Monday 15 October 2012

Bah Humbug!

It looks like I’m going to be in trouble again, we get this every year.
Perhaps I should explain, I’m (Reported to be) very hard to buy presents for. To be honest, it gets me into no end of bother, because people are always complaining that they never know what they could get me as a gift, either for birthdays or Christmas (Yule).
Now I like a gift as much as the next person, and there are lots of things that I like, or admire or even covet sometimes, but I find the whole idea so blatantly commercialised that it fills me with dread. And I dread the words, “What do you want for”.
I feel that as a society we have been manipulated into spending lots of money that we can’t really afford on things that we don’t really need, and if that view makes me hard to buy for well there you go!
Especially since I downsized my life, I have grown weary of the premium that seems to have been placed on generosity, on the excess packaging that attempts to make the mundane look special and the idea that all men (or women) would like a “Pasta set” or some “Golf things various”.
I’m not trying to be awkward or ungrateful at all, but I see the waste and feel bad about it, I certainly don’t want those that are dear to me to waste their hard earned on a load of old plastic, when to me the real meaning of a birthday, or Yule, is the love and companionship of people who value you for what you are, and I don’t need a big box of Bugger All to feel that.

2 comments:

  1. I agree. I like to give hand made presents and when it was my birthday, my brother and his partner did some gardening for me, which was a great gift!

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  2. In a perfect world, we would all share our talents for the geater good, I like to keep friends and family supplied with home made bread, jams and wine. It's very true that the thought behind a gift is more important than the monetary value of it. Anything you make or do for someone shows that you care enough to give your time and effort.

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