Greed and disgust

There are several things about a recent engagement between two people I know that makes my stomach turn (no, it's not the people involved, they are good people, but they just happen to be very good examples of some things about engagements in general that make my stomach turn). The latest involves the ring.

The bride-to-be posted a story on Facebook explaining how the groom-to-be proposed. It was a cute story. The first comment left on the story said, "So what are the specs. on the ring?"

How absolutely messed up is the world when people care so beyond much about a piece of metal and some minerals and don't even care about the people involved or the love they have found? Why does it seem like the standard response to, "I'm engaged!" seems to be, "Let me see the ring"? People should be prepared for me to answer with some snooty remark or a simple "no" when they ask me that. I'd much rather show off how handsome he is or talk about how wonderful he is in all the little things than stick out my hand for them to oooo and aaaah over. Gag me.

And to top it off, there was this article in the Deseret News this morning, Popping question doesn't have to break the bank. It seems like a nice enough article at the outset, but the whole premise of needing to write an article like this just goes to show how much is wrong with the industry, that there is even an industry for weddings is wrong too. And I happen to agree with the commenter who responded to this line in the article, "There are some brides who won't be happy unless a ring is one or two carats." A woman like that isn't ready to get married. And any man who proposes to a woman like that deserves what he gets.

I like pretty things. That's not the problem. But I'm not going to get engaged so I can get a pretty sparkly thing. And when I do get engaged, I'll be more excited about the person I'm going to be spending the rest of eternity with than some metal and minerals.