I was sitting in my chemistry lecture and writing down notes. About halfway through the lecture, my prof likes to take a break from talking, take a drink of water, put up ‘funny’ science-related comics (half of them are funny, half of them are just… really lame). So J takes the moment to open up her laptop again and I notice that she’s on a website for a jewelry company that’s famous for those robin blue boxes with the white ribbons. And then this conversation happens.

M: Looking for something new?
J: No… I’m trying to find the ring that N got for me!
[N = the cheating, lying, thieving boyfriend of hers. She holds out her finger and there’s a silver ring that’s kinda ugly and, to me, a waste of sterling silver.]
M: Erm… Why are you looking it up?
J: So I can see how much he spent on it… There’s a lot of really cute rings on this site. I can’t believe he didn’t get me one of these instead.
[A few minutes past, a few actually funny science comics later…]
J: Michelle! [nudge, nudge] I found it!
[I glanced over at this point. Yeeeep, she found the ring online. The text is small so I don’t see how much it costs, until she highlights it for me.]
J: $490! [Canadian dollars, for those curious, not American.]
M: … Wow.
J: I know! He totally loves me!
M: … I don’t think you can really gauge how much he loves you based on how much he spent on a ring… Considering the fact that he did cheat on you. And all.
J: [pouts] It’s such a gorgeous ring. And he spent practically $500 on me! And there was no occasion!
M: You mean he did spend $500 on you, over $500 actually. Since tax is like 12%…
J: Is it really? Wow, that’s a lot. Anyways, it’s such a pretty ring. I love it. It’s so gorgeous.
M: Right….
[At this point, the professor resumed the lecture. Chemical reactions, ftw.]

I think the most unfortunate thing about that class is that I get there early and I find a good seat (front half, I’m such a keener at times) and she’ll search for me. And every single time, she comments on how, gosh, it’s just so hard to find me sometimes! And by the time she gets there, I don’t really have the option of moving because, well, she gets there about a minute before class starts. And most of the other good seats are filled.

And, because of my dear friend J’s choice of looking up her newest gift from her (slime ball) boyfriend, I was wondering… Do you ever check and see how much your significant other spends on you when he/she gets you a gift? Truthfully? I can’t say that I have, although I’m pretty sure that I can estimate the cost of a package of Skittles. Which is kinda infinitely better than a gaudy sterling silver ring that I would never wear. Because well, it comes in awesome flavours (minus the grape… and the banana… and the cherry…) and chances are that I’d get a lot more Skittles than guady sterling silver rings in my lifetime. And I’m pretty okay with that. Plus, my dentist wins out too. And the manufacturers of toothpaste and toothbrushes.

6 Responses

  1. Hahaha. Only my mum would look up something like that; she concluded that James got me a bracelet that was $60. Er.. so? So.. so what? Ah, so silly of J.. but if that’s how she sees things. xD

    I spent $100 on James’s present. Who cares right? Because I’m pretty sure that over the course of our relationship, he spent way more than that on me. And judging by the price, in conclusion, is a little bit low. 😛

    I get front row seats when I am late. XD but that is where I like to sit anyway.

  2. It’s a shame her bf has bad taste and picked out a gaudy ring. I checked the website to see which one he picked but there were a few rings that were $490. All of them were ugly.
    I’ve never had an opportunity to check how much my significant other has spent on a gift. Nor do I care. That being said, if my bf bought me something nice from Tiffany’s, I’d be excited. It’s Tiffany’s. Don’t try to pretend you wouldn’t be excited if Clay bought you something there. Well, something nice. Not a fugly silver ring =P

  3. I don’t think I’ve ever bothered to look up the cost of something Brad got me… But, I don’t think books and DVDs have quite the same cost factor as jewelry does, you know? I’d be way more impressed if he found a good deal, myself.

    You know… $500 from Tiffany’s is cheap. It’s pretty much finding the only affordable thing, rather than choosing something he knew she’d like. I kind of hate when people do that… like the guys at the mall on Valentine’s Day buying tiny boxes of Godiva because that’s all they can afford, but hey… the gold box says they care.

  4. That is funny. To be honest, Josh and I currently share the same bank account so when he buys something for me I see automatically since I check my bank’s balance and activity almost every day. One time I got so scared about a purchase that now we usually just buy presents together!

  5. So her boyfriend is trying to buy himself into her good books, and she’s just too goddamn stupid to understand that? Or maybe he’s just diverting her from the fact that he’s cheating on her AGAIN.

    Who really checks up on prices? Does it make the value of a gift any bigger? No. It’s a gift. It should have sentimental value even if it cost 0.99€ with taxes.

    Bleh.

  6. Oh hey I was bored and decided to read your site 😀 I’ve gone back quite a few pages reading entries, hehe, hope it’s not weird I’m commenting on an old post. Anyhoo, I don’t look up prices, I avoid it if I can, though sometimes it can’t be helped because I already knew what the price is (like DVDs/CDs have general price ranges, and you can guess how much clothes cost based on brand). I remember my sister saw a gift Clayton bought for me and she found out the price but I told her not to tell me. I like not knowing.

    (And offtopic, at first I thought J was me, but as I kept reading, I realized the story didn’t fit … haha!)

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