“You have got to be kidding me!” I say to my sister.
She shakes her head. “It’s fine. It’s pretty much average. They’ll be happy with that price.”
I look at the gold necklace, bracelet and earrings laid out in front of me. “But that’s three months’ salary! How can anyone possibly justify spending that much on useless tat?”
She gives me her best ‘Keep-your-voice-down’ look. “It’s not like we’re paying for it,” she says.
“I don’t care who’s paying for it. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I don’t even wear jewellery.”
“It’s tradition,” she tells me. “Whether or not you wear jewellery is immaterial.” I start thinking about pawn shops.
We’re out wedding shopping. It’s tradition for the groom’s side to buy the bride’s wedding gold and my family have forced me to go traipsing around Green Street on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to choose my regalia. I’m hot and sticky and shopping is the last thing on my mind. Thankfully, I know my tastes and I encounter little argument with regards to my choices so it’s all done relatively painlessly. I say ‘relatively’ because I did have to throw a few death stares and make a few snide remarks when my two sisters started stopping at every other stall to look at shawls and sandals for themselves. So the choices get made fairly easily BUT I still can’t get over the price tag.
Who in their right mind spends so much on jewellery? I’m the kind of person who would rather spend £10 on something that’s worth it than £2 on something that’s not. And jewellery comes pretty low on my value scale. Obviously that’s not the general consensus or else I wouldn’t be reeling from the price of a simple gold set. It’s just that it’s enough to travel around the world. Luxuriously. Twice. With a hired Johnny Depp lookalike.
I guess what it boils down to is individual choice and what each person holds in high regard. I have come across people who count ‘own a Louis Vuitton bag’ amongst their ambitions. I mean, really?
When I explain this to my sister, she says there must be at least one material thing I wish to own someday. I said, “Sure, I want to own a house but that’s not wanting a possession for possession’s sake.” She insists there must be something else.”
I tell her that I actually have a list somewhere that contains my ‘Life To-Do List’. So when I got home, I dug it out to check and this is the complete list.
Pass my driving test (2002)Get a First (2003)Publish a book (2006, 2009)Buy a house (2007)Find my partner in crime (2010)Learn to ride a horse (2011)Learn to ride a bike (2011) Travel the world (2018 – read more)
Read the classics
Learn fluent Spanish
Go fishing
Learn to ride a motorbike
Learn to tie a tie
Introduce a slang word
After reading through it, I gave myself a pat on the back. I mean, sure, I have some strange things on the list but I like to think most of the things on there would be a little more fulfilling than owning a Louis Vuitton bag. As for the jewellery set, I can’t really sell it since it is, essentially, a gift so I’ll keep it somewhere safe and pretend that it really means something.
Have you introduced a new slang yet :)?