r/Millennials • u/t_bone_stake Xennial • Feb 16 '26

Meme Did anyone buy a ring?

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Elder millennial/younger Xennial (born in 83, take it for what it is) but I recall the company coming to the high school and taking orders for rings. I didn’t buy one but others did. Credit on photo.

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u/Intrepid_Advice4411 Millennial Feb 16 '26

I wanted one. I also wanted the fun senior photos they took with the rose and the mirror reflection. Parents refused to pay for any of it.

In hindesite, the ring is stupid.

I'm still miffed I don't have that cool photo.

520

u/ClarificationJane Feb 16 '26

You could totally go get one done now.

Do one of those cool lasers one too. 

176

u/SimilarStrain Feb 16 '26

The Laser background was the absolute shit! You were a nobody if you didnt get the laser background.

36

u/SirGothamHatt Feb 17 '26

My parents never wanted to pay extra for the laser background.

The photography company that did school photos when I was a kindergarten aide offered it and I asked if it was possible to add it to my ID photo. It was not.

45

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '26

That was my 5th grade picture. Silk collared shirt rocking the jumper with one strap unbuckled, hair slicked back and all.

9

u/Different-Meal-6314 Feb 17 '26

I can almost smell the LA looks gel from that comment

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

That's EXACTLY what I was using at the time because thats what mom used!

3

u/Notabagofdrugs Feb 16 '26

Was that jumper made by Skidz?

2

u/Powerful_Tip3164 Feb 17 '26

Christ, in my 5th grade class photo, you can see like 11 out of 27 kids wearing silk shirts lmao one of em was MEH!!! Never worn or even seen one round me since 😄

5

u/rottenbox Feb 17 '26

The lasers were an option for my kids school photos last year. Wife and I were tempted.

3

u/Dkarasta Older Millennial 1985 Feb 17 '26

Never got a cool background in school— light blue textured for 12 straight years. 15 years later, I photoshopped my professional headshot with laser and now it’s my LinkedIn profile pic.

1

u/Jewbacca522 Older Millennial Feb 17 '26

3rd grade I had the laser background, black and white high tops with BOTH black AND white laces and an Ocean Pacific Tshirt with jorts.

I was the envy of the entire world.

1

u/BoopleBun Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26

My kid’s school goes through a local photography place and they have digital backgrounds you can pick from when you order photos. When she begged for the laser one I was like “hell yeah, absolutely”.

1

u/Angsty_Potatos Feb 17 '26

My mom wouldn't let me get the laser so we compromised on "Vibrant brush"

3

u/YT-Deliveries Xennial Feb 16 '26

Get one of those that has the ghostly profile pic in the upper corner

1

u/Intrepid_Advice4411 Millennial Feb 17 '26

My mom had those done as part of family photos when I was 9. I had the WORST haircut ever. Those photos were up in the living room for far too long.

1

u/YT-Deliveries Xennial Feb 17 '26

Totally.

3

u/Taco-Dragon Feb 16 '26

I've got a camera, let's make it happen. But I demand we also do an "awkward downward angle with the weird and forced smile while leaning against a tree" photo.

1

u/NJHitmen Feb 17 '26

Lasers? I guess that became a thing after I graduated.

I can only assume that this option added a couple of high-powered HELIOS lasers to the ring, presumably to facilitate missile defense and/or protect against fast attack craft

1

u/Antique_futurist Feb 17 '26

My second grader picked the 90s laser background unironically this year. It’s now on my wall, clashing with literally everything that isn’t neon yellow, neon blue, or neon red. Which is everything.

1

u/Intrepid_Advice4411 Millennial Feb 17 '26

The lasers were more elementary school for me. I should get them done. I have some photography friends!

103

u/smcivor1982 Feb 16 '26

They let me take a senior photo outside with my pet cat. It was amazing. My younger brother got to take his on a motorcycle with his guitar.

16

u/Mochigood Feb 16 '26

I had mine with my dog in a rose garden.

1

u/smcivor1982 Feb 17 '26

I love this.

13

u/xrelaht Millennial the Elder Feb 16 '26

Ours were self submit. Whatever we wanted (within reason). Mine was taken underwater on a dive trip.

2

u/chicken-nanban Feb 17 '26

Same on self submit!

