Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Gift? cards

I am probably about to piss off a bunch of people.
So… Merry Christmas.

I keep seeing these advertisements… there is one for Home Depot – where this pathetic fellow wanders around the store with one of the sales folks looking for the perfect gift for his wife - first, unless his wife is a lesbian, he’s probably in the wrong store – anyway, he finally picks up a gift card and they both concur that this IS the perfect gift.
Huh.

Macy’s has this online popup ad of a young, handsome couple hugging. She is holding up a Macy’s gift card. She looks extremely pleased.

Sorry people. I cannot fathom any reason to give any working* adult a gift card.
Even more RIDICULOUS is giving your spouse a gift card.

‘Here honey, please take some of OUR money and go shop at THIS store.’
Huh
‘I mean.. I love you so much… that I give you permission to spend this exact amount of money on yourself. Hope you can find something you like.’
Huh.
‘What I am trying to say is I really don’t know that much about you, and I don’t really want to invest any effort or time learning anything about you.. but I want you to be happy, because our lives are so much easier when you are happy and clearly I don’t know how to make you happy, but I saw an advertisement that said you would be happy to have this little card.’

If you must buy a gift card – buy one from Target or Stop and Shop and give it to someone who needs it – to someone who is hungry or cold. And if you absolutely insist on buying your spouse a gift for the holiday – get a puppy… I mean really, who doesn’t love puppies.


* by ‘working’ I refer to being employed at a position which provides enough money to live by. There are many ‘working’ adults who don’t make enough to feed and clothe their families, despite their earnest efforts.

20 comments:

Landlady of Fat said...

LOL

I agree about the spouse one -- but I think gift cards are thoughtful especially ones to Blinkin' Blonuts! LOL

eb said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
eb said...

The beloved weese piss people off? Mais non. It can not be pos-ee-ble.

I certainly agree with your post. Ergo, you have not pissed me off. I'm sure you're relieved.

Hi-ever, there are just some people in this world that are impossible to please. They won't tell you what they want but then if you get them something you think they want, it's not what they want. Or, they're less than thrilled.

And, like tina-cious says, gift cards can be thoughtful if you get a card from a store that someone really likes. Some people really like Starbucks. Certainly, in that case, I think a gift card is a perfect cuz it's kinda hard to wrap a mocha latte.

eb said...

oh also...(I know, I've said enough already)...

Some people (I won't name names) enjoy the experience of shopping. So giving a gift card to someone like that (not that I know anyone like that, but maybe I do) is a good gift because you're giving them an experience. Plus, you can go shopping with them and watch as they delight in the joy of shopping. I certainly enjoy shopping but not as much as some people (one of whom I might know).

Oh, and giving to those less fortunate is always a good thing.

Ok, I'm done.

drowning pisces said...

I don't mind receiving gift certificates...especially from my mom...For some reason she insists that I like frilly clothes with fake fur trim!... a gift certificate from her would be MUCH more thoughtful than what she does now :-)

But the spouse thing... ya... gotta agree.

Anonymous said...

Good idea! I am pulling up petfinder.com right now. Puppy Puppy Puppyyyyyyyyy....

Middle Girl said...

In a very long Circuit City line on Saturday, one customer was atwitter because all she saw were holiday themed gift cards. She was in need of a Birthday gift card. The giftee, she droned on and on, does not like his birthday mixed with Christmas. D suggested she pass on the gift card and go across the aisle to Serpent Safari and buy him a little lizard.

No lines, no waiting. And no holiday colors.

SassyFemme said...

While I agree about the spouse, there are times, IMO, that gift cards are the best thing, particularly for co-workers you don't really know well, or want to know well. Mr. Cool (coworker) and I just got Tim Horton gift certificates for our tech. repair/install guys because the work they do keeping the computers running makes our jobs much easier. We wanted to remind them that we do appreciate all they do. We know they all like the food and coffee from there, so we thought it might be nicer than guessing at whether or not they'd actually like a specific item.

BTW, you're much too cute and funny to ever piss anyone off!

weese said...

oh shit...
(sometimes I really need to be more careful with what I say)

The Guy Who Writes This said...

I loved how you opened this article. The first two lines were perfect. But I agree, a gift card is like saying I don't care enough to make my gift personal to you. So if anyone is now feeling guilty you may send all the cards you've purchased to me and I'll dispose of them properly for you.

maxine said...

Yes...I'll take deck of gift cards thankyouverymuch...and then serve up plenty of hot tea to express my delight...

eb said...

oooo...there ya go. A perfect reason to give your spouse a gift card - hot tea!

Anonymous said...

this might be my favorite weese blog!

chapin said...

I just got one in the mail today from my boss. I did a cartwheel and danced around the room. However if the GF tries this idea I'm gonna shut her off from hot tea.

Suzanne said...

Controversy in weese-ville?

Typically, the only gift cards we give away are to a family that are good friends of ours. There are six of them. SIX. They actually enjoy doing things together, so we have given them gift cards for movie tickets plus snacks, or a restaurant they enjoy. Such a gift has the added bonus of being "disposable" meaning no "stuff" is attached, nothing but hopefully a pleasant memory. :)

I mostly agree with weese, with the caveat that there are exceptions to every rule. The comments have pointed out several.

Zoe said...

I agree with you on not giving gift cards to your spouse, that just doesn't make sense, but I can tell you that I would much prefer that one of my SILs give us a gift card rather than what ever thoughtless last minute thing that she pick up for us.

Jen said...

Ok, I will jump on this bandwagon too. I reserve GCs for the brother-far-away and to stores his not-so-pleasent-wife doesn't care for. However, my special friend and I buy gift cards for ourselves to our favorite restaurants with any X-mas cash that comes our way. That way the sender has treated us to a nice meal (or a portion of a nice meal...we are too old to be getting cash anyway) and we look forward to (cheap) date nights.

eb said...

If y'all don't want to give a gift card to your spouse, cheers to you. I, however, prefer my tea full-bodied and hot as hell. If a gift card is gonna get me that then I'm all OVER the idea of being thoughtless. I'm shallow like that.

o...and gift cards don't pee on the rug or break fences and run away and roll in poo.

maxine said...

It should be clarified that eb could roll over on xmas morn and simply say "Good morning," and get plenty of hot tea in return.

sporksforall said...

Teresa informed me the other day that there was some ungodly amount of money in unspent gift cars languishing in the American populace. I will do my best to spend my Starbucks gift card (given by an employee) and encourage our student workers to do the same with itunes one I will present them tomorrow.

I'm part of the problem. Wouldn't give Teresa one, though.