This is a true story from the Toronto Star.

I put it here to dispel the idea that to attract an experience, one needs a special ability.

Understanding what happened here will un-ravel a better understanding of how we attract.

Can you identify exactly where the attraction took place in this example?

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Engagement ring lost in jewelry store mixup

Someone, somewhere, has a very precious object belonging to Toronto fashion stylist Michael Black, and he may not even know it.

An unknown man who walked into the Bloor St. Birks jewelry store on Wednesday was inadvertently given Black's engagement ring - a custom-made diamond eternity ring, made of 18-karat white gold, with a band of diamonds totaling three carats.

A "devastated" Black says Birks told him the man had brought in three or four rings for cleaning, waited about 45 minutes while they were being cleaned, paid cash for the rings that were handed to him in a bag, and then left.

Unfortunately for Black, the ring he had taken to Birks last Friday for cleaning and a minor repair was still in a machine the store uses and was mixed in with the man's rings.

When he went in on Wednesday, the day he was told to pick up his ring, Black was given the news.

"They took me to the manager and they simply said they have given the ring to someone else. I was devastated . . . I was speechless."

Black says Birks told him it has no information about the man's identity, although he says he was given a photo of him taken by a store security camera.

"He may not know he has the ring and I don't want him to feel like he's being blamed for anything," says Black, who speculates the individual could have just stashed the bag when he got home. "This is bizarre and unthinkable, but life is strange at times. I just want to feel whole again . . . It means so much to me it is a symbol of my love, my hopes, and my future."

Eva Hartling, Birks' director of public relations, said company policies do not permit her to comment on individual client dealings. Staff at the Bloor St. Store, which has been in business since 1952, have been "devastated" by what happened, she said.

Hartling acknowledged that when it comes to "on the spot" jewelry cleaning, when a client is standing in the store "and they don't leave our sight," the policy to date has "not necessarily" been to write down identification details. She said the policy will be reviewed.

As a rule, she said, the store will offer a replacement or compensation to a client's satisfaction for a damaged or mishandled item.

Hartling would not confirm what, if any, information the store has about the man believed to have been given Black's ring. "We have very high hopes that this gentleman will recover the ring."

Black isn't as sure the sore can do much. "Birks is telling me that they are doing all they can, but without knowing who he is, this (story in the Star) may be the only way to reach him," he said.

Although Birks has promised to replace the ring, which was purchased in New York City for $12,000 in 2007 when the couple got engaged, that's not what Black wants.

"I just want my ring back. The design is special to my heart - I'd wanted o to be absolutely perfect, and it was," said Black, who is planning a wedding to his partner, who had a ring in a different style made at the same time.

Black was nervous about being parted from his ring to begin with.

He's heard stories about people taking their rings to get cleaned and having precious stones removed and replaced with duds.

"I went to Birks because it's the one place I would trust to clean my ring and get it back to me."

He believes Birks is sincerely sorry but wonders why the store didn't get the man's identification details.

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