Broken Promises
Lorraine M. GREgoire
"Sheesh! Give me a few points for self control!" I snapped at my cranky husband. I wanted to stop at a sporting goods store "Going Out of Business" sale we passed in the mall. "There's nothing we need", his usual grumpy male comment. "It's all overpriced junk. If they had anything good they wouldn't be going out of business."
"But, it's sporting goods", I wheedled. "Could be some good deals for the grandkids. And, you like boats and fishing stuff. I've put up with that photo of your "dream-canoe" stuck on the bathroom mirror for years now. Maybe you'd enjoy just looking around?"
"Are you crazy" his eyes got funny and he said something like. "The boat I want is the Supremo Numero-Uno blah-blah. Soon as I finish saving up 6,000 bucks for that baby I'm going to order right from the manufacturer. Custom. In silver. Yesiree. This loser store wouldn't carry something like THAT. And I'm sure not going near those sucker crowds."
"You're so darn negative and boring!" I retorted. "I happen to like crowds. They make me feel like I'm part of something. I promise I won't buy anything but I'm going to look around for fun anyways. You go for coffee and I'll meet you back here in half an hour."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, old girl." He chuckled in that self-satisfied "I'll believe it when I see it" way that always gets me riled. "I know you're going to come out of there with useless junk. You always
do."
His words made me mad. How dare he accuse me of being frivolous! I prided myself on being a wise shopper. I had a darn good nose for bargains and stretched our old age pensions like nobody's business. Now I had a mad on, that's for sure. "Boy, I'll show him." I promised myself I would not buy a darn thing, no matter what. Ha! I wouldn't give Mr. Know-It-All smarty-pants reason to gloat.
I squared my chin and marched into the crowded store. Aisles and aisles of hockey equipment, basketballs, golf clubs, exercise equipment, fishing gear, boy toys galore were strung with huge blaring signs. CLOSING OUT SALE - Up to 80% OFF. NO REFUNDS.
Up and down the aisles I strolled, ducked and dodged, humming to myself and enjoying the frenetic energy and excitement of a sale.
All of a sudden, there, at the back of the store, in gleaming silver, full of lifejackets, paddles and fishing stuff, sat the exact canoe of my husband's picture. I gasped and blinked three times. Yup. It was still there. The Supremo Numero-Uno blah, blah. My heart beat wildly. I elbowed my way through the crowds, scrambled over junk in the aisles and darned near fell into the canoe looking for the price tag.There it was - a little tattered, with the manufacturer's suggested retail price at $6,750 plus tax crossed out and a handwritten TO CLEAR $750 AS IS. NO RETURNS. Must be a mistake. $6000 off? Salesman. I had to talk to a salesman.I spotted a young fellow with a "Hi. I'm Mathew" tag trying to hide out from the mob of bargain hunters. I clutched his sleeve. "Mathew. Tell me about this El Supremo canoe. What's wrong with it? Why is it only $750?"
"Oh. There's nothing wrong with it. It's brand new. We're closing the store is all. It's on clearance like everything else. I think that includes lifejackets, paddles and a bunch of fishing gear, too. I'll go check."
A few minutes later he came back and said, "I'm sorry ma'am. Someone made a mistake on the sale tag. It's supposed to be $4,750 for the whole package. I just talked to my Dad who is running the close-out. He said it was worth more than $8,000 regular price so it's still a real good deal."
I felt tears well up in my eyes. "Oh well", I said sadly. "Of course, it was too good to be true. This is exactly like my husband's dreamboat. I guess I started to dream myself when I saw that price tag. He's going to be 62 years old Friday. Had to retire early for his health. It's been hard on just the pension but the stubborn old fool has been saving $10 every week for years to buy one just like this. Just an old man's silly dream, you know. Always said he wanted to spend his retirement out fishing in a canoe," my voice trailed off and I turned and walked away.I was already at the mall door when Mathew caught up with me. "Do you have $750 plus $25 for delivery and a bit more for tax, ma'am?" I gasped. "Yes. Yes. That's about all I have," I said as I thought fleetingly about the cataract surgery I was saving up for."Well then, you just have your husband sitting on the front porch on Friday morning around 10 o'clock so's he can be there when my Dad and I come to unload his new boat. We'll even put a bow on it for his birthday."I started to cry. My old hand shook and I had to squint as I wrote out my cheque. Mathew swallowed hard.
"Ma'am. There's something you should know. This store was my Grampa's. He ran it for more than 30 years. He always promised to retire one day. Said he wanted to spend time relaxing and out fishing in a canoe. He ordered this one, custom, for himself last year but, well, just never took the time off to use it."He swallowed even harder. "My Grampa died, sudden-like, just last week. He was only 68 years old. I think he'd be mighty happy that your husband will get this here canoe. My Dad thinks so too. You just have to make sure he uses it a lot, okay? Promise?"I handed Mathew a Kleenex and we stood there together, quietly lost in our own thoughts for a moment, blowing our noses.
"I promise," I said as I dashed off to look for my dear sweet husband.
