We have a gift for some friends of ours.
A few years ago, we sent a gift to these friends, with whom we do not usually exchange holiday presents. It was a very small, inexpensive gift. We saw it on deep, deep discount, and thought oh my gosh, that would be perfect for J & C! So we purchased it, boxed it up, and sent it, along with a note that said, basically, happy holidays, saw this and thought of you, enjoy.
It’s all good, right?
But then, a couple weeks later, we recieved this gift basket. Nice enough, but it was obviously a obligation gift. An omigod, they got something for us, now we have to get something for them, how embarassing, kind of a thing. It made us feel bad that our offhand little present made them feel like they had to go to the trouble of getting a gift basket and mailing it to us.
And now we find ourselves in a similar situation. We happen to have gotten an extra of a thing that we know they’ll enjoy. It’s not a regifting; we accidentally ordered an extra one. Could send it back, but we know they’d get a kick out of it. But we don’t want to trigger another return-obligation gift. So we’re thinking of sending it as a “secret santa”—giving it to a friend who’s going out of town to mail, sending a ransom-style note, making it totally untraceable.
Would you enjoy getting such a thing? Or would you find it cutesy and annoying, and want to know who it was from?
