Gifts and Meaning in the holiday season
Let's just say at the front end I'm not a particularly materialistic person. I'm a terrible consumer. I am still wearing clothes to work that I bought ten years ago....If I like 'em I keep using em. I don't take any pleasure in having 'things' per se. I really like things that have utility---good tools. Or things that have emotional significance attached to them. I have a table lamp that was given to my grandfather by a client when he practiced law in South Carolina in the Twenties. It evokes special remembrance of my childhood and of my grandparents. If it were destroyed, I wouldn't go buy another....the meaning is attached to this one.
So the Christmas gift cycle has always raised my hackles a bit. I really like the concept of a season of giving. And I really enjoy finding a successful way to give people a meaningful gift. I've probably felt more rewarded knowing that someone was really touched by a gift I gave than by almost any other experience. Doesn't quite rank up there with seeing my children smile for the first time, but meaningful nonetheless. I spend no time pondering what to put on my Christmas list and feel hard-pressed when asked to come up with one.
It's in that context that I found myself pondering the new trend in presents, gift cards. When I was growing up, I remember being quite pleased when an aunt or other relative would give me a card with a five dollar bill in it. (Five dollars used to be a lot of money.) The money was freedom to ponder what gift I might give myself and that was a delicious experience as a kid. At the same time, the practice of giving cash was decried as soulless and mechanical. Giving money was what people did who put nothing of themself into the gift. The underlying assumption was that selecting a particular object and giving it to another person was inherently full of care and thought. This assumption is disputed by the standing joke about gift ties, the carefully arranged pyramids of $9.99 gift specials at the entrance to every store, and the common practice of getting other people the gift the giver wanted themselves.
So I am urged to get a gift card to one or more businesses as a meaningful gift that allows the recipient to pick out something they would truly like and also, I guess, shows that I'm more caring than if I'd just written a check for the same amount. I've heard enough commentaries on the subject to find this proposition dubious. A check never loses value, while some percentage of gift cards never get used, becoming pure profit for the vendor. Additionally, there are gift cards that do lose their value if not redeemed within a certain time. And gift cards generally limit the recipient to a single store or chain while a check or cash truly give the recipient a choice of where to shop. Gift cards are increasingly popular and ubiquitous. I was astonished the first time that I saw a giant gift card display in my local grocery store, at least until I realized how beneficial this tool is to business.
And, at some level, I am surprised that consumers are so receptive to gift cards. I suspect it is partly due to that ancient ingrained message that giving money itself is crass and meaningless. It's a far better thing to give a $20 gift card to Best Buy and let the recipient of your gift spend the time and hassle to get their own copy of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Let us praise the season of giving ! And its endless ways to get more stuff.
So the Christmas gift cycle has always raised my hackles a bit. I really like the concept of a season of giving. And I really enjoy finding a successful way to give people a meaningful gift. I've probably felt more rewarded knowing that someone was really touched by a gift I gave than by almost any other experience. Doesn't quite rank up there with seeing my children smile for the first time, but meaningful nonetheless. I spend no time pondering what to put on my Christmas list and feel hard-pressed when asked to come up with one.
It's in that context that I found myself pondering the new trend in presents, gift cards. When I was growing up, I remember being quite pleased when an aunt or other relative would give me a card with a five dollar bill in it. (Five dollars used to be a lot of money.) The money was freedom to ponder what gift I might give myself and that was a delicious experience as a kid. At the same time, the practice of giving cash was decried as soulless and mechanical. Giving money was what people did who put nothing of themself into the gift. The underlying assumption was that selecting a particular object and giving it to another person was inherently full of care and thought. This assumption is disputed by the standing joke about gift ties, the carefully arranged pyramids of $9.99 gift specials at the entrance to every store, and the common practice of getting other people the gift the giver wanted themselves.
So I am urged to get a gift card to one or more businesses as a meaningful gift that allows the recipient to pick out something they would truly like and also, I guess, shows that I'm more caring than if I'd just written a check for the same amount. I've heard enough commentaries on the subject to find this proposition dubious. A check never loses value, while some percentage of gift cards never get used, becoming pure profit for the vendor. Additionally, there are gift cards that do lose their value if not redeemed within a certain time. And gift cards generally limit the recipient to a single store or chain while a check or cash truly give the recipient a choice of where to shop. Gift cards are increasingly popular and ubiquitous. I was astonished the first time that I saw a giant gift card display in my local grocery store, at least until I realized how beneficial this tool is to business.
And, at some level, I am surprised that consumers are so receptive to gift cards. I suspect it is partly due to that ancient ingrained message that giving money itself is crass and meaningless. It's a far better thing to give a $20 gift card to Best Buy and let the recipient of your gift spend the time and hassle to get their own copy of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Let us praise the season of giving ! And its endless ways to get more stuff.
Comments