Diamond Ring

I'm tired of hearing a girl say that she's not "technically" engaged, because Johnny can't afford the ring yet. What in the world is that?! She only loves him enough if he can afford a diamond ring?

Second, I hate that the first thing we want to do is look at the ring when we find out a girl got engaged, as if that's the most important part of the engagement. I do it too. I feel awkward if I don't ask to see the ring, because that's the expected reaction.

Third, it feels wrong for me to expect to wear a $2000+ ring on my finger when people are starving to death today. I guess I could say that about any of my possessions really. I'm just targeting the diamonds right now though.

My roommate and I went to MythBusters last night, and this is what we found:

"The first recorded instance of a man giving his bride-to-be a diamond ring was in 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Hamburg gave one to Mary of Burgundy. However, this was only an occasional occurrence among royalty and the extremely wealthy — hardly what would be called a tradition. It wasn't until the 1930s, when the South African diamond company De Beers tried to boost sales by working with Hollywood starlets and movie studios to promote the concept of presenting a diamond ring as part of a marriage proposal, that the idea started to catch on. In 1947, De Beers launched their highly successful "A Diamond Is Forever" marketing campaign, and convinced men that they needed to spend two to three months' salary in order to present their intended with a suitable engagement ring. Today, approximately 75 percent of engagements include a diamond ring."