I’m with you on this, I’m a video game junkie. Except for when I’ve specifically asked for a certain game I have NEVER gotten one that I wanted or would buy myself. So if someone wants to get me a game I would much rather get a gift card to gamestop or something like that.
I just KNEW the writer of the OP link was going to be some Junior League Miss Manners, and sure enough she even quotes the bitch to back up her smugnaciousness.
Yes, Liz Pulliam Weston wants to go into MY home and MY life and tell ME just how fucked up I am compared to her and her friends – though she would never DREAM of saying “fucked up”. That is unacceptable, and just the kind of thing a troglodyte like me would say.
I can hear the tongue clicking echoing across the landscape.
She and Miss Manners and Martha Stewart are the Axis of Evil in America, but their version of hell is better color-coordinated and has no sulphurous odors. In fact, I’m sure their shit has a pleasant lemon scent.
Isn’t that entirely self-contradictory? If it’s a general rule, then you did NOT put any thought into it, you just followed the rule.
I’m still a bit miffed that someone gave me a bottle of wine for my birthday a few years ago. I’m a teetotaler! And this person knew me well enough to know that. (Although I certainly wouldn’t be irritated at someone who was a stranger and assumed I would like a bottle of wine, as that’s a generally accepted rule.)
What, you’re not enjoying your copy of Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge?
On the one hand, fifties can be hard to break sometimes. On the other hand, this tends to make people save them for larger purchases, rather than beer and cigs. Personally, I always find that a small stack of twenties is always welcome.
I’ve given my nephews various gifts, things like Leatherman multitools, or a certain game that they loved when I visited them. However, since I rarely see them, they tend to get cash from me, which they assure me that they appreciate very much (especially now that they’re med and premed students).
Personally, I love gift certificates from my favorite stores. I know that I’m hard to shop for, though I have told everyone that I’m always happy to receive chocolates.
I have mixed feelings. When my in-laws gave us gift cards, they were to places like Trader Joes, Best Buy, Game Stop, etc. They were the sort of gift cards the OP mentioned. We love Trader Joes and who doesn’t love a shopping spree at Best Buy? They knew this, and knew he would be thrilled with the chance to splurge at our favorite stores–it’d be weird if they went grocery shopping for us for Christmas.
On the other hand, my dad sends a $50 card for Wal-Mart every hear. In an unsigned card. The message is pretty clear. “I remember you exist and I know I should make an effort once a year. But this is as much as I’m willing to do.” I don’t know if I should be sad by this message, or thrilled my own father remembers me during the holidays.
If my husband ever bought me a gift card, regardless of the store, I would be crushed. Not because I expect a bunch of expensive gifts–we actually don’t exchange gifts often, and some lean years, we don’t celebrate holidays at all. But I would much rather he buy me a $5 paperback novel that he knows I want to read than give me a $25 gift card to B&N.
I both agree and disagree with the sentiment. There are some carefully chosen gift cards that make a lot of sense – I used to love to get gift cards for book stores, for example, because I really enjoy spending time browsing book stores and picking stuff out. These days I can afford to buy books without really worrying about that, so it’s not the same feeling of luxury.
On the other hand, we gave out bookstore gift cards at work because they were totally generic and unlikely to excite or offend in any way–unless you specifically know that a person not only enjoys reading but enjoys the experience of buying books, a bookstore gift card looks like you couldn’t be bothered to even think about what they might like to read.
And I find the 'couldn’t possibly know what they have and haven’t read argument to be kind of crappy – about 98 kazillion books are released every year, as long as you stay away from their absolute favorite authors (since they’ll have those already) the chances that they’ll have it already are slim. Books can be returned, too.
A well chosen gift card–I especially like ones that provide an opportunity for someone to get a little personal luxury that they wouldn’t ordinarily be able to work into their budget–can be a great gift. The yarn store example someone used earlier was a good one–many knitters like buying yarn more than they like actually knitting.
On the other hand, I see gift cards offered for sale for entire chains of shopping malls, WalMart, grocery stores or, in the case of those AmEx gift cards, anything at all, and those, to me, scream ‘thought this would be more convenient than sending cash, but that’s all the thought I gave it.’
