When I was young, in middle school, mood rings were the fad among girls. In

case you don't know, mood rings had a stone that would change color

depending on the temperature of your skin. The concept was that your mood

would effect your skin temperature and that would change the color of the

stone.

Anyway, I had a mood ring on my left, ring finger. We were working in shop

class making lamps from kits. In case you don't know, shop class was the

class where you learned  woodworking. As I was finishing up my lamp,

somehow, I swiped my hand across a single live wire. Since my hand was

moving quickly, I barely touch the wire. However, the ring touch the wire

and sent a jolt through my arm. It wasn't serious, but I was startled, and

the ring burned all the way around my finger. I ended up with a very dark

scar on my fair, Irish skin.

During college, when I would go out with friends, guys would start talking

to me and ask if I was married. Of course, people really don't look closely

at their surroundings, and they would only have taken a glance at my hand

and assume it was a ring. Then I would hold my hand in front of their face

and get to tell the story of my scar. It was a great ice-breaker.