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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsQuestion for married DUers, do you wear a ring? If not, why not?
Not wearing a ring gives us single people false hope.
NRaleighLiberal
(59,940 posts)when I got married, I made a promise, and that ring symbolizes that promise. A circle of never ending love.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,296 posts)My husband would not, mainly because his dad didn't. My dad did. It was a bone of contention for a while, but I got over it.
I was glad, though, when my son-in-law decided to wear one.
Also, my husband is not into jewelry.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)I have since met another friend, but we are keeping it simple by not formally marrying -- primarily for financial protection in the event one of us got really sick.
Yavin4
(35,354 posts)And I'm happy that you found someone else.
sarge43
(28,939 posts)He does mechanical work; too easy to catch a ring on a part and injure or lose the finger.
It's not always about sending signals.
TexasTowelie
(111,284 posts)I still wear my college graduation ring, but would remove it whenever I did mechanical work or was dealing with chemicals or other substances that could damage it.
sharp_stick
(14,400 posts)I'll take it off to clean it but that's about it.
MiddleFingerMom
(25,163 posts).
.
.
... a symbol telling the world of my commitment, my pride, my gratitude and my joy.
.
It has been the ONLY piece of jewelry that I have ever worn (except for a wristwatch,
which I stopped wearing almost exactly 40 years ago -- after I got beaten and mugged
and it was the only thing they got from me.)
.
.
.
Even after we separated and I went through and climbed out of my "soggy year" and
the divorce was imminent and inevitable, I couldn't bring myself to take it off. One
night, a neighbor came over for coffee and one thing led to another and as we were
kissing in the kitchen, I picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. At some point
during that process, the ring (always pretty tight on my finger) slipped off.
.
And I never did find it.
.
Was that a sign... or what?!?!?
.
.
.
Locut0s
(6,154 posts)Bertha Venation
(21,484 posts)of losing it or my bracelet. Especially the bracelet; it takes some doing to get my ring off.
rug
(82,333 posts)The one time I did lose it was during a shaving cream fight with the kids in the yard. My fingers got slippery and it came off. After 15 minutes of looking, I gave up and told her I'd rent a metal detector on the weekend. She didn't take that well. It lasted all day until she found it later.
Otherwise, I always have it on.
noamnety
(20,234 posts)I gain weight, I lose weight, it's too loose, it's too tight, water gets trapped under it and my skin starts peeling and hurts, it doesn't fit under my bike gloves, the diamond in the engagement ring scratches my face when I sleep.
Sometimes when I think of it I'll pop on a cheap 3 dollar fake wedding band before I go to the store so I don't get grabbed by creepers, and I throw it on for parent teacher conferences so parents don't hit on me; that's awkward.
narnian60
(3,510 posts)Good grief, that's...weird.
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)I have my hands in clay, paint, ink, etc. all day. Then I have to wash them a hundred times a day. I just found a ring too uncomfortable and I was afraid if I started to take it off, I would lose it. I'm not even sure if they still fit. I put them in the safe deposit box after some neighbors were burglarized.
Spike89
(1,569 posts)I lost one swimming with the kids in the surf near the wedge in Newport Beach...not much hope of finding it, but I looked for hours. When we moved back to Oregon, I lost the replacement playing fetch with my dog in a grassy field. Both of those were just slightly loose, but the next standard size down (my third band!) is too tight and hurts if I wear it too long.
As a guy, the ring issue isn't that big a deal as far as "signals" go. In my experience, women look for multiple signs that a guy is single (interest/flirting for example) and don't automatically assume a dude is available solely based on ring/no ring.
jrandom421
(999 posts)when I 'm working on high voltage, high current electrical equipment or when I'm working at the lathe.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)olddots
(10,237 posts)I used to wear a ring ,cut my finger off one day ( boo-hoo) never wore it again cause it reminds me of the accident .
LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)SwissTony
(2,560 posts)Didn't like driving with it, so I put on the dashboard.. At the end of the trip it was gone. No idea where it went.
My wife wants to replace it, but I feel it won't be the same.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)We hate rules
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)So I hardly ever wore my wedding ring.
Mr.Bill
(24,103 posts)We didn't even buy rings when we got married. I don't own or wear much jewelry at all. Just never cared for it, to each his own but I have better things to spend my money on. The only reason we even own rings/jewelry is they were inherited or gifts.
And at my age, I doubt I'm giving anyone hope, false or otherwise.
Phentex
(16,330 posts)never while running or walking or at the gym. I put it on when I go out sometimes if I remember. At home I'm always doing stuff so I don't keep it on. I take off a necklace the minute I get home, too.
Oh, a ring hasn't stopped some weirdos from asking me out anyway. -
yeah. Married 3 times and I've always worn my rings. I like jewelry, and I like rings...
I've been without my rings, though for about the past 6 weeks after having them on continuously for 18 years.
Gained some weight and had to have my engagement ring and wedding band cut off. Size 7 rings...size 9 1/2 finger. I would probably still be running around like that if one of the prongs on my diamond hadn't been squashed down flat, then pulled up so it had a point and got caught on everything.
I knew it would hurt to have them cut off. Ummm...yeah. It didn't just hurt. It was 25 minutes of torture. So I had to wait for my finger to recover before being re-sized and I'm having my diamond set right into my wedding band instead of in a separate ring.
My anniversary ring is being re-sized also, but I was able to remove that with soap, thank goodness.
trof
(54,255 posts)When I'm just around the house I don't wear a watch or any jewelry.