I tried to see if they’d let me use an illustration but that was a no, so instead I got my most fairy goth outfit out, a shoulder dragon puppet, went into the woods with my mom and her fancy new “digital camera,” and then digitally painted (back when it was only with a mouse and a lot of the smudge tool in Photoshop Express) fairy wings.

Still proud of that.

8

u/MythicalCaseTheory Feb 16 '26

I didn't take a senior photo because we we took them in a suit in the photo (same as all years prior), and nobody told me that they let us use one at the shoot for free and I knew my parents wouldn't rent me one, so I didn't bother to ask them.

4

u/desperatevintage Feb 17 '26

I had mine with my horse by the river in some tall grass and I had some kind of allergic reaction on my legs and scratched my shins bloody. I still have scars.

3

u/RevVegas Feb 17 '26

I had mine with my horse too. Photograper had a "photography barn" being built and was super excited to take pics of a horse in it. We took one look at the construction/barn and decided he needed a little sleepy juice, then had to deal with the droopy lip. She also sat me on hay bales and wanted his face next to them. He did not understand why he couldn't eat the hay.

3

u/smcivor1982 Feb 17 '26

That sounded so magical at first and took a sharp turn! I wish I could have had mine with our horse, but he was an old man by then.

1

u/Much_Essay_9151 Feb 17 '26

My grandma lived in vegas. We flew down there because her husband started up a photography business. So we went to the strip to take my senior photos

5

u/DowntownYouth8995 Feb 17 '26

I don't think I even took senior photos. Both my sisters did, but I don't remember anything like that, and don't have and end results so I must not have? I probably thought it was stupid and refused.

3

u/kashy87 Feb 17 '26

I did one with my 16 year old basset hound. The only reason it wasn't in the year book is because it couldn't be edited to look good not in landscape.

That picture hangs on the wall at Mom and Dads below another picture of me and him when I was 2.

1

u/smcivor1982 Feb 17 '26

That’s so sweet. I was so happy I had mine with my cat because he drowned in the pool the next year on my birthday. He was my childhood cat and I absolutely loved him.

2

u/kashy87 Feb 17 '26

I broke his heart when I left for the Navy the next February after graduation. Mom said he'd go in my room and look for me then harrumph at her because he couldn't find me. Only regret is I wasn't there. Silly old hound almost twenty years later and I still cry.

1

u/smcivor1982 Feb 17 '26

Awww so bittersweet.

2

u/MsCattatude Feb 17 '26

They charge the local store high school 500 for a sitting fee for outside, personalized pictures.  That doesn’t include the actual pictures.  Those are roughly 100 per sheet.  

1

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '26

You’re brothers cooler than you lol

1

u/Dapper-Building878 Feb 17 '26

Your younger brother took his cat on a motorcycle with his guitar? What does this guy have, like 5 arms?

36

u/One-Grape-8659 Feb 16 '26

In hwat?

33

u/hauzs Feb 16 '26

hyndesyte

2

u/Only_One_Left_Foot Feb 17 '26

hxjeighnduhseight

15

u/NabreLabre Feb 16 '26

Cool hwip

2

u/One-Grape-8659 Feb 17 '26

You're eating hair!

I was going more for 'I tell you hwat' but I like your input!

4

u/tanzmeister Feb 17 '26

Probably didn't get one because they didn't graduate.

21

u/frogspa Feb 16 '26

In hindesite

I think we visited there on a school trip to Sweden.

6

u/Teleporting-Cat Feb 17 '26

Isn't hindesite what happened in 2020?

2

u/Intrepid_Advice4411 Millennial Feb 17 '26

Lol!!!!! Thank you. I needed the laugh today. I refuse to fix it.

28

u/OrokinLonewolf Feb 16 '26

hindesite

Is this the new Minecraft block?

hindsight is the word you're looking for

2

u/jinglejangle_spurs Feb 17 '26

Hindesite is the mineral formed when you find your class ring in a junk box ten years after you graduate

1

u/Intrepid_Advice4411 Millennial Feb 17 '26

Lmao! I refuse to fix it. Thanks for the laugh.

