My Olive Garden Engagement Ring

Do you ever have those moments where someone says something so bizarre and infuriating that you are actually left speechless?

This happened to me recently and I was fuming. Let me set the scene.

I was at work. Doing my job. Minding my business. When a co-worker I hadn’t seen in a while strolls in and starts making small talk. He brings up that he and his would-be fiancé had gone ring shopping recently.

‘Oh, wow. How fun! Did you find something?’ I say

“Well,” he said with all the confidence of a GIA certified gem grader , “We went to Jared’s and Jared’s is basically the Olive Garden of jewelry stores. So, no.”

My face dropped. My cheeks got warm (thank goodness for masks). I picked up the next phone call on the first ring just to back out of this conversation.

I was simply astounded. My engagement ring is from Jared’s. Was my engagement ring basically a basket of endless breadsticks? Is that what you are implying? Is that what you think of me?

I was reeling. I eventually left and vented to a friend. I was so upset. I texted Thomas because I could not contain this feeling of ick.

Then it hit me. Who the fuck cares? I love my ring and I love Thomas (not in that particular order). And I am so excited to be married to him. That ring is symbol of our commitment to each other and I wouldn’t care if it came out of a gumball machine (well, I mean…maybe).

So, why did this comment get to me? Because I thought it called into question my value as person. Unless you have been living under a rock, you have probably seen Olive Garden negged in social media because it isn’t authentic Italian food. It is not indie enough. Not underground enough. Not cool enough for keyboard warriors.

My co-worker may very well know exactly where my ring is from but maybe he doesn’t (he had previously asked me where it was from). So, maybe it wasn’t a direct attack on me or maybe it was. Maybe it was just a thing he said to feel better about his own sense of insignificance. Either way, it stung.

But good is good. And if you love Olive Garden you are no less than anyone else.

That' person’s opinion is completely unimportant. He doesn’t have to like Jared’s jewelry and it has no baring on myself, my ring, or my relationship.

It is so easy to let these kinds of comments get to us and tare us down bit by bit. But when I stepped back and thought about, I realized it was a him problem. Not a me problem.

Don’t let someone else’s insecurities become part of your reality. And maybe, if you want to lead with a little empathy, think about the stories in their heads, telling them they aren’t good enough, that would cause them to udder those harsh words of judgement in the first place.

Be intentional about the commentary you let weigh on your conscious because it probably isn’t about you anyways. In other words, do you, boo!

I’m going to keep on doing me. I will keep loving my ring and celebrate it as a symbol of the time and care Thomas put into picking out a ring and planning a sweet proposal. At the end of the day, the only opinion that matters is mine.

Tell me, is there something you absolutely love that other people look down on? Besides my soup, salad, and breadsticks engagement ring, I’m here for The Bachelor franchise. Love every moment of it no matter how trashy other people might think it is!