A woman responds to silly people asking her when she's going to upgrade her wedding ring.
Some folks questioned the size of her wedding ring. She had a lovely response.
It's easy to see why people get excited about diamond rings.
They're shiny, they're beautiful, and they're stunning visual proof of a moment of intense happiness for many couples.
"You're engaged?! Let's see the ring!"
"Post it to Facebook immediately!" Photo via iStock
But there's an ugly side to engagement and wedding rings, too. And that's the idea that the carat count ought to reflect a couple's status in life, the size of their love, or the strength of their commitment.
According to data from 2012 from the Jewelers of America, Americans spend an average of around $4,000 on engagement rings. Wedding website The Knot pegged the number somewhere closer to $6,000 in 2014.
If our obsession with fancy diamond rings is indeed rising, it's probably not because we're learning to love each other more.
We're just feeling more pressure than ever to keep up.
Rachel Pederson was getting a lot of comments from friends and family about the size of her ring. Eventually, she had enough.
Rachel is a marketer and social media personality, so she had the perfect platform to say what was on her mind.
It didn't take long for her response to go viral.
Here's the full text:
"Yes, I know that my wedding ring is small.
Friends and family often ask me when I'm going to have it 'upgraded'.... After all, it doesn't represent the level of success we are achieving.
I've even had one person say 'you could wear a bigger ring for important events, so people don't think you're not successful.'
Wait a minute.... Since when did the size of someone's ring become an indication of success?!
For me, the ring is SO much more.
My ring symbolizes a whirlwind, storybook, 'make you sick' love story.... It reminds me of how my husband and I met and fell at in love in one night at a Perkin's diner.
He worked as a window washer, and I was a single mother.
One short week later, and we professed our love to one another, him leading the conversation.
We couldn't stop dreaming of our future, so excited to have a baby, buy a house, and fall asleep together every night.
We couldn't wait for the future. So we didn't.
13 days after meeting, we eloped. I didn't even THINK about a ring until my husband surprised me before the ceremony. He drained his savings to gift me with a small token of his love.
I say small, only because it pales in comparison with how big his love is, even now, after years of marriage.
That, my friends, is success to me."
Bam! Thanks, Rachel, for the excellent reminder.
No one wins when we play the ring-size game. Ring buyers feel the stress of breaking the bank while ring wearers might feel pressure to eventually "upgrade" their ring if it's small or to explain away discrepancies between the sizes of their diamond and their bank account.
And, hey, some people really want to express their love with a big ol' diamond. That's fine too.
Let's just not forget what great marriages are really made of: love, passion, and a lot of hard work.
Next to those, even the brightest diamonds in the world pale in comparison.
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids… 
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie? 
A brown buddha statue sits near a green mountain. Photo by 
Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
Ladybug unexpectedly found during colonoscopyPhoto credit: 
Close-up of bottom of ladybug found in colonPhoto credit: 
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."