Last night we went to see Sweet Home Alabama. It was a cute, fun movie. Just don’t take some of the content too seriously. There are quite a few Southern stereotypes taken to the limit, that quite frankly, just don’t happen here anymore. At least not as much as they did. Southerner’s get such a bad rap in movies. We’re not all mullet wearing, drinking, swearing, gun rack toting, cousin marrying rednecks. The city I live in is full of people that moved from other parts of the country to live in an area with mild winters and lots of growth. I meet more people born in the north than in the south. Even my husband’s a Yankee! =) People I meet that have moved here from various parts of the country all seem to have the same thing to say, that the southerners they meet are friendly and good natured. At least in Sweet Home Alabama, even while swimming in stereotypes, they managed to portray the southerners as good people.
I was reading Que Sera Sera (an enjoyable blog with excellent writing by the way) and noticed that another issue in this movie struck a chord, especially with commenters on the site. Namely, materialism & the whole ring scene. Which made me think about some girls I know and our ring situations. Quite a few of us started getting engaged within a span of 2 years or so, so there was much talk about weddings, engagements & the like. But I started to get a glimpse of a side of some of my girlfriends I never knew when J proposed to me and gave me the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. When I got together with the girls to tell them I was engaged, a few of them asked me things like “How many carats is it?” & “How much did it cost?”. I didn’t know. I still don’t know. It’s none of my concern. I don’t care. He could have found it on the side of the road for all I cared. He could have proposed with a flower instead of a ring, or nothing at all and it wouldn’t have mattered. In fact, I said yes before I knew there even was a ring. What mattered was that this man that I love so much has asked me to marry him. So it seemed kind of crass that these girls seemed to be only interested in the price & size of the ring.
After I got engaged then came Y & N. Y was telling us about the engagement & seemed almost proud when she said “I told him I wouldn’t accept anything less than a carat.” I couldn’t believe it. Then, when an out of town friend got engaged Y said something along the lines of “and her ring is HUGE, as it should be.” She offered to email me a picture of it. I asked instead to see a picture of the groom, but she didn’t think to get one of those. And recently a girl at work got engaged. She was telling the story and when she got to the part about the ring she said she knew she’d be happy with it when she saw the box, because it was from the pricey jeweler they went to and not the more affordable jeweler her fiance preferred. Who knew it was so important to make sure you get some big ring to tote around? When it comes down to it, it’s really just jewelry right? I mean, yes, it’s a symbol of your husband’s love. But at the end of the day what matters is not what you’re sporting on your finger, but rather who’s laying there next to you. Not how big your rock is, but how strong your love is. Am I just too old fashioned?
Bless Your Heart 