The Rules of Evidence

I don't remember much about my Evidence class in law school, which occurred about 21 (!) years ago. However, I do remember one of the early lectures, where the professor was trying to get us to think clearly about what did and did not constitute evidence.

He described your being in a highrise building and looking out the window at the street below. You saw several people carrying opened umbrellas. Was it the intention of these people to state that rain was falling at that particular point in time?

(Oh, don't ask me what the conclusion of the lecture was. In the 18 years since graduation, I've forgotten more law than I ever learned!)

The other day I was looking for a particular pair of earrings and found my beloved diamond and Burmese ruby wedding ring that John gave me in 1996. I have been trying to come to grips with the fact that I may never meet another man who will sweep me off my feet and become my long-time lover. The ring doesn't fit on my right hand, and I decided I wanted to wear it again. So I put it on my left hand ring finger and have been wearing it for three days.

I wonder if it can be construed as evidence. Am I "bearing false witness"?

Whenever I see a handsome, age-appropriate man, I immediately look at his left hand ring finger. If I see a Little Band of Gold, I cross him off my list. I am simply not interested in having a man who has another woman. I'm one-of-a-kind and choose to remain so.

But am I causing the same chain of events to occur around me? Might there be a man who would see me and want to come up and introduce himself but be detered by the presence of that sweet ring on my finger? (Bear in mind that no man has come up and introduced himself in the past, oh, 24 months. But the impossible can always occur, right? Maybe/maybe not.)

It feels nice to be wearing this ring again. It feels comfortable on that finger. But at the same time, I feel like I'm an imposter. It's like I'm trying to fit in in a state where the majority of people are married, or the majority of people my age are married. To find the statistics—the actual numbers for Ohio—would take more time than I am willing to devote to this project. Suffice it to say that it feels like I'm a lone reed standing in the wilderness.

I don't know where I'm going to end up on this issue, but for now I'm enjoying the ring. Again.