Things I Hate: 6

Hello and Welcome to the sixth installment of Things I hate. I know I said that last week would be my last for a while, but after I went back and read it over again, I realized it wasn't really that funny at all, so I decided if I could come up with something to hate on, I would do it. I wound up remembering something I hate and it goes with the holiday theme again, so sit back and relax and enjoy this weeks topic: Impractical presents.

Gift Cards (because nothing quite says Merry Christmas like "Here, go do your own damn shopping"):
So I don't know if any of you have gotten gift cards before, but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you have. Gift cards are very unoriginal and not very thoughtful for a present unless you are getting them from a relative or friend who lives far away and didn't want to send a huge gift through the mail. In that case, it is probably acceptable. However, if you are going to see the person on the day of recieving the gift especially, you should not give a gift card. The point of giving a present is to pick out something the person could use or would like to have and to save them money by buying it for them and in doing that, it also saves them from having to actually go out and look for the item. When you get them a gift card, it's basically giving them money, but telling them that they have to go to a certain store and actually find something they like in that store. Now giving one of those "credit card" gift cards (like the AmEx one that is accepted wherever that card is) is better than just one store because it is less restrictive, but still the point remains.

Christmas ornaments on Christmas ("gee, thanks, I'll just hang this up for the remaining 12 hours of the day before I put it back in my closet for a year"):
Christmas ornament given on Christmas is probably the most pointless thing ever. What am I supposed to say? I mean, I already put all the ornaments I could fit on my tree, so I can't fit this on. I don't even know if I'll have room for it next year. I have enough ornaments already. It's only chance of getting on my tree next year is if I forget to take an ornament off this year and it gets lost permanently. Furthermore, what am I going to do with this? I can't really enjoy it that much. I'm going to be able to look at it for the rest of the day and then the next day, it goes back down in the closet and I don't see it for a year. What good does that do me?

Handmade things (See my pictures below this post for an example):
Ok so I used to get handmade vests back in the day from my Aunt. They were really nice and warm, but they were things I could never really wear and I don't know how she expected me to actually wear them. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my first vest from her, which was pale orange and borderline baby blue. I couldn't wear that! If I wear a vest, it has to be real colors (real colors are colors that don't need an adjective in front to explain how it relates to the real color) If you note the pictures, it was a vest made for Christmas of my freshman year at Shorewood. I know school pride is the "hip" thing nowadays, but this takes it to an extreme that I don't care to go to. Also, it has my last name on the back, making it easier for the bullies to tell who they just beat up for wearing that. I can appreciate the heart put into the present, but I can't appreciate its lack of practicality.

Getting chains of presents out of order (Well I just got an iHome, I wonder if I'm getting an iPod now?):
I've heard on tv of people doing this before, for Hanukkah or anything. People will have a big ticket item for somebody (say an iPod for example). To lead into that present, they will give somebody iPod headphones, accessories, and iTunes gift certificates (grr, gift certificates!!!). By the end of it all, the person getting the presents can't honestly expect not to get an iPod. It takes all the surprise away from the presents. If you're going to do this, just give them the iPod first and have them be surprised as they get different accessories for the iPod. That way, each present contains some mystery. On a side note, I still think iPods and iTunes are trying to destroy music, but that's another rant for another time.


That's all I got for now. If you are thinking of doing any of these things for somebody this holiday season, rethink it. Take them out to a nice dinner or something. Ask what they would actually like to get. I have to go now to study one unit for my math final. Happy hanuchristmakwanzakah and peace out until next year. (I'll still make regular posts)