Harry, the Potty, and the Triwizard Tournament

On Sunday afternoon, I went to see the Harry Potter And the Goblet of Fire - It was very likely that no one would want to go with me, so I took myself. I went to my favorite old theater - where the popcorn is good, the sound isn't too loud, and to date, they don't run 45 minutes of commercials before the previews (I HATE chain theaters!)

Before I bought my ticket, I stopped in the little shop next to the theater. I found a beautiful silver bracelet for Dave's daughter. It was very pretty - a heart with a bunch of chains holding it together - with a Tiffany's style toggle closure - you know - the circle and toggle-bar thingie.

I didn't want the chains to get tangled up, so I toggled it onto my wrist as I left the store.

Before the movie, I stopped in the ladies' room. After doing the designated bathroom task, I flushed, and picked up my bags.

The toggle of the bracelet suddenly un-toggled and as if by magic, flew right into the toilet. Splash! I had no choice but to fish it out (thankfully - the bowl was flushed - but the idea of sticking my hand into a public toilet really grossed me out). I washed the bracelet and my hands thoroughly. In fact, I washed twice.

When sufficiently sanitized, I put the bracelet back on my wrist and sat down to watch the movie. Somewhere between the first and second tasks of the Triwizard Tournament, I heard a jingly sound. It took just a few moments to realize what had hit the ground.

The bracelet had fallen off again. I picked it up. As Harry outsmarted mermaids and rescued Ron from the depths of the Black Lake, I examined the toggle. Sure enough, the rod thingie wasn't long enough to really lock into the circle clasp. That's why the bracelet fell off in the toilet - and that's why I almost lost it in the movie theater.

While the on-screen Tournament continued, I pondered my own strategy. Do I keep a bracelet that had fallen into the toilet or return it? One, I couldn't give a gift that'd been in the toilet... If I didn't return it, I'd have to keep it. Two, I hated that I'd just spent money on jewelry that didn't work. Yes, I could probably fix it - but come on. It'd been in the toilet!

After the movie, I returned to the store. Skipping the part about the toilet, I said I'd owned their bracelet for two hours and it fell off twice. I asked for my money back. They said I could only have store credit.

"Wait - I can't get my money back after two hours?"

"It's store policy." They said.

Convinced that I deserved my money back because I dove into my own proverbial Black Lake to retrieve their crappy bracelet, I made my decision.

I took the store credit and left. Do you think that's horrible?