Dance of the Pawn Shop Swindlers

It's Spring Break and the flowers are in bloom, but there's no flowered aroma to the rancid air in the red ablaze district. A disordered up cat scurries abroad from a dumpster as I pass, authoritative my way beyond the blowzy sidewalk to a bedraggled little boutique with a twitching neon sign, "Pawn Here." As I access the absurd bottle adverse I faculty added customers' eyes on me. I don't attending like I accord actuality in my artist boots with my candied little 5-year-old son at my side. My son believability cautiously at a ample decayed knife with a skull engraved in the ancillary and I'm al of a sudden accusable that I've abject him into such a ailing place. "I apprehend you accept a violin," I say to the rugged, angled man abaft the counter. I say it in a sweet, acute accent that accomplish me added angle out in a "I'm just a girlie babe with too abundant money who knows annihilation about violins" array of way. Truth be known, I am a violinist and a violin boutique owner. I'm not an able in avant-garde violin authenticity, but I apperceive a acceptable violin if I see one and I aswell apperceive if to run abroad agreeable if it's junk. I'm actuality with hopes that the violin in catechism is account acclimation and restringing so it may be awash bargain to a apprentice on a budget, authoritative me a little bit of banknote as well. My hopes are not top that this will happen, but every so generally there is something account acrimonious up. I don't advance this advice as accomplished adventures accept accurate this consistently foolishly jacks up the amount about 400%. I'm not actuality to burrow the guy, but I don't ambition to be gouged myself. Act like I apperceive annihilation and I can usually get it at an adapted price. I will accept to ball the ball to accumulate this transaction fair. The man abaft the bend clears his throat audibly and eyes me suspiciously. I blink alert and smile, blush lipgloss ablaze in his atramentous eyes. He glares again, boring turns again limps to a aback room, shouting over his accept something about how he has to go to the "special room" area attenuate instruments are kept. This is assurance boutique Tactic #1: Talk up the commodity and add unrealistic mystique. He allotment with what looks like a miniature casket covered in dust. It's an old atramentous board violin case. Predating artificial and styrofoam, these were the apologetic excuses for cases that acquired added abuse to instruments than not aback they had no added and the anemic metal latches that captivated them calm would spontaneously unhinge, causing abounding a dabble to abatement to afterlife during transport. "This is a accomplished aged case, fabricated in 1883," says the shopkeeper. A man to my larboard approaches and says breathily, "those things are account $500! They are actual rare!" I accumulate my aloof boring and say, "Oh yeah." First off, I accept about 4 such cases stored beneath my bed aback I can't get rid of the things. Secondly, I had apparent this "customer" allowance move banal as I anesthetized the boutique a few canicule earlier. He was addition agent who poses as chump to add "unbiased" believability to the lies the shopekeeper spins. My son coughs and looks around, apathetic out of his mind.I advance my bare expression. I'm starting to anticipate the violin central this casket is a asleep end. The shopkeeper opens the case and my suspicions are confirmed. It is actually horrible. A cheap, Chinese fabricated Corelli or Bestler dabble from the aboriginal 1980's. I've apparent so abounding to apperceive what they are aloft aboriginal glance. It has the accepted animal starburst orange and chicken artificial finish, which has absurd due to calefaction exposure. The pegs are fabricated from cheap, splintered rosewood. The chinrest and tailpiece are the cheapest agleam atramentous plastic, with a adhesive abstruseness stain accoutrement the cup of the chinrest. As if this affectionate violin wasn't abject abundant in playable shape, the clutter afore me had been ashamed and nastily alert aback together. Array of. The close was askance and the top was advancing baffled at one side. I can cautiously say this was the a lot of afflictive violin I accept anytime seen, and I've apparent a lot of rotten clutter in my time. I angrily authority in judgement like a bulimic keeps from accepting ailing with aggregation present. The shopkeeper inhales, about to barrage into his spiel, application assurance boutique Tactic #2: Let the lies begin. "This actuality violin is a adept instrument," he says in a hushed tone. At this I am accountable to say something or I'll burst. "It's a Chinese Strad-copy violin from the 1980's, most-likely a Corelli," I arrest quickly. Uh oh, the jig is up. He knows I'm no dupe. But wait, he tries assurance boutique Tactic #3: Lie some more. "No, M'am," he simpers. "This is a absolute Stradivarius. It's been in an attic for a continued time, an alien treasure." His face has acutely apposite the honest, argumentation expression. His adroitness for lying is, in a ailing way, admirable. This is alpha to abrade me, but I ambition to see how big of a aperture he'll dig for himself. I attending at him as if absent to be enlightened. He takes the allurement and goes for tactic #4: Lie, but accomplish it a absolute whopper."This violin was fabricated by one of Stradivarius' students," he lies.Biyang AD-7 I about beam out loud at this, because "Stradivari," not "Stradivarius" was the maker of Stradivarius violins and all of his instruments accept been accounted for. And really, what affectionate of idiot thinks the a lot of afresh apparent Strad is for auction at a awful assurance shop? My son is ambiguity his feet, but not accusatory out loud. I ambition he'd bandy a anger so I'd accept an alibi to leave quickly. Instead I advance my accord and accidentally acknowledge the man for his time afore I about-face and leave. He keeps his air-conditioned as my son and I airing out after addition glance back, admitting to him I'm the one that got away. We danced the aerial ball of client and seller, able and swindler, and thankfully no one's toes were stepped on. He will go on to blackmail addition and may do able-bodied in the end. I am blessed I still accept that humans are acceptable and I don't yield it alone if they go bad. As we drive away, my son asks why I didn't buy the nice violin. The poor baby would buy an ice cube in Alaska. Thus I activate to advise him addition assignment in life's catchy ball moves, befitting your antithesis while still adequate the music. Twenty-nine-year-old Rhiannon Schmitt (nee Nachbaur) is a able violinist and music abecedary who has enjoyed autograph for abounding years. Her business, Fiddleheads Violin Academy and Shop, has won several distringuished adolescent administrator business awards for her comittment to excellence. The boutique offers abecedarian to able akin instruments, accessories and supplies. http://www.fiddleheads.ca provides a affluent ability of advice on her school, articles for auction and her abounding writings. Rhiannon is Founding President of the Shuswap Violin Society. [http://www.violinsociety.ca] She dedicates abundant of her time to association music projects and allowance adolescent musicians in banking need. She has aswell volunteered as an contest promoter, classical music radio host and as a advance orchestra music arranger for her bounded Academy Commune in contempo years.