Christmas Shopping    [ Just Talk ]

Alright ... time to reflect a minute on Christmas. I see basically no greater irony in the world than the fact that this holiday is purely a reason to consume massive amounts of shit you don't need. The entire holiday is pure propoganda, they hype it up so much and force into your brain the idea that you MUST buy things for people. And this all has something to do with Jesus and God almighty and our faith right? In fact this holiday is the exact opposite, nobody cares about Jesus, they only care about the great new gifts they are supposed to recieve.

And then once you have been snared into their trap you must confront the dilema of gift buying. This brings into question the notion of a gift. Maybe a gift can technically just be giving something to someone, but lets use the connotation. Its showing appreciation by offering some tribute. So there are really 2 factors that go into a gift, there must be the tribute (your present) and there must be some form of appreciation. This is the one that always gets me. Does it really show appreciation to ask someone what they want and then give them that? Not in my bood it doesn't. In fact, I actually dislike it when ppl give me stuff I had to explicitly tell them I wanted. On the other hand, I am extremely touched by gifts that people actually found themselves, regardless of what they are. I recently god a great book about ink drawing from a friend for my birthday, and I was blown away. Not only did this person recognize my interest in ink drawing, but they made the effort to go out in search of a good book on the subject.

Now, talk without meaning is shit, so here's the point. Its Christmas, and while it is rather strange to feel forced into buying gifts for people on this specific day, so chances are you will buy gifts. So lets lay down some rules.

1. Actual Appreciation for the gift reciever is your motivation, search accordingly. don't get crap, think about it.

2. Don't ever get people stuff you asked them about. never, never, never.

3. If you don't really care that much about someone, then don't get them a gift!!! We all know the economy is shitty, so why not save a few bucks?

4. More expensive only means more spoiled. Others may not see it so, but it is generally the truth.

5. Don't think about what THEY would want, think about what YOU want to give them. Who cares if they want it, your are searching for a way to show appreciation.

-- AG

Posted by agilliland at December 17, 2002 9:56 AM