When I leave the house I usually wear a watch, my wedding ring, and a silver ID bracelet that Miz t. gave me many years ago.
It has my Air Force wings on it and the date of my graduation from USAF pilot training.
Oct. 23, 1964 if you're curious.
Kind of tight, but whatever.
surrealAmerican
(11,339 posts)... engagement, wedding, and twentieth anniversary. They're all just slim plain bands, and they do leave a callous on my finger, but I almost never take them off.
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)Of course, I am in no danger of offering false hope to single people, but I wear it anyway.
olddots
(10,237 posts)because he heard women hit on married men ( the guy was a classic dweeb)
madmom
(9,681 posts)Hubby's dad lost the top half of his finger because of a ring, he won't wear one now. I have my hands in water a lot. Finger became chapped and very soar under the ring. Took it off so it could heal, never put it back on.
fizzgig
(24,146 posts)i got a combo engagement/wedding ring the first christmas after we were married and i absolutely love it. i usually only take it off when i'm working with raw meat or if it's really cold and i'm afraid it'll slip off.
we got my husband's wedding ring for 15 bucks at a head shop a few days before the wedding and although it has sentimental value for him, he works with his hands and it gets caught on things. i was happy when he decided to wear it but understood when he stopped.
not wearing a ring never equaled getting hit on for me.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)got married at 125 pounds then somehow got up to 180+ and it seemed it was all in my gut and my newly sausaged fingers. My ring was cutting off my circulation and had to be cut off.
We planned to melt the remains and add a little more gold and make a new ring but by the time we got around to it (many years later) we couldn't find the old ring so we forgot about it for several more years.
Then around our 25th anniversary we were looking at just getting a new ring but one day we were over at my grandpa's and he was showing me where he kept some of his stuff "just in case" (He was 90 years old then and I am the executor of his will as both my dad and uncle have already passed on so I'm next in line) when I noticed a wedding band in his jewelry case. I asked him why he had two and he said "That's my spare - several years ago I was working out in the yard and noticed I lost my wedding ring. Your grandmother wasn't having any of that and marched me down to the jewelry store and we bought that spare. Then a few years later I was out working in the yard and found the original by a sprinkler head and put the spare away...you want it?"
So I got it sized and have been wearing it ever since.
Grandpa is 92 now and still wearing his original.
walkerbait41
(302 posts)<a href="http://imgur.com/V26TB3h"><img src="" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
I prefer to think that my wearing a ring offers strangers a profound sense of relief.
Response to Yavin4 (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
rurallib
(62,342 posts)got my ring caught descending a ladder shortly after we married. Started taking it off then. Shortly after, I got a factory job where rings were verboten. Therefore I quit wearing it. Since I do much work around the house with my hands I decided all five fingers much preferable to four fingers and a hole.
lynne
(3,118 posts)Am wearing my engagement ring only but it's an emerald so not automatically assumed that I'm "taken". I switch-out wedding rings, too, as I have my mother's ring. I will sometimes wear that it a reminder of my parents wonderful marriage.
After almost 30 years, I don't really need a ring. I know I'm married and have been that way most of my life at this point. No one will get false hope as I don't give them a reason for hope - false or otherwise.
a la izquierda
(11,784 posts)My husband lost his years ago and hasn't bought a new one.
Texasgal
(17,029 posts)Or sometimes not at all.
I have to remove my any rings or bracelets for surgery, so I just don't wear them.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)His is a very heavy gold band. Mine is much lighter with a band of diamonds all around (I never wanted an engagement ring so its just this ring) . Years ago, while moving horse jumps, my ring sustained a huge gash in the gold. While the diamonds stayed in place despite the major ding, I've never trusted the ring's "safety" ever since. We do heavy physical labor every day. It just wasn't worth the worry.
I put it away after that and only wear it for special events. I know I could get the whole ring re-built without the gash but I love the ring's symbolism of THAT wedding day, and the way the engraving inside has worn etc. It just wouldn't be the same ring if I got it re-made.
Besides, our marriage is so much bigger than the rings. Any single person whose ever hit on me understands that within about the first 30 seconds of being rebuffed.
CTyankee
(63,768 posts)I injured my hand and didn't take care to remove the ring. My fingers began to swell and I then tried frantically to remove the band but it was too late! Ice didn't help very much. So I had to go tothe ER (the local walk in clinic told me they didn't have the tools to cut the ring off). A very nice PA tended to me. She said the finger wasn't broken. But it still gets a little swollen in the morning...
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)mine cut off last month, I went to a jeweler (family friend) who said that the local hospital has often had to borrow his ring cutter because they don't have one.
I find this sort of odd, that ERs wouldn't have such a thing. What if someone comes in after jewelry stores close?
Glad your finger wasn't broken, anyway.
Mine had to come off because weight gain is so gradual it's hard to notice a tight ring till it's too late to get it off.
CTyankee
(63,768 posts)It's all so stupid and wouldn't have happened if I had the sense to just take the ring off after the injury and before the swelling started. This happened once before when I had two mosquito bites on my left hand and the swelling started. A doc friend of ours took a look at it and warned me about taking my rings off after some event that would cause swelling or "they'll have to cut them off in the ER."
I felt so stupid...
Raine1967
(11,589 posts)When we got married we bought a pair of small platinum hoop earrings. We each wear ours in the left ear. I'm not a big fan of wedding bands.
Love the responses in this thread.
Bake
(21,977 posts)Now I'm sure Mrs. B has something on the list for me to do!
Bake