I can't find my wedding ring. I took it off cause it was bothering me -- no deep underlying subconscience statement on my marriage mind you - I was just feeling bloated that day. So I took it off. I guess if it was more comfortable I would have left it on. Hind sight is twenty twenty...  

See... when my wife and I went to buy our wedding rings we found a pair we liked. However, right next to it, was the exact same pair, only four hundred dollars more. I asked the sales woman why. She explained to me that those rings were what they called the "comfort fit." If I was going to wear my wedding ring all the time, I wanted the "comfort fit" because like its name suggests, it fits more comfortably. I tried it on, and it did feel much better to wear, only the additional four hundred dollars didn't feel better - except to the jeweler.

If you make a product that people wear, don't you think every product you make should actually fit right? Why make a product and then tell people if they want it to actually fit, they have to pay more money? I mean I don't walk into the Gap to have the sales person tell me that I am a size thirty four waist, but if I want the size thirty four that actually fits, I have to pay forty dollars more for the "comfort fit." Those jeans don't come with the jagged razor in the crotch.

But maybe that actually is the case. I see all these kids walking around the mall with those baggy pants that hang down below their rear end. Maybe there are pants out there that really do fit them, its just that they're more expensive. And who can afford that on today's allowance? Teenage clothing is expensive enough.

Clothing is one thing, but jewelry is another. That was one of the main talking points the sale woman at the jeweler wanted to drive home. She was a pro. "What's spending four hundred extra dollars, one time, for a marriage that will last a lifetime?" she asked.

The trap was set. How many times was that line used on a man in front of his future bride? What do you say? How much is this marriage worth to you? Priceless should be the answer. You should be willing to spend any amount. Though no guy I know is willing to spend any amount, they just don't want their girlfriends to know that.

And the jeweler knows they don't want their girlfriends to know that either, that's why this is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Lore them in, ask the question, and the rest will work itself out to the tune of hundreds of dollars filling the cash register.

I needed an out. Of course I am willing to spend any amount I say. But this is not about money. See, I explain, if I wear the uncomfortable fit, the ring calls attention to itself. And if I think of the ring, I think of my wife.

If the ring is comfortable, I forget I am wearing it. I stop thinking about the ring, I stop thinking about my wife - and start thinking about that eighteen year old baby sitter next door. Suddenly, paying four hundred dollars more for the comfort fit, is now costing me several thousand dollars in alimony. So I'll get the uncomfortable fit, save the four hundred bucks, and save my marriage at the same time.

But then again, even if you can't find your wedding ring -- it's an item that is easily replaceable. A house, cars, investment portfolios, residual checks, and bank accounts are not so easily replaceable. And those are things that everyday help to remind me to stay happily married.