Bling

What's with bling anyway? Brenda Dane did a Cast-on commentary about bling which hit me as very poignant. And then in the next show she made a comment that someone wrote her and felt like she was criticizing women who wear diamonds.

The issue with bling is this - some people have it and some people don't. Some people have expendable income and some people don't. Some people who do have expendable income simply don't believe in walking around with 10,000 on their finger. Some people don't understand that a 2 carat ring costs more than some people make in a year.

So what's with all that? Does the man who worked his ass off to buy his fiance a 1/4 carat diamond ring love her any less than the man who bought his fiance a gigundo ring? Would you rather have a ring than a down payment on a house? Is the marriage doomed to fail if a diamond isn't big enough?

Seriously people. The worth is in the gesture - not the monetary value of the jewelry.

Like Brenda Dane said - I would befriend a woman who is dripping with diamonds - but is the reverse true? Are there people out there who judge you based on the size and/or existence of your bling? You're damn right they do - and what does that say about them?

So I think this is one time we can be glad it's relatively easy to spot the 'superficials' - not in the prevalence of their own bling, but in their reaction to the lack of bling on others.

Don't get me wrong, I want a pair of diamond studs as much as the next girl, I adore jewelry - the sparklier it is, the happier I am. But I will judge people by character, integrity, kindness and all those other rather out of style personality traits - not on the monetary value worn on digits. I guess I'm just old-fashioned that way.

And really it's just an American bigger is better sort of thing anyway...when we were in Paris we window shopped a few jewelry stores, and the engagement rings were - well - smallish. They were beautiful - but I would say the BIGGEST were a half carat. In major cities here they don't even display stones that are less than a carat. That just leads directly into a play on the consumerism in our society and I won't even go there.

Phew. I guess I've had that building for a long time. I maintain that the size of your bling has nothing to do with the quality of your relationship - and those that think otherwise deserve their own fate.