When do you get the diamond engagement ring? Questions that will never be answered.

One thing I have always wondered is when to get the diamond engagement ring. And not so much about the diamond engagement ring itself, but rather when do you come to the point in your relationship to get "engaged."

I never really got that term. I mean, what is the point? It's like another excuse to buy a ring. You're not married, you don't get tax benefits - you don't get anything! All it is, is just another title to go by. And when do you decide to do that? Is it after 3 years? 5 years? Is it when you're out of college? When you have full time jobs and financial security? Is it when you move in together? Or when she accidentally gets pregnant? When do you get the diamond engagement ring?

These are the questions that will never really be answered, but I always find them interesting to think about. The ring has always been such a long standing symbol of commitment, and commitment itself has changed in meaning over the last century very drastically - so you wonder what questions will be in the future.

I wonder if it will be,

"When do you get the zirconium engagement ring?"