Green Bands

I am currently wearing a "ring" of sorts. I think it was designed to hold hole-punched index cards together, but it turns out to be the perfect size to fit on my index finger, and it only cost about 70¢ to get, so I bought it and wear it as if it was a CTR ring. The one thing that concerns me about this "ring" is that I heard that cheap rings can leave a green band around your finger and 70¢ is about as cheap as rings come.

So I did a little research just now. The green band is created when acids from my skin (My skin is acidic?!) react with metals in the ring and oxidize them. The reaction forms a green residue that sticks to your skin but, I am told, is usually harmless and can be washed off with soap and water. Source: http://chemistry.about.com/od/jewelrychemistry/f/Why-Do-Rings-Turn-Your-Finger-Green.htm
I will need to conduct some tests to see A) if this "ring" will produce a green band, and B) if that band can be easily removed.

However, seeing that the ring itself can be easily removed and seems to be likely to form a green band, one might wonder why I continue to wear the ring. Having a green band on you, even if it washes off, would seem to be an undesirable quality.

Sir Gawain didn't think so. For those of you who don't know the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain and the other knights at the Round Table were challenged to a sort of "game" by a hulking warrior whose complexion matched his adjective. The terms of the game were that any of the Round Table knights could deliver a single blade-stroke to the Green Knight, who would be kneeling still to receive the blow. Then, in one year's time, the Green Knight would attack the knight that struck him in a similar manner, and the knight would have to be still for it.

Though this "game" was quite insane, and King Arthur himself said so, the Green Knight taunted that they were all too chicken to go along with it, so Sir Gawain reluctantly stepped up to the plate and chopped the Green Knight's head off. The Green Knight then picked up his head, reminded Sir Gawain  that he'd have to receive an attack in return next year, and left.

A year passed, and Sir Gawain made his way to a castle near the Green Knight's dwelling place. There, shortly before the fated confrontation, the king of that castle offered Sir Gawain another game. This time, it was a simple trade. The king would go out for a hunt and would give Sir Gawain whatever he caught, and Sir Gawain would give the king whatever he had received while he waited at the castle. Sir Gawain kept this agreement by giving the king whatever he got (which was next to nothing), until he was given a magical green scarf/belt/sash that, supposedly, would protect him from the Green Knight. Sir Gawain held on to that, and wore it when he faced the Green Knight for the second time.

The Green Knight then revealed to Sir Gawain that this was all just a test. He was actually the disguised king of the castle Sir Gawain had visited, the scarf had no magical power, but Sir Gawain wasn't going to die anyway. The Green Knight/King, whose actual name was Bertilak, told Sir Gawain that even though he had kind of failed the test, he had only lied to save his life, so it really wasn't so much of a big deal. Yet, Sir Gawain took it as a big deal anyway, and decided to where the green sash as a mark of shame and as a reminder to never lie or be cowardly again.

And really, apart from the "mark of shame" part, isn't that what a CTR ring is? It's a physical, sometimes green, reminder to live up to your ideals and stay true to your standards. Granted, what I'm wearing is not a true CTR ring, but it serves the same purpose. And as long as it functions as a CTR ring, I'll continue to wear it for now, potential harmless, removable, strange, green band notwithstanding.