Submitted by admin on Mon, 2006-04-10 08:00. ::
I turn 39 this week and have never been married. That doesn't mean my life isn't wonderfully rich. I'm blessed with friends who remind me every day why I love living here. My mom recently moved to town. I enjoy my job (most days, anyway). I have a hangout where everybody knows my name.
But what being unmarried at 38 does mean is this: I eat off the same dinner plates I bought shortly after I got out of college. The built-in china hutch in my 1938 dining room isn't filled with crystal. I don't have silver. I have water-spotted knives, spoons and forks.
There's a great "Sex and the City" episode in which Carrie, the main character, is forced to take off her shoes at a friend's baby shower. Then someone makes off with the shoes -- Manolo Blahniks, no less.
The friend offers to pay for the shoes, but not at the $450 price Carrie paid for them. She offers $200, criticizing Carrie for spending $450 on shoes.
I certainly haven't spent that much money on any one person or couple. How could I? I'm a journalist and don't just play one on TV. (How did Carrie afford all those great shoes on her columnist's salary?) But I have purchased many, many wedding shower, wedding, baby shower and baby presents for folks over the years.
Even though, admittedly, I've never had the expense of a wedding or a baby, I think I'm reaching an "Enough is enough! When is it my turn to register?" point. To be honest, it's not so much the presents I'm after. It's more the experience of walking around a store with a scanner (aka magic wand). I don't think I'd even care whether I got the presents. I just want the fun of choosing.
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