(It's the moment you have waited for your entire relationship. You are
about to propose marriage to your significant other. You reach into your 
pocket to produce the extravagant engagement ring that you've just spent
two weeks' pay on, and discover that you've grabbed the wrong ring!
Instead of a beautiful diamond ring, your fingers clutch the cheap decoder
ring you found in your Cracker Jack!)

(do you go ahead and continue with your proposal?)

29 responses total.

I would die of embarassment if I flubbed up one of the most important
moments of my life. So no, the proposal would end right then and there.
I would change the subject and wait 'til the next perfect moment.

i would continue to propose, if she really loves you then she would
understand when you explain it later.

I do things much worse than that often enough that anybody who could stay
married to me for long would have to be able to put up with much worse
than that.  Actually, that sounds like the sort of joke I might play in
some really weird moods that I get into sometimes.

i proposed using a fake ring.  she new it was a joke, though.  i'd 
probably wait.

Oh, come on, you guys -- what a marvelous opportunity to say 
something like: "Honey, sometimes I screw things up. <short synopsis
of current screwup>.  But one thing I'll always be sure was right
was my decision to live with you and love you for the rest of my
life . . . " On and on until she cries, says yes, and swears to
love the Crackerjack ring as well as the diamond.

Don't men have any imaginations these days <g>?

no, not really <g>

I agree with Roz.  My proposal came in the middle of a joke, so in this type
of situation, I'd laugh.  I only love a man with a sense of humour anyway!

I'm trying to decide if carson is serious about this scenerio???  I can't
imagine someone waiting till they spend a fortune on a ring to "propose" to a
woman in this day and age.  I think asking a woman to marry him using a
crackerjack] ring is a wonderfully charming idea.  Besides, I would want to
help pick out my ring if I was going to wear it for the rest of my life.

Good practical advice there. It's easy to forget that when viewing all the
romantic propaganda about the magic moment. I proposed in a Volkswagen
on I84 in Connecticut. That was 28 years ago. We selected the rings
together later. We're still married, but the rings wore out and hers has
been replaced. Mine is still with me, even though it's worn out.

This response has been erased.

My husband and I are married 37 years, and I cant ever being proposed to.  We
just evolved. . we fell in love that way and ecided to get married that way.
I do remember our weddings though (we were married twice, once when we
eloped and then two years later when we had a traditional ceremony to please
our relatives.)  We could not afford an engagement ring, and then we found
that we didnt need one.  But if I ever had gotten one, I would have liked
to have picked it out with him.

I think I'd propose with the cracker jack ring... it's a novelty, you know.

I was proposed to sans ring, and was later involved in selecting one that
I liked.  There is something charming and rather sweet in knowing that your
perfect person can make a mistake, and I don't think there's anything wrong
in admitting that to your intended.  She's going to find out sooner or
later that you're fallible, so why not inject some humour into the situation?

Yes. There's something aouut shared quirkiness and intimacy that would
make such a situation not only more comfortable to deal with, but easily
more fun than the cliched proposal scenario we read about in our tawdry
romance novels.

Well, if the guy really loved me and I him then I don't think there would be
any need to stop the proposal.  We'd probably get a laugh out of it and after
all, it would be something to remember.

It's funny - that is *exactly* how my dad proposed to my mom - almost
50 years ago!  It is kind of family folklore now.  BTW, they are still
married and still laughing together although now she has a real ring!

cool!

I would continue to fumble in my pocket until it decided to give me the right
ring.

I hate the artificiality of advertized magic moments.  Like the commandment
to have an entire house full of family on thanksgiving, etc.  I have friends
who agreed to get married and then went to the  restaurant w/ both sets
of parents for the formal proposal...seemed so contrived.
Crackerjack ringsare cool.  So were the tabs from soda cans (used by
a frind til they both went to pick out a ring together.

What nationality were your friends, Simcha?

American...for generations.  Why?

It occurred to my roommate, who was reading this over my shoulder, that the
scene you described might be a cultural phenomenon.

I would probably die laughing if I was proposed to with a Cracker Jack ring.
I LOVE a man with a sense of humor  =)  It would make me love him more (if
possible), and I may even start crying.

I would continue, and tell her that there is a surprize for her later.

Do you know how HARD it is to find Cracker Jack rings thes days?
I mean, all they give out now are stupid baseball cards... :)
but yes, please propose and show me waht a great guy you are!

Put the comic ring on her finger and laugh together over the moment and then
later go as a couple to get the ring together. Life has few moments that are
perfect but many that are funny.

I think it would be cute to continue the proposal. There is something very
sweet about giving the one you love a glimpse of what is to come.  My
grandfather did that with my grandmother.  He could not afford to buy her a
fur coat when he wanted to get her one. It was too expensive for him, so
instead he had a coat made with the amount of mink that he could afford.

It ended up being the size of one that would fit a Barbie doll, but it meant
more to my grandmother than if he had given her a real one.  (she did get the
real one several years later) but she always thought of her coat as the little
one.  her words of advice are to appreciate the little things. They are what
are important. The BIG things (like a real ring) will come in time.

really depends on whether one has already removed the ring and held it out
to her. If so, I *HOPE* I could carry it off with panache :)

My brother-in-law proposed to my sister, without a ring, in a tiny room 
of an old apartment building.  None of the romantic propoganda, etc.  
They've been married over three years and she still remembers the 
proposal like it was yesterday.

Moral: Most likely, proposing to someone you love, or being proposed to 
by someone you love, is something you'll fondly remember for the rest of 
your life, no matter where it is or under what circumstances, etc.  It 
doesn't have to be the movie-perfect scenario for a positive response.

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