The Art of the Gift

Some gifts just keep on giving...headaches. And just who is the sadistic person responsible? Not the gift giver, unless you are me and love to annoy people. But you are not me, he he. So, have you ever recieved a gift that was difficult to get out of the box? This is usuallly something from a very nice department or speciality store. For example, the gift basket from a bath shop. The gift is presented so nicely, wrapped in ribbons and secured in a pretty basket. Just try to get the bath stuff out of that basket.You'll run out of hot water before you can get the shower gel out! The company secures the items with globs or rubber glue. I defy anyone to get stuff out of the basket. Dont tear up the basket, please. Some times they stick the bottles and tubes into plastic and glue. Trust me, patience and time might make it easy. Then again, maybe not, just dont try to take the bath products out when you're in a hurry.

Then of course some people like to buy children the playsets with LOTS of pieces. Actually, I'm one of those evil people who buy these toys on purpose. After all, it's all about payback! Yes, I go to the store looking for the doll set or toy car set that will surely drive the parent nuts! They look so nice in the store. All those small pieces or dolls that have to be freed from the plastic covers and all the ties behind that are curse worthy while trying to free them for the child. I think these play sets are harded to open than they were when my kids were little.

And of course, there is always the question of regifting. It's been said that the term regifting was coined by the cast of the Seinfeld TV show. I don't really know. I was probably the one person in the country who never watched that show. But, regifting isn't new. My grandmother, who died in the early 1980's was an expert. No one really every knew what to get Grandmother. After all, what do you get someone who has been around forever and doesn't like anything. It didn't matter what the family gave her for her birthday and Christmas, most of the gifts ended up in "the closet". Grandmother had a closet in her den which always smelled like mothballs. Guess where the gifts went? She had an uncanny ability to know when and who to regift. You never got your gift back. It didn't matter. The gift could be hankerchefs, brooches, earrings, perfume, books or whatever. Some lucky person would eventually be the reciepent of a regift. Maybe we should have just bought her a case of beer. She loved beer. Hey, Daddy, why don't we get Grandmother some beer? At least she'd use that. But, if you got a gift which smelled like mothballs, you'd been regifted! She was a Master!

Gift giving...aint it great!