美國單身女自購訂婚戒指防“感恩節逼婚”
There are roughly 55 million single women in the US, many of them with-it, smokin' and smart, with their finger on the pulse of life.
But when that certain finger is ringless, even the most self-assured single dreads the shame and rebuke of disappointed family during a visit home.
The holidays are known to cause stress to scores of single women in the throes of 'The Panic Years', who dub the annual visit-cum-interrogation the 'Thanksgiving Third Degree'.
Now some women have admitted to buying fake, cheap 'engagement rings' just to prevent parents - and other overly-critical family members - from delivering ridicule and judgement over their single status.
It may sound like a slippery slope towards avoidance issues and other psychological problems – but if it muzzles them long enough without you getting grilled about why your boyfriend of three years hasn't proposed yet, it could be well worth the $30 investment.
Sometimes it's downright soul-crushing when you come home for the holidays empty-handed - literally - watching your family members' faces crumble in disappointment that you're back another year without any engagement bling.
Heather, a 31-year old lawyer from New York, was well on her way to being both unhitched and unhinged, thanks to her mother's persistent pestering about marriage.
She feared that the constant nagging could destroy not just her own sanity, but threaten her long-time relationship with her boyfriend, Tony, who was regularly interrogated about his intentions from his would-be mother-in-law.
Well aware that showing up without a ring for the holidays would taint the mood of the entire weekend, she became very resourceful.
'I got a fake ring for 30 bucks just to shut her up,' she said. 'It actually worked and it turned into a really great visit!'
Just three months later, Heather had a real ring to show off. Tony proposed on their own timetable - on Valentine's Day - and her mother was never the wiser.美國大約有5500萬單身女性，很多女性時髦、性感、聰明，掌控自己的人生。
但當無名指上沒有戒指時，甚至最自信的單身女性也懼怕回家時的羞愧感，擔心受到失望的家人的指責。
節假日會給衆多單身女性帶來壓力，《心慌的歲月》正體現出了單身女性這一心頭之痛，她們將每年一次的“回家兼受審”稱爲“感恩節逼婚”。
如今，一些女性承認會購買假的廉價“訂婚戒指”，只是爲了防止父母和其他過於苛責的親友嘲笑和評價自己的單身狀態。
也許這聽起來似乎是在逃避問題，或可能引發其他心理問題，但如果這能長久地堵住他們的嘴，同時你又不會被盤問“你交往了3年的男友怎麼還不求婚”，30美元的投資可夠划算了。
有時，假期“空手”回家簡直讓人難過之極，你今年又一個人回來了，沒有亮閃閃的訂婚戒指，家人失望之情溢於言表。
希瑟今年31歲，是紐約的一名律師，由於她的母親不斷糾纏她的婚姻問題，單身的她都要精神錯亂了。
她擔心這種不斷的嘮叨不僅會使她精神不正常，還會威脅她與男友託尼的戀愛關係。她的母親經常詢問託尼是否想結婚。
知道假日不戴訂婚戒指會破壞整個週末的心情，希瑟變得很有主意。
她說：“我花30美元買了個假戒指，這下她沒的說了。戒指真管用，這次回家很愉快！”
就在3個月後，希瑟有了真正的訂婚戒指。託尼按照他們自己的時間表，在情人節這天向她求婚了，而希瑟的媽媽仍然一無所知。
