I was thinking last night about the notion "gift cards" and how much I generally dislike them. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it when people give gifts, but there is something very impersonal about it. It says "I don't know you or what you might like, so here is some cash." Obviously, you can't know everyone well enough to find the "perfect present", but since when did anyone need a perfect present? Andy Rooney had an interesting take on the difference between "presents" and "gifts" in his Christmas column, writing:
"The word "gift" is used frequently at this time of year and I don't care much for it. I'm suspicious of anything called "a gift." What I like at Christmas is a present. A "Christmas present" is the real thing. "A Christmas gift" is something you give to someone you don't know very well. And please don't give me anything from a "gift shop." Anything designed specifically to be a "gift" is usually useless. You give presents to friends. "
I think that says it pretty well. Between gift cards and the phenomenon of "re-gifting", one can foresee a Christmas in the not-too-distant future in which people buy gift cards to stores they like themselves, and give them to people who they know won't shop there, in hopes that the recipient with "re-gift" them in their direction. After all, according to the media this is the "me" generation, and what better way is there to love yourself at Christmas than to buy your Christmas presents for other people to give them to you.
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