6 cliché marriage proposals

Here's how my wedding proposal went.  We had been planning on moving in together.  We were driving back from the RV and Boat show that was downtown in Chicago. I was prattling away about buying household goods for "our apartment" a little each payday. My husband (then boyfriend) mumbled something under his breath.  "What did you say?" I asked a little annoyed.  He: "I think we should get married."  I asked, "Is that a proposal?" And he answered, "Yes.  Will you marry me?" I looked at him, just a little perplexed and asked, "Where's the ring?" Well, at the time he was between jobs and I knew he didn't have one.  His face kind of went white and I said, "That's okay. You can owe me one and it better be good!" That has to go down in the Guinness Book of World Records as the worst proposal EVER! Despite that I said yes and twenty years later we're as happy as we were when we got married---I think maybe a little happier. 

Since when is a MARRIAGE (not wedding) proposal supposed to be a public performance? I have always found these stunts to be tasteless and forced, as if putting your partner in an awkward public predicament will compel an acceptance...

I never understood why something so intimate as a marriage proposal has to be staged in front of an audience.  Love doesn't need audience support or approval, it just needs the two people in its light to be true and good to each other.