The princess with the sweaty palms

I rarely notice people's rings or jewelry. I rarely check to see if someone is wearing a wedding band. Now that I'm wearing an engagement ring, I am noticing how many people notice rings, specifically mine!

"Ooh, is that your engagement ring?" a colleague said. Suddenly I was surrounded by other colleagues, wanting to see my ring up close. "Where did you get it?" "What kind of gemstone is that?" (I love color, so I opted to get a gemstone rather than a diamond.) One woman took my cold, sweaty hand in hers. She recoiled. "Oh! Your hand is cold!"

I drew my hand away, and my tough outer shell came back. I quickly ended the conversation and moved on. I wish I could have enjoyed that moment.

Later, I recounted the incident to my therapy group. A few people felt that it was "incredibly rude" for that person to comment out loud on my cold hand. I hadn't thought of it that way before. I honestly belive my coworker was not trying to be hurtful. Is it really necessary to heap the bad feelings on myself? Maybe he's right...my coworker probably should have kept her revulsion to herself.

But I don't want to be mad at her. I just want to enjoy my ring and what it represents...the love of my life.