Monday, January 16, 2012

7 reasons I gave my Fiancee a thimble instead of a ring

1. I'm from America and we don't really have a lot of diamonds here - I think it's silly to buy something that is supposed to symbolize so much from a country these feet have never traversed. I'm not saying Hondas aren't great cars or that Toblerone isn't smooth but they don't symbolize anything. I was able to find a silver thimble that was smithed in Baltimore after the Civil War - and was able to buy it from an antique shop in the town of my birth.

2. Lisa is about as rare and wonderful as it gets. Lisa IS a diamond. She deserved something unique...couldn't have a diamond walking around carrying a diamond on its finger.

3. Proverbs 31 describes the wife of noble character - I ask you to read that scripture and tell me which would be more becoming of that woman: a thimble symbolizing tender industry or a diamond ring symbolizing any number of stumbling stones.

4.


5. You don't build a house from the roof down. I think it is a gross tradition in this country that when a couple is just about to start out the man goes and blows 4 figures or more on a piece of jewelry. It might be a different story if I had oodles of disposable income which, like most Americans, I don't - or if I didn't have student loans which, like most men in my station, I do. I spent a good deal of money on the thimble and on an amethyst ring (mined in Maine and set in Barre, Vermont during the Depression) but not an amount that required a payment plan or a steadying gulp. Some people have intimated that I was like school on saturday (no class) by doing this but I think the soberminded man who knows the value of a dollar and seeks to marshall his resources wisely in a way that ensures the safety and comfort of his bride is a much more fitting way to take a knee and ask for that bride's favor.

6. The tradition in a wiser and more industrious America was to eventually cut the bottom off the thimble and size it to wear as a ring. Over time, as finances allowed, many would adorn the ring (typically with pearls). This tradition speaks to me so much more than starting off with the adornment - It is my pronkly held belief that a marriage that begins by acknowledging that it's humble and that asks both persons to carry their share of the water will be the marriage best primed to succeed - not just in the economic realm but also in the spiritual and interpersonal realms as well.

7. Despite many jewelers profuse claims diamonds are oftentimes harvested through cruel and inhumane practices that aggressively and greedily exploit and dehumanize individuals. I want no hand in that and don't want it on Lisa's hand.

*Job Tate - fellowship of the Octagon.

11 comments:

Josh Tate said...

Welcome to the Octagon, Job. I'm ordering out for pizza. What toppings would you like?

Josh Tate said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Josh Tate said...

Can I get you a cactus cooler?

Anonymous said...

A quick question, are your clothes homemade? Check the tag an then rethink number 7.

al'xae said...

I dig it!

(Also the ring you did get her is beautiful!)

Rocket Surgeon, Phd said...

We have to wear clothes (but I will dwell on your point and question myself on how ethical my shopping is, comprehensively) but nobody has to wear a diamond - and I urge you to read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamond

While diamonds aren't technically a commodity they behave like one in a lot of ways and slavery is often used to harvest diamonds and then go on to fund any manner of reprehensible things. Factories in Taiwan or Pakistan that make a pair of jeans may have woeful practices in place but I'm sure that every city in those countries that house those factories is extremely grateful to have them there.

The same cannot always be said of Diamond operations.

Josh Tate said...

Here's my clothing breakdown-

Baseball Cap= China
Sweatshirt= Indonesia
T-Shirt= Haiti
Pants= Sri Lanka
Underwear= Thailand
Socks= ?
Shoes= United States of America

My clothes are better traveled than me! Too bad they're not sentient. Oh, the stories they could tell!

I got your back on this one, Job. Blood diamonds are especially reprehensible. Good call. I applaud what good you have done. Can more be done. Always. In this you have done a good thing.

marlrini@gmail.com said...

You are so right Job. It is like feeling pressured to buy the most expensive casket to show that the depths of your affection. Diamonds are more a symbol of status than love anyway.
I say give me a true & faithful pine box anyday!

Joel Tom Tate said...

Wonderful post, Brother Job. And Marlene, that's a very apt comparison and I love how quickly it takes the conversation in a morbid direction. "Enough talk of rings and undying love - let's talk caskets!" And for the record, I'd like to be cremated, and the ashes stored in a cardboard box, but not a cheap cardboard box. You know, a nice one.

Roxanna/Aunt Roxanna/Aunt Roxie said...

Wonderful post Job. I love the symbolism of the thimble.

marlrini@gmail.com said...

you are funny Joel!