Gift Card Conundrum
Technology has given us the ability to sling a plastic card at someone and avoid the time consuming and sometimes arduous task of Christmas shopping. How sad.
Like most people, I enjoy receiving gift cards because they allow me to buy the "gift" that I want. Under certain circumstances, however, I believe that giving and receiving actual gifts provides more pleasant holiday memories than an impersonal piece of plastic.
Call me old fashioned, but when I look under the tree on Christmas morning, I don't want to see a collection of envelopes staring back at me. I want my pictures to show a large collection of nicely wrapped presents with colorful bows and ribbons.
When buying for close friends or family members, I believe that you should take the time to determine what the person wants and then go buy it for them. Under these circumstances, buying a gift card is just lazy shopping.
Despite my partial disdain for gift cards, they have become a wildly popular gift. According to a recent study by the Tower Group, gift card sales for the 2006 holiday season are expected to eclipse $80 billion. This is a 20 percent increase over 2005 holiday sales.
This year, my son asked for an iPod. After a visit to the Apple store to determine which model he wanted, my wife and I decided to skip the gift card and buy the iPod so that he could have the excitement of opening the package on Christmas.
Even though he knew what was underneath the wrapping paper, my son was quite excited when he opened the package and saw the iPod. We were able to open the box right away and spent quite a bit of time fawning over the sleek new device.
Had my wife and I took the easy way out and just purchased a gift card, Christmas day wouldn't have been the same. We would have all missed out on the memories of spending the time ooh-ing and ahh-ing over his new geeky gadget.
I think that gift cards are quite useful when shopping for people that you don't know very well or who don't live close to you.
To make the holiday season truly memorable for yourself and those you love, take the time to visit the mall or your favorite on-line retailers so that your Christmas tree is surrounded with packages.
If you do, I'm certain that the memories of opening gifts on Christmas day will be ones that you treasure for a lifetime.
Even though he knew what was underneath the wrapping paper, my son was quite excited when he opened the package and saw the iPod. We were able to open the box right away and spent quite a bit of time fawning over the sleek new device.
Had my wife and I took the easy way out and just purchased a gift card, Christmas day wouldn't have been the same. We would have all missed out on the memories of spending the time ooh-ing and ahh-ing over his new geeky gadget.
I think that gift cards are quite useful when shopping for people that you don't know very well or who don't live close to you.
To make the holiday season truly memorable for yourself and those you love, take the time to visit the mall or your favorite on-line retailers so that your Christmas tree is surrounded with packages.
If you do, I'm certain that the memories of opening gifts on Christmas day will be ones that you treasure for a lifetime.
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