Um…wait. There’s something wrong with giving cash? I have somehow missed this. I love getting cash for the holidays. To me, that’s never meant “I didn’t care enough to try”, but “here’s something I know you can put to good use”. Cash can mean a little splurge, a gift to a charity, or it can mean something to help with that month’s bills if it’s a lean period. It’s versatile and goes with everything.
Yeah, anyone who gives me another pair of gloves or scarf or bottle of scented lotion will appear to know me a lot less well than someone who gives me cash. I’m about to be a full time student again and I already have too much crap.
Yeah. My FIL often sends generic gift cards and the like - usually along with some books and candy. But he has put some thought into it, because he knows my wife and I are completely f***in’ broke 
Fuckin’ a. Did you even read the post before yours, manduck? There weren’t that many.
I’ll echo the view that gift cards are handy and appropriate in certain situations. My mother tends to give me gift cards to department stores as she doesn’t know exactly what type of clothes I like or even my size at the moment (I tend to swing within 10 pounds either way of 170. It makes a big difference when it comes to clothes). Even if its to a store I usually wouldn’t go to, I can usually find a t-shirt or socks or something that I need.
Here’s Batman and Wonder Woman’s take on it (warning: mp3).
I like gift cards myself, especially when they’re for a place I’d probably not buy from otherwise. And for office Secret Santa exchanges they can’t be beat.
I used to think that giving gift cards was the lazy way out, but now that I work at a retail store I’ve changed my mind. The customers that come in with gift cards have a lot of fun picking out what they like, and often times will make a day of it with the person that gave them the card.
I know that I love book store gift cards. I can spend hours picking out just what I want; the shopping is part of the enjoyment.
Put me squarely in the “loves giftcards” camp. I have three sisters – a twin and two who are considerably older than me (by about a decade). My twin sister knows me well enough and has similar tastes to pick something I’d like. My older two sisters understand generally that I like reading or video games or sheet music, but I’m just not close enough to them for them to know what I’m specifically looking for. Plus, if I said I wanted, say, a video game playable on a GameBoy Advance, they likely wouldn’t understand how to find one. Heaven help them if they ever try to understand my tastes in piano music. When they give me a gift card to a store specializing in my interests, I feel that shows a lot of caring.
My mom’s tradition for my birthday: to drive me to Groth Music and give me money to spend there. I can’t describe how much I enjoy that. Sure it’s “just cash” but it’s money I will derive a lot of pleasure from.
There’s a lot of work involved in choosing the right wine or a decent bottle of spirits for someone (getting them Glenfiddich instead of 100 Pipers if they’re a Scotch drinker, Wild Turkey instead of Woodstock if they’re a Bourbon fan, Havana Club instead of Bacardi… wait, you can’t have White Rum Hecho en Cuba in the US, can you? :p)
A gift card simply involves going to the register and saying “Hi, can I have a $X Gift Card please?”
There’s no personal touch there, IMHO. Everyone else’s results, however, can and do appear to vary.
That’s uncalled for. Yes, I did read the posts before mine. And then I posted my opinion. What, I’m not allowed to disagree?
Gift cards and cash are the only gifts I even like.
When people try to get me “real” gifts there’s always something else I think of that I would rather have spent the money on.
I mean, I appreciate the thought. But I also can think of things I would rather have spent the money on. These are not incompatible attitudes.
Plus, going out to the stores and shopping around is fun! It’s like a vacation. That’s part of the gift in a gift card IMO.
-FrL-
Add the inevitable embarrassment when the giver asks how you liked the booze they so thoughtfully chose for you. I tend to re-gift booze to people who I know would drink it and appreciate it, but I always feel like an asshole when I’m asked about it by the giver. There are just no good answers to some questions.
That applies to other things that the recipient does not use or finds objectionable, not just alcohol.
Robin
Things My Aunt Gave To My Dad (A Tale of Three Christmases Past)
[ol][li]An energy saving lightbulb (11 watts),[/li][li]A guide to the UK’s motorway service stations, and (wait for it…)[/li][li]A set of replacement car indicator lightbulbs for cars he did not own.[/li][/ol]