4 ms·

I got my ex(unrelated I assure you) a sapphire because it had meaning in relation to our birthdays and we both agreed not to buy diamonds. She loved it and our

I got my ex(unrelated I assure you) a sapphire because it had meaning in relation to our birthdays and we both agreed not to buy diamonds. She loved it and our families thought it was great but we both had to deal with a lot of comments off strangers and friends about why I didn't buy a diamond. She was great about it but you could see a bit of disappointment in her whenever it was raised as she was just excited to have it and felt hurt that she had to explain why it wasn't a diamond. When they would ask me I'd list the reasons on the page and tell of why I picked the stone I did so it would only bother me when I saw her bothered. The point of this story? Even when its perfect for you and you couldn't be happier there are large portions of society and people you honestly never expect that will go about criticizing you for not following the norm and you need to be prepared to have that conversation a LOT like every time someone sees your ring a lot. That said I still wouldn't change it for the world though and I know neither would she and when your day comes I'm sure you won't either.

philk 17y ago
People will always be criticized for not following the norm. It's awesome, and an affirmation that you aren't part of the herd. Plus I'd just say "We preferred sapphires" and change the topic.
- yummyfajitas 17y ago
  A good response: "Anyone who buys or accepts a mined diamond is implicitly supporting war and slavery in Africa. I'm against slavery. What about you?" (This does run the slight risk of alienating most of the women in the room, including some who cried during "Blood Diamond".)
  - philk 17y ago
    The problem here is that you're paying attention to their bullshit question. When you spend time justifying yourself it rewards the person for asking the question (because they're getting attention) and makes it look like you need to justify yourself. (Although I suppose after enough impromptu five minute speeches about blood diamonds people will learn to stop asking you about the ring :) )
anamax 17y ago
> felt hurt that she had to explain why it wasn't a diamond. She didn't have to explain anything. What she should have done is pointed out how rude they were to make such hurtful comments.

philk 17y ago

People will always be criticized for not following the norm. It's awesome, and an affirmation that you aren't part of the herd. Plus I'd just say "We preferred sapphires" and change the topic.

yummyfajitas 17y ago
A good response: "Anyone who buys or accepts a mined diamond is implicitly supporting war and slavery in Africa. I'm against slavery. What about you?" (This does run the slight risk of alienating most of the women in the room, including some who cried during "Blood Diamond".)
- philk 17y ago
  The problem here is that you're paying attention to their bullshit question. When you spend time justifying yourself it rewards the person for asking the question (because they're getting attention) and makes it look like you need to justify yourself. (Although I suppose after enough impromptu five minute speeches about blood diamonds people will learn to stop asking you about the ring :) )

anamax 17y ago

> felt hurt that she had to explain why it wasn't a diamond. She didn't have to explain anything. What she should have done is pointed out how rude they were to make such hurtful comments.