I mean, we thanked people for coming, but I don’t know if that counts as a speech. It was just like, “Glad you’re all here; we are really happy; enjoy the wine and food and music!”

I will give him the possibility that he didn’t know Estranged Cousin was, in fact, a cousin and thought he was just making out with a rando guest.

But even in the context of the story, the meaning is different. Putting a necklace around a neck is symbolically different than putting a ring on a finger, even in this story. I think that you are trying to pretend that dead bodies hold no meaning or significance for anyone, and the truth is that they obviously do.…

YES! This was my question, as well. Is this guy planning to remain engaged to her now? Or is it just to make sure that everyone knows that he was her Future, number 1! But then he can totally date other people.

That’s fine for you personally, but there is a long history of people caring what happens to dead bodies. Arguing that people should simply stop caring about culturally significant practices is sort of a waste of time. I’m sure there are some really silly and insignificant traditions or practices that are important to…

What’s the difference between it being on a chain around the neck or it being on the finger?

It’s weird how people are trying to pretend like dead bodies don’t have any kind of cultural significance for us. Like, sure, fine, you (not you, Ninjacate, obviously) are so “advanced” that you’re fine with anything happening to a dead body, because you know exactly what happens after death and have zero emotions…

It is insane! I want to buck the trend in part because it’s what feels right to me, but also in part because I think anything I can do to help break the custom (and all the pressure that comes with it) is good.

We “designed our own rings,” which...really just means that we talked to a jeweler about what we wanted, and then he designed rings for us, because he is a professional who can do that. It irks me when people talk about “designing their own rings” because, unless they are metal workers or jewelers or maaaybe artists…

I think that might be regional? Because where I grew up, there was no insistence on “Call me Mr. or Mrs. ___” (although as I said elsewhere, wer universally called women “Miz ___”) because that was what you called everyone. The only insistence was the adults who insisted that you call them by their first names, and…

Wow you made the point I was trying to make so much more succinctly. I took three paragraphs to not really effectively convey what you just did. Damn it, I should have read further before commenting!

Yes! My parents’ friends are constantly like, “Just call me Amy! You are 28 years old!” but...dude, your name is “Miz Amy.” You can’t just change your name now; I have known you for 28 years.

Yeah, no one is arguing that adults should be calling each other “Honorific so-and-so” in every interaction.

When Snacktastic mentioned respect, I was more thinking about positions that warrant respect that is not always granted to people who look a certain way. So, to use a waaaay more moderate difference in privilege, when I started teaching, I was super young (and white and middle class, so I’m not pretending this was a…

No one actually said “Mrs.” where I was from though. I grew up in the South, so we were hardcore about the honorifics, but I don’t rememer anyone calling an adult “Missus so-and-so,” regardless of marital status. It was always “Miz Whomever.”

I thought it was pretty bland. Granted, I didn’t watch it for too long, so maybe the routine picked up, but it was just, like, a really standard high school cheerleading routine set to a wildly offensive soundtrack.

Yeah, I am with you. I brought my Mom because I often go clothes shopping with her - the woman has an incredible sense of what will look good on me and a tactful ability to tell me that something is not working - but it seems silly to deviate from your norm. So, you know, if large group shopping trips are your Thing,…

Ahahah I am so glad you said that, because we...well, we didn’t really have a theme, but we did “name” our tables things related to our hometowns rather than numbers. And I found a bunch of little charms really cheap, so everyone got a charm related to their table theme. And I spent SO MUCH (really enjoyable; I love…

Oh man, I saw your other post about bridesmaids trying to get pregnant. We had the horrifying experience of one of my bridesmaids buying her dress several sizes too big because she was going to be pregnant by then (it was, like, 10 months out), then having to get it taken in because she was, in fact, not pregnant by…

It is so frustrating, but also there is apparently a real issue with students especially who come for a year and only pay 6-7 months of rent because it takes about 6 months to get an eviction going. So, like...I get it. I get why it happens. It sucks a lot, and I had to borrow money to do it, but I get it.