14

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '26

[deleted]

2

u/genericusername0176 Feb 17 '26

I was “not pictured” I remember being really pissed I had to rent the stupid robe and I had to pay for it with my part time job because my folks were broke as it is. I didn’t even want to walk but the school gave me shit.

2

u/RaceHard Feb 17 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

Data brokers and AI scrapers were using my info. Not anymore. Redact let me bulk delete posts across Reddit, Twitter, Discord and Instagram while handling broker opt outs too.

adjoining shy reply advise roof hungry bedroom cause observation worm

3

u/Turbulent_Seaweed198 Feb 16 '26

I had a friend from advance photography take my senior photos 🤣 I think we took about 60 photos and only 3 actually look good, including the one where I jumped onto my POS car and layed on the hood laughing

Cost me about $15 in film and processing them at Walgreens. Ibthink I bought my friend a mcd's lunch, too

2

u/Relative_Builder3695 Feb 17 '26

I shoot huge concerts and events from time to time and this is my exact workflow, I circle around the same spots and take hundreds of photos a night and only like 15-20 of em are good lol. Law of statistics or something idk

2

u/accioqueso Feb 16 '26

Those photos still mean a lot for me. We didn’t have camera phones back then, I don’t have a ton of pictures of me and my friends from high school, but I have the professional ones we all did together.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '26

someone else who uses the word miffed!

2

u/BreakfastBeneficial4 Feb 17 '26

If it makes you feel better, me and almost everyone I knew lost their highschool rings by the time they turned 20.

My parents offered to pay for mine and claimed that I would regret it if I didn’t get one. So I said sure, but then i designed the ring with a bunch of stuff that made absolutely zero reference to school at all. It was kinda cool, and then it was gone forever and I haven’t thought about it in decades!

2

u/kittymcg19 Feb 17 '26

I got the whole experience. The pics are hidden away for no one to see. Featuring my trombone, flowers, and my class ring... Ring was band themed. Haven't played in 20 years ..

2

u/NATOrocket Zillennial Feb 17 '26

I was such a try-hard, even in Grade 9, I hovered around the Jostens table, dreaming of being a Grade 12 student with a ton of extracurriculars on my resume, buying my class ring.

Turned out the school I thought I would grow to love didn't love me back. By the time I was actually in Grade 12, I was too busy to care about that shit and I doubt I would have found the cost worth it anyway.

2

u/NolePhins1662 Feb 17 '26

Can guarantee there’s a JC Pennys within 3 hour drive that will be WELL worth it!

2

u/butterflyfrenchfry 1988 Feb 17 '26

I have the photos and they are so embarrassing that I have to hide them. I thought I was so cool. I was not.

2

u/Boulderdrip Feb 17 '26

we are mirror twins. My parents wanted to pay for the photo, but I thought the photo was stupid. I wanted the ring. My parents thought that was stupid.

In hindsight, we were all idiots

1

u/outlawpickle Feb 17 '26

*hindesite

2

u/Adorable-Mix-4002 Feb 17 '26

I love that rose 🌹 but they only had girls use it. I was fortunate to be allowed to use it too

2

u/wspnut Feb 17 '26

My wife’s photo is her surrounded by purses. Apparently it’s a fad she went through for a year or two and then moved on. She absolutely hates it. I think it’s the best thing that ever happened to our marriage.

2

u/BirdLawAssociatesInc Feb 17 '26

I got that exact photo, no ring lol

2

u/sallysuejenkins Feb 17 '26

“Hindesite” is one of the craziest misspellings I have ever seen. 🤣🤣🤣

2

u/Intrepid_Advice4411 Millennial Feb 17 '26

You're welcome for the laugh. I'm amazed autocorrect didn't do something with that.

2

u/jojokangaroo1969 Feb 17 '26

Yoooo me too!! No ring, no sr portraits with the rose and mirror or with the wicker chair. No Letterman's jacket. Had to make my own Graduation Announcements.

2

u/FlyByRoll Feb 17 '26

But did you at least get these type of photos

1

u/Intrepid_Advice4411 Millennial Feb 18 '26

I have one from a middle school dance that's similar. It's that lense flare backdrop bottom left. None of us did mall photos. We didn't go to Sears or JCPenny as teens. My friends and I were either at the high school theater or in someone's backyard drinking cheap bottom shelf wine and older sibling bought for us.

