Tuesday, February 1, 2011

A Gift…Not Re-Giftable

Moral dilemma! So I turn to those of you who have some, since as I've already discussed, I have only one.

At the same birthday celebration I mentioned in my previous post I was given a gift. I was given a gift that is something I would never, in my right mind, have purchased for myself. I was given a gift by someone notorious for giving horrible gifts. I was given a gift that I really want to throw in the trash, but can't bring myself too.

So how do you handle that? I mean, I know that you write the Thank You note and try to move on. That much I got. But beyond that, what do you do?

-   Do you trash it?
-   Do you throw it in a drawer only to remove it when the gifter might be in the room?
-   Do you display it somewhere out of the way?
-   Do you pawn it off on someone who might actually enjoy it?
-   Do you sell it at a Yard Sale?
-   Do you take it to Goodwill?
-   Do you say anything to the gifter in hopes that they might get the hint and not buy
      you such horrible gifts anymore?

This particular woman…let's call her Giftzilla, has a horrible eye for gifts. My mother, more so than me, has been the unfortunate recipient of most of this woman's lack of taste. Now Giftzilla has me in her clutches. I currently have a shelf devoted to the hideous gifts this woman has come up with and forced upon me. It's a shrine to Giftzilla. I mean, Giftzilla has been to my house many times. She can see first hand the types of things I like. I don't understand how she can look at some of these things and think, "OMG, JimNotMike will LOVE that!"

I love getting presents, anyone I know can tell you that. So I try to revel in the fact that it is a present and forget that it's a horrible ceramic trivet with french wine bottles on it. I try to forget that it's a wooden wine bottle/pepper grinder with "Jim's Vineyard" wood burned into the label. I try to forget that it is a hideously painted "40th Birthday" martini glass. I try to just enjoy the fact that I am getting a present and she thought enough to pick it out for me.

But I can't do it. I look at The Shrine to Giftzilla, and all I see is crap. Crap that I don't want in my home. Crap that I don't want other people to see in my home. Crap that I certainly don't EVER want people to think I would purchase for myself. Crap, Crap, Crap!

So, fellow readers, what do you do with "The Crap"?

3 comments:

  1. Tod...the moral conscienceFebruary 1, 2011 at 7:17 PM

    I say keep the shrine to Giftzilla but really make it a shrine to bad taste. Hopefully there are some horrible candle holder for votives! You could even rotate some of the gifts in and out of the shrine so people will look to see what is currently on display. In a couple of years, when we have enough crap, put some of the older items in the yard sale and hope they go before she shows up.

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  2. Gently give them to Goodwill or sell them in the yard sale a little at a time so she hopefully won't notice that they are gone. (That's why it's good to have a cat to blame for knocking it down and breaking it.)

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  3. I vote for Goodwill or sell or if you have a friend who likes the gift (s) as we all have different tastes, give it away. I wouldn't keep it, but I am working very hard on decluttering my house!

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