不遵守诺言
作者 Lorraine M.GREgoire
应中革 译
“希什！你提几点建议吧，如何才能控制自己！”我咬牙切齿地冲着怪僻的丈夫大喊。我们在商业街经过体育用品店，那儿正在“歇业大拍卖”。我要停下来看看。可是他就用往常那种闷闷不乐的，大男人的腔调说，“我们用不着那些东西。那些货都是标价超值的伪劣商品。如果他们有好货，也就不会‘歇业’了。”
“但是，这是体育用品店，或许可以买几样给我们的孙子。而且，你喜欢船和漁具。你贴在浴室的镜子上的那张“梦中情人舟”好几年了，我都看腻了。也许你有兴趣进去看看？”
“你疯了？”他的眼神变得很古怪，他是这样说：“我要的船是碧蓝-碧蓝统帅1号。等我存足6,000元买船的钱，我就要直接从厂家订货。定做。银白色。一定要买这种船。这家亏本店不可能有这种船。我真的不能挤到那批容易受骗的傻瓜中去。”
“你竟然这么气恼，这么扫兴!”我反斥，“我倒是正好喜欢挤一下。他们使我感到我是他们中的一员。我保证什么都不买。但是我无论如何要进去看热闹。你去喝咖啡吧，半小时后我回到这里见你。”
“做不到就不要发誓保证，老婆。”他一边说，一边得意地笑。那种‘见了才相信’的神气样子使我感到十分恼火。他还说，“我知道，等会儿你又买了一堆无用的东西从里面出来了。你一贯都是这样。”
他的话简直把我气疯了。他竟然责备我轻率购物。作为一个明智的购物能手我自己一向感到非常自豪。我十分喜欢打探便宜货，用养老金那笔钱简直有点随意。这时我像疯了一样，肯定被气疯了。
“哼，我让你看明白。我保证不买任何混账东西，无论什么都不要。哈哈，我不能让那个自以为是，自作聪明的家伙有半点得意的理由。
我收起怒容，直奔那家拥挤的商店。一摊又一摊曲棍球器材、篮球、高尔夫球、健身器材、漁具和男孩玩具大量堆放成行。一条条过道上都是大幅醒目的广告招牌：歇业大拍卖----降价80%。恕不退款。
我从过道一头逛到另一头，躲过推挤，避开碰撞，哼着曲调，欣赏大减价销售中狂热的激情。突然，商店后面摊位那边银光闪闪，堆滿救生衣、划桨和漁具，没错，正是我丈夫的照片上的那艘船。我喘了一口气，眼睛眨了三次。不是做梦，它还在那儿。我的心呯呯乱跳。我用肘部推开人群，爬上过道上的杂货堆，向前一扑，正好掉到小船上，我立即开始找价格标签。一下了我找到了一张破旧的，厂家推荐的，零售价标签：$6,750 (包括免税)。上面有手写字：减价出售，现价 $750。恕不退款。一定搞错了，价格降了$6000! 推销员在哪儿？我要问一下推销员。
我发现一个年轻人，戴着工作卡“你好，我是马索”，正想躲开抢购便宜货的人群。我赶紧抓住他的袖子，“马索，请说一下，这艘统帅牌小船价格错了吗？为什么价格是 $750？”
“哦，没错。全新的。我们要歇业关门了，清仓大拍卖减价销售。与其它商品一样，这艘船也削价，这个价格包括船上的救生衣、划桨和一批漁具。我去核对一下。”
一会儿后，他回来说，“对不起，大妈。有人把价格搞错了，这个价格应该是$4,750，包括全部附件。我父亲负责这次歇业，我刚才与他联系过，他说，这只船平价是$8,000，所以现在这个价还是十分优惠的。
我含着眼泪，难过地说，“当然，那个价太便宜了，也确实不能相信。这只船与我丈夫的梦中情人船一模一样。当我看见这只船的售价时，我觉得自己是在做梦。这个星期五他就是62岁生日。由于健康的原因，他不得不提前退休。靠养老金过日子不容易，但是这个老傻瓜为了买这种船，多年来坚持每星期省出10美元。你知道，这是老头的无知梦想。他总是说，他的退休后要划着小船钓鱼安度晚年。”我泣不成声，转身就走。
我已经走到店门口了，马索追了上来。“大妈，你有750美元吗？再加上25美元运费和一点税款，你有这点钱吗？”
我急忙回话，“有，有的。”说话时我立即想到那笔白内瘴手术用的存款。
“很好。那么请让你的丈夫在星期五上午10点左右坐在走廊口等我和我的父亲来送运这只条船，我们还要在船上为他准备一份生日餐食。”
我开始哭出声来。在签支票时我的双手不停地抖，眼睛得眯着看。马索竭力控制住他的激动。
“大妈，一件事该让你知道。这家店是我祖父开的。他经营这家店30多年了。他总是说有一天他要退休。退休后好好放松自己，划着小船钓鱼安度晚年。他去年订购了这条船，是定做的，但是，你看，他永远没有时间了，不能再坐船了。”说着他更加激动了，“我的祖父突然死去，就在上星期。他只有68岁。我觉得，祖父知道你的丈夫要用这条船，他会很高兴的。我的父亲也是这样想。你一定要让他尽量多用这条船，你能做到吗？你能发誓吗？”
我取出面巾纸递给索马，我们一起站着平静地思索了好一阵，用面巾纸擦着鼻涕。
“我保证做到。” 说着，我飞也似地跑开，去找我那心的爱丈夫。