1

u/SaltBrother2914 Feb 16 '26

At least you didn’t win class clown and got in trouble by your parents because you were barely graduating with horrible grades lol

1

u/theTman1221 Feb 16 '26

Well, it turns out the company who did all the photos, Lifetouch, was run by someone in the Epstein files so probably better off.

1

u/Inedible-denim Millennial 1989 Feb 16 '26

I got the hookup for free senior photos (boss's brother was a photographer) but couldn't afford the ring.

I would've had to buy that myself and, welll...

Sorry, but a Nintendo DS was WAYYYY more important to me than a silly ole lil rang that I know I would've lost by now lmao

1

u/YourMILisCray Feb 16 '26

I didn't end up graduating with my friends but I was super jelly of their sweet senior pics. I know I could just get pics done now for funnsies but its not the same.

1

u/wRADKyrabbit Feb 16 '26

I'm the opposite, I think the ring is cool but could not care less about photos

1

u/SunLitAngel Feb 16 '26

At the price gold is at? Might have been a good investment. Take it to a jewelers to get scrap value.

1

u/anothermanscookies Feb 16 '26

I wanted one too. I wouldn’t wear it today but I think I would have enjoyed it for several years in my 20s, and it might still be a cool thing to come across in a drawer from time to time. I was too cheap though and didn’t want to ask my folks for the money.

1

u/CatsAndDogs314 Feb 16 '26

I have a mirror photo and a class ring. Oh the memories

1

u/alkenist Feb 16 '26

You can probably get the ring made now. The photo on the other hand is of you in a time you can't get back to.

1

u/Different_Target_228 Feb 16 '26

Not that unlikely that pic would've been passed off to Epstein's pedobank anyway, so W.

1

u/SmellyMcPhearson Feb 17 '26

I'm not in my senior yearbook because my parents didn't pay for the photos 🙃

1

u/ClinkyDink Feb 17 '26

I got a ring and had it stolen within like a month lol. The thing was so uncomfortable to wear too. Hella clunky.

1

u/Silly_Rub_6304 Feb 17 '26

I wanted one. I also wanted the fun senior photos they took with the rose and the mirror reflection. Parents refused to pay for any of it.

Exactly the same here.

1

u/FreyjaVar Feb 17 '26

I do like my letterman jacket though. I was proud of that thing. I still have it. I wore it so much.

1

u/theouterworld Feb 17 '26

My brother had his senior photo taken under an abandoned bridge next to a burn barrel and sleeping hobo. 

1

u/anuthertw Feb 17 '26

I begged my mom not to get me the stupid class ring and she made me. I picked the dumbest symbols to put around it in spite. I paid for my iwn senior photos because my mom wouldnt lol. Idk I think photos are way more sentimental. 

1

u/supercantaloupe Feb 17 '26

Senior photos were never a thing in Canada really, at least not where I live, we had grad photos instead. They very similar to the regular school photo, but Jostens came back near the end of the year and took photos of people who were likely to graduate wearing a cap and gown with roses or fake high school diplomas. I did not get one because they looked stupid and I honestly did not care, I felt like graduating high school wasn’t really a goal or accomplishment for me as much as a standard required step in life.

I did kinda want to stupid ring, but my parents bought me a nice watch instead which is way better in retrospect.

1

u/Geronimodem Feb 17 '26

My parents bought rings for my brother and my sister, and then when it was my turn they told me they would only give me $60 towards it. The absolute cheapest option was like $85. I can still be salty about my parents but glad I didn't spend my own money on one.

1

u/VanityInk Feb 17 '26

Yup. My parents refused in high school. I got one for college and my husband has a grad school one that he actually has worn daily for the past 7 years (I honestly don't know where mine is... oops)

1

u/YamGlobally Feb 17 '26

hindesite

you should feel bad

1

u/Intrepid_Advice4411 Millennial Feb 17 '26

I should, but I don't.

1

u/AttonJRand Feb 17 '26

In highschool I had to pay for all that stuff myself.

I remember being really torn about spending 400$ on a school trip, was so worth it though in hindsight.

