If one more customer complained about the latest cost increase, she'd scream.  Did they think her company was giving the stuff away?  And have they not heard the term "inflation"?  Sure, things were tight and it was always smart to keep an eye on the bottom line, but these people made penny-pinchers look like pikers.  Much as she wanted to slap a strip of duct tape over their pieholes, she counted to ten, took several deep breaths, and remembered each time to rest her hand -- ever so beautifully adorned with this stretch number of turquoise quartz and pink jade  -- on the customer's arm.  A paragon of service in every way.