My husband and I married in 2006. He almost immediately lost his ring while raking leaves. We rented a metal detector and unbagged about a dozen full lawn bags. We never found it. We bought another ring and then resized it a couple of times. It is now in a drawer. He broke his ring finger long ago, and a ring that’s large enough to go over the knuckle at all will also slip off easily. Anyway, he’s not the sort to wear any kind of adornment and works in a factory where a ring would need to be taken off before every shift. I promise you, he isn’t trying to look available. It’s not that hard to find out whether someone is single. You don’t have to ask, “Are you married?” although that works. You can easily ask questions as part of the conversation that would bring it out. If he mentions a recent vacation, for example, ask if he went with his whole family. When I was single, I had several conversations with someone who sidestepped every such question. He finally admitted he was married, but I should have known after about the third time he maneuvered around questions that, if answered naturally, would have made that clear. But here’s a good point for you to consider: The initial conversations you have with people will do more than tell you whether they are single and available. These conversations also tell you whether you are even interested in getting to know that person further. Whether the person has a single status is not all you want to know. You’re also looking for someone intelligent and kind, right? Best to know whether he or she meets those minimum qualifications as well. Talk!