The One Ring

          This story occurred about three years ago in one of my classes at college. We were all in class when our teacher was telling us about a personal story. She explained how she had this guy friend who bought a very expensive ring that he was going to use when proposing to his girlfriend. After getting through their date, he went and proposed to her. Unfortunately, the girl didn't accept his proposal and they stopped seeing one another. "So now" my teacher said "he has this ring that he spent all this money on and doesn't know what to do with it."
          Students started saying things like "what a waste of money" and "why would you pay so much for a ring". I looked around with confusion at everyone, I couldn't figure out what the big deal was with the ring. Eventually I decided to speak my mind. "So what?" I asked "Just save the ring for the next girl that comes along." Everyone in the room looked at me like I was a monster. I had no idea what I said to upset them.
          "Chris" my teacher said "That is a terrible thing to say". "Why?" I asked "Just hold onto the ring and give it to the next girl that you want to propose to. What's the big deal?" "Chris" my friend Amanda said "He bought that ring out of his love for her". Without hesitation I said "And that love will still be there when he gives it to the next girl". "But Chris" another student said "That ring was meant to be for her and no one else". "Well" I said "What about grandmothers that let their grandsons propose with their ring". "Thats different" the kid said. "Not by much" I said "In fact that's even worse, because in the case of the grandmother the deal was sealed. Where as with the girl, the ring never really belonged to her in the first place". They didn't bother to argue the point much further. To this day I still don't see the problem with what I said. As far as I'm concerned, you're not hurting anybody by doing this and you're saving money. The way I see it, it's a win-win for everyone.