The origin of the custom of wearing a ring to indicate one is married can be traced back to Egypt 6,000 years ago.  The modern tradition of a dual wedding ring exchange during the marriage ceremony began in the Middle Ages in Europe.  In the United States, it was traditional that only wives wore wedding rings until husbands started wearing them, too, sometime in the last century.  The tradition is so important to our culture, that the wedding ring is one of the few items that prison inmates and visitors are allowed to wear.  Wedding rings are typically made of gold or another precious metal such as silver or platinum and are traditionally worn on the left ring finger.

But there are some vocations where wearing a traditional wedding ring can be dangerous.  For example engineers and electricians cannot wear any heat or electricity-conducting metals on their hands.  Construction workers generally don't wear wedding bands because of the danger of losing the ring finger because the ring can become snagged on a piece of wood or metal.

Then there are those who work in fields that expose them to danger every day, like those in law enforcement.  In a blog on Officer.com a patrol officer related a story about how he almost lost his ring finger while chasing a suspect.  The officer was on foot and as he leaped over a chain-link fence, his ring looped around one of the link ends at the top of the fence. The result was that he was hanging by his ring finger up in the air and ended up with torn tissue and a dislocated knuckle.

So what's a person to do if they want to proudly show the world that they're married, but don't want to endanger themselves at the same time?  Many are turning to the newest invention in wedding rings--the silicon wedding band.  These bands are made in a variety of colors, and are constructed of medical-grade silicon.  They don't conduct heat or electricity, and they snap under 40 pounds of pressure.

If you're in law enforcement and have been thinking about getting a silicon wedding ring, now is the time.  Connie and V. Cross Jewelers in Bossier City is offering a free silicon wedding band to any law enforcement officer in Caddo or Bossier Parish.  The offer is also available to those working in firefighting or EMS, and is extended to military police at Barksdale, as well.

Connie told us yesterday the offer has been  hugely popular.  "It's been quite fun seeing all of the officers in the store. We must have given out 75 this past Saturday alone. Police, firefighters, EMS, Military Police. It looked like a crime scene investigation!"

The free silicon wedding ring offer is good for the month of June.

 

 

 

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