"Guy, please. I'm a pawnbroker, not an anthropologist"

The pawnshops in Jamaica, Queens, hold international treasures. There's a NY Times article on the pawnshops near the corner of Sutphin Blvd and Jamaica Ave in downtown Jamaica. It's a real Queens tale of goods pawned by immigrants who had brought them from the far corners of the globe.

"This is a worldwide shop," said the owner, Dejai Ramnarayan, 42. "We get all types of people in here."

The pawnbrokers talk about African headdresses and 24-karat gold from India. And one Nino Shmariahuis, the owner of U.S. Pawnbroker (90-33 Sutphin Blvd), is described as "something of an ethno-gemologist" who can determine the nationality of his customers by the type of jewelry they bring in to pawn. See the article before it disappears into the Times' archive.