# Holiday Season Advice?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-season-advice/519947>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 4, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-season-advice/519947 "2009-12-04T04:13:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-season-advice/519947/1 "2009-12-04T04:13:21Z")

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How the hell do you pick gifts for people?

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**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-season-advice/519947/2 "2009-12-04T04:30:06Z")

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Wish to hell I knew. (Every year it’s getting harder and harder, now that there aren’t any little kids to buy toys for.) Should one adult be buying another adult (assuming they aren’t intimate) underwear, big hairy sweaters, slippers, “body butter”, or cheap cologne sets from Big Lots? What do men want - another shirt? A flannel shirt? Socks? Gloves? a belt? a wallet? Golf balls? Fishing lures? A bottle of Old Spice? Booze?

Why??? It gets ridiculous, and I say, the hell with it, everyone is getting a gift card to the mall or a restaurant, or movie tickets (attached to a box of popcorn!).

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**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-season-advice/519947/3 "2009-12-04T04:38:14Z")

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I can’t be of any help, as I always get panicky about shopping this time of year. I wish I could get away with just sending cards. It’s the thought that counts, right?

I do have something to add here, though, but it’s more of a sociological question. Why is buying a gift card for someone perfectly acceptable while giving the exact same amount in cash is considered tacky? Most gift cards restrict the recipient’s buying options to a single store, whereas cash can be spent anywhere.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-season-advice/519947/4 "2009-12-04T04:38:57Z")

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> [@salinqmind](#):
>
> What do men want

Porn. Barring that, something from Lowe’s or Best Buy.

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**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-season-advice/519947/5 "2009-12-04T04:42:55Z")

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I love receiving gift cards but they just seem too impersonal for me to give to someone else.

And fishing lures are just fine if you’re buying gifts for me salinqmind. 😃