Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1483130
52 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2022 "Yikes! Chuck, I could never ask Professor Coleman for a favor for something like that," Andy said, sheepishly. "Let's ask Maggie and see what she says," Chuck responded. "Even that's scary," Andy said. "Maggie is our boss." "But she's our friend too," Chuck added as they walked together to find her. "What can I do for our two greatest super- stars?" Maggie said with a warm chuckle as Andy and Chuck approached her. "Andy needs to get an engagement ring for Sue, and he is afraid to ask for Professor Cole- man's help," Chuck replied. "Andy, it's about time," Maggie said, teas- ingly. "Someone told me there was a pool started on when you would ask Sue to marry you. Professor Coleman is very kind and wel- coming. I'm sure she would be thrilled to help you." Maggie offered to email Professor Patty Coleman and ask if she would help Andy. Of course, Patty agreed to help, but she wanted to meet Andy first, so he made an appointment and was off to Ivy University. Andy had never been so nervous, with the possible exception of when he and Sue talked to her parents. Sue and Andy had discussed getting engaged but asking her parents for "permission" was scary. However, they were surprisingly supportive. Andy was pleasantly surprised as he still thought Sue outclassed him and he felt extremely fortunate that she would be his fiancée. Andy walked in the hal- lowed halls of Ivy U's engineer- ing school and up the stairs to Professor Coleman's of f ice. "So, you are the young lad who needs an engagement ring for Sue March," Patty teased as Andy entered her office. Two days later… Patty has called her her father-in-law, Dan, who is in Antwerp, the diamond capital of the world. "Hey, Dad, I have a deserving student who needs an engagement ring. Do you have any- thing?" Patty asked. "Perfect timing. I just got a beautiful sap- phire ring with diamonds on the side. How much money does this young lad have?" he answered. As soon as Patty said $4,000, she knew it was a mistake to mention the amount of money. "What a coincidence, it cost me $3,500, so that gives me a little profit," Dan responded. "Dad, you've done this before. I'll bet it cost a lot more," Patty lectured. "Well, okay, maybe a little more…" Dan sheepishly replied. "Dad…" Patty admonished. "Okay, it was a lot more, but Patty, I just turned 70 years old, and it makes me feel good to help a young deserving young," Dan confessed. ey chatted a bit more, but when Patty saw a photo of the ring, she almost gasped. Clearly that ring was worth multiple times more than $4,000. Well, at least there will be one happy young couple, she thought. A few days later, Patty asked Andy to make a return visit to her office… "Well, here is one my father-in-law found for $4,000. What do you think?" Patty said as she showed a picture of the ring to Andy. It could not be said that Andy knew much about gems and engagement rings in gen- eral. However, even he knew that this was no $4,000 ring. "Professor Coleman, that sure looks like a much more e x p e n s i v e r i n g ! " A n d y exclaimed, as Patty replied, "Well, my father-in-law oen gets good deals. So do you want it?" "Sure, wow!" Andy gushed. The r ing had arr ived, w ith Figure 1: Sue's new engagement ring.