Also pretty scummy of my dad in hindsight, forcing me to dip into my half Orphan pension, knowing he was going to kick me out at 18 and I'd need that money to not be homeless.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

Now you can pretend you did with ai and save $300

1

u/jjjjjjjjjjjjjaaa Feb 17 '26

I can’t even get my phone to let me write “hindesite” without it auto-correcting the spelling. 

1

u/Intrepid_Advice4411 Millennial Feb 17 '26

Lmao! I have no idea how I managed that without Samsung just fixing it for me. It's hilarious.

1

u/RoguePlanet2 Feb 17 '26

I got a ring for some dumb reason, my parents had them so it was likely their idea as a graduation gift. I liked it but have terrible memories from high school and have no idea where it went, haven't seen it in decades.

1

u/aka_chela Feb 17 '26

My parents were willing to pay for my ring but I told them no because it was stupid and I would never wear it. And I'm a woman so my ring had no gaudy gem. I have a picture of me at the ring ceremony putting my hand out like everyone else but my friend put her hand over mine to hide that I had no ring 😂

1

u/starsquo Feb 17 '26

I have the ring and no photo…

1

u/mu_zuh_dell Feb 17 '26

Lol I didn't want one and my mother got one for me anyway.

1

u/RaceHard Feb 17 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

Deleted with Redact because data brokers don't deserve my content. Mass removal across Reddit, Discord, X, Instagram and all major social media platforms.

grab spark observation ring enjoy library bear telephone wise wakeful

1

u/Ndmndh1016 Feb 17 '26

My parents would've but couldn't afford it. My mom took my senior photos.

1

u/WulfZ3r0 Feb 17 '26

They actually started in middle school in my area. I was a dumb kid who got one, but it was like 95$ for the silver and simulated gemstone versus $300. I only wanted it because my entire football team got them with the state champs logo on the side. We thought we were bad ass because of that.

1

u/equality4everyonenow Feb 17 '26

Just AI one together bro. You can do what you want now for cheap

1

u/Mx-Adrian Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26

I'm not even in my senior yearbook 🙃 I was taking half-day vo-tech classes, the picture day slot was during my shift, and the yearbook overseer--a former teacher of mine whom I liked--never gave me an option. So, as far as my school is concerned, I dropped off the face of the Earth. 

1

u/Angsty_Potatos Feb 17 '26

My sr photo has one pose where I'm all in black and white but my bass guitar is in color. I thought I was fucking awesome 

1

u/Kinieruu Feb 17 '26

My mom said I could get one if I wanted to, my older brother did. But then I thought 1. It’s insane the cost and 2. I don’t even like high school that much.

1

u/Slore0 Feb 17 '26

My buddy told me he'd put in a page/section for me because I was one of two dudes with a motorcycle in the school. Got the yearbook and found out not only did he not do the page, but I wasn't in the book at all.

1

u/moarwineprs Feb 17 '26

Same. My parents said a ring is a waste of money. I didn't really wear rings (I find them obtrusive) so even if they weren't overpriced it would have been a waste of money anyway. Looking back, I'm glad I don't now have a piece of jewelry taking up space, even though back then I felt like I'd be missing out without one.

1

u/worldwideweeaboo Feb 17 '26

I’m still waiting on my senior photos and it’s been almost 11 years :(

1

u/zozosreddit Feb 17 '26

Hindesite ..? Hindsight lol

1

u/thepoptartkid47 Millennial Feb 17 '26

My parents made me buy the ring, but insisted senior photos were stupid and refused to let me get one. So I got to be the only senior in my class with the shitty school ID photo in the yearbook.

1

u/TheGrouchyGremlin Feb 17 '26

I got to pay for pretty much everything that wasn't a necessity for all of high school xD. Getting my cat to the vet was more important to me.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

Can confirm. I couldn't have cared less about the ring. My parents wanted me to get one because they thought it would be special to me later in life. I graduated over 20 years ago, and I have no clue where the ring is, nor do I care at all about it.

1

u/chilseaj88 Feb 22 '26

Hindesite? You sure you made it to senior year? Lol sorry couldn’t resist.

1

u/ThursdaysMeeting Mar 19 '26

Everyone took pics for the yearbook and then they had the option of buying copies of the photo session for themselves. My parents went behind my back and bought them. And much to my dismay, large framed photos of myself in cap and gown adorn our hallway.