teenage boys from Vancouver bought an old school bus, converted it into a motor home, and headed across the country to celebrate Canada’s 100th Birthday and pay a visit to Expo 67. I was lucky enough to be one of the nine

We had adventures along the way, some of which I’ve outlined in a previous edition of The Word, but I thought I’d tell you a tale of a 17-year-old let loose on the streets of New York City. That 17-year-old was me.  

We had finished our visit in Montreal and decided to take the long way home via the United States. We headed home by way of Detroit, Boston, and New York City, not exactly the direct route home. We thought we were this far away from home we might as well see what else was in the mystic east!  

It’s not easy to find a parking spot for a full-length school bus in the Big Apple but we found a great place, the campus of Columbia University on the upper west side of Manhattan. Once parked we hit some of the tourist spots, then decided to split up and meet later in the day at Dempsey’s Bar. No, we weren’t old enough to be in the bar but we thought we’d give it a shot!

I struck out on my own that day, and while walking down the street I saw someone offering free tickets to the Merv Griffin Television Show. I’m in! There was Merv in all his glory along with his sidekick announcer, Arthur Treacher. Merv’s special guest on that show was singer Gloria Loring! I instantly fell in love! It was a very exciting couple of hours for a teenager from Vancouver. 

I left the show and headed off to see what else I could discover.  As I walked along the street, I heard someone say, “Psst! Hey kid!”  It was a guy standing off to the side of a building waving me over. So, I went over to see what he wanted. “Hey kid, want to buy a diamond ring?” I said “No.” He then motioned and said, “Follow me.” So, I did.  

As we were walking, he said that he had just robbed the Diamond Exchange (whatever that was) and had to get rid of a bunch of rings before the cops caught up to him. He said, “Look at this ring.” He opened a little ring box and sure enough, there was a sparkling diamond ring! “It’s yours for $100. Whoa, a hundred dollars was a lot of money back in 1967, especially for a 17-year-old whose money was quickly running out on his cross-country trip!  
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I told him I didn’t have a hundred dollars, so he said “ok how about 90?” I told him I didn’t have 90 either. “Come with me,” he said, so obediently I followed him. We went into a parking garage, and he pulled out the ring and said, “A diamond will cut glass, right?” And I said, “Yeah I guess so?” He said, “Well watch this.”  He was about to scratch the side window of one of the parked cars when the parking attendant yelled “Hey you guys, what are you doing!” The guy with the ring turned to me and said, “Let’s go!” And we both started running. Now, I don’t know why I was running, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.  

We rounded the corner and ducked into the lobby of an office building. Again, he asked about a diamond cutting glass, and this time pulled out the ring and put a huge scratch down the front window of the lobby! “See a real diamond,” he said. Off we go down the street again, and he says, “So, how about 50 bucks?” I didn’t have 50 bucks, “Ok, 30 bucks!” Again, it was a nope from me. “Alright, how much have you got?” I said I’d pay $15 for the ring. I think he was so worn down by this whole ordeal that he agreed. He said “Ok, ok, put the money in my hand and I’ll put the ring in your hand” I reached into my pocket and realized all I had was a 20-dollar bill!  What do I do, ask for change? So, I slipped him the 20 and he slipped me the ring. I opened the ring box, and there was my 20-dollar “stolen” diamond ring. I turned around and he was gone!  Vanished, like magic! 

Now, talk about a guilty complex! I was now in possession of a stolen ring, and I figured every policeman I passed on every corner (they still had beat cops back then) knew I had the ring, which probably made me look as guilty as a cat in a goldfish bowl.  But I managed to make my way back to the others, and our bus.

The summer was coming to a close, and we made it safely back home on our bus, I decided to take my prized diamond ring to the jeweler for an appraisal. Now for you seasoned veterans, I know I don’t have to tell you what the jeweller said to me. This whole story is so reminiscent of the old “Hey, ya wanna buy a watch” stories. But for the record the jeweller said. “I hope you didn’t pay a lot of money for this ring, because it’s a fine example of cut glass!” He went on to inform me that cut glass, not just diamonds, can cut glass! Or at least scratch it.

A lesson learned at the tender age of 17. It brings back the old saying - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Till next week...
Wayne

WATCH:   Gary Lewis & The Playboys  - "This Diamond Ring" ​

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