gifting

it's december, which means it's time to run around town buying gifts for people. i'm lucky in that 1. i don't have many people to shop for 2. some the people i do need to shop for have gift lists and 3. i only have one or two white elephant / secret santa things i do.

and maybe it's because i don't have many people to shop for that i try to get the best gift i can. i put a lot of thought into it and i price shop so i can get you as many things as possible! (i used to be very bad at gifting btw, it's only the last 10 something years that i've gotten better at it)

however very few people seem to care as much as i do. even when it comes to my best friends (and we do a secret santa thing so you only need to shop for one person. furthermore, we have online wish lists) i feel like i've gotten the short end of the stick a few times. and these are my best friends we're talking about! (and yes, mr snarkypants, they consider me to be one of their best friends too ::sticks out tongue::)

as for white elephant gifts. i don't cheat. i don't buy a bunch of random crap and throw it together. i also don't gift according to msrp. if i paid only $5 for something that normally retails for $20, i go buy another $15 worth of stuff to make up the difference (if the white elephant price is supposed to be ~$20, that is). i also take my time with these gifts and really try to think about what would be best suited for that group of people. if it's mixed gendered i'm not going to get something that's marketed to women only. and i also don't much like gag gifts, because i probably wouldn't want to get that myself.

example: i was considering getting exercise stuff this year (because a lot of the people at that party are members of sport teams). i went to marshalls (cause for $20 you can get a ton of stuff there) and looked at the exercise equipment. for $20 i could get three things, but i want to give a "complete" (or at least varied) workout. so i'm not going to give a kettle bell and a weighted medicine ball. i'm also not going to get you an exercise band with handles and another without. because, really, what's the point? also, i would like to get you items from the same brand, because that just looks nice (and with their selection, that would have been totally possible). however, the person i was shopping with was getting frustrated with my, er, choosiness. but i'm just giving what i would like to receive! and no, i don't necessarily know these people but still, i feel like you should always do your best at whatever your doing. or, haha, it's kind of karma too. if you can't be bothered to pick out a thoughtful gift, don't be pissed when you get something crappy.

anyway, i just wish that people would put more thought into things.

oh and btw, every year i've done this particular white elephant party, my gift has been stolen. usually to the max number of times allowed. which is a pretty damn good feeling. so if for nothing else, be thoughtful so you aren't embarrassed when some immature asshole makes a face in front of the whole group and says "...what is this? this present sucks."