Friday, September 10, 2004
Gift of the Magi
"Hey mom, take a look at what I got Tiago!"
Grinning, I pulled the package out of the closet. I had gotten my brother a zoid, LigerZero(phoenix) for his thirteenth birthday. I showed my mother the box, which was about as big as a PC monitor.
"What do you think? Pretty cool eh?"
"Are you sure it's for your brother?" My mom laughingly asked. "Seems to me it might be for yourself".
And in a sense she was right. My brother was asking for ragnarok stuff for his birthday. However, I had already helped my mom buy him a bunch of pre-paid cards and a guidebook, so I figured I didn't need to give him anything on that front (although I did arrange for him to receive a few in-game items).
A friend of mine once told me something about gift giving: "Never give anything that they would have bought for themselves". It's pretty good advice. If you give something that they would have gotten themselves, it's as if you had just given cash. Useful, but not impressive. Ultimately, it's forgettable.
The best gift is something that the getter wouldn't have thought of themselves, but upon getting, they enjoy and treasure. Even better if it's something that will remind them of you when ever they look at it. In that sense, it's better to stop trying to second guess "what they really want" and just buy them something that you want to give: something that YOU think is cool.
I mentioned this theory to Raven when we were out shopping.
"So what I'm saying is, if I give what I'm interested in, it's a gift that's straight from my heart!"
Raven nodded. "I guess that's right. It's more interesting to receive a gift that's surprising too."
"Yeah. Hey, check out this command wolf! So, baby, you want a zoid for your birthday too?"
The Command Wolf I gave Raven:
Image taken by Raven
The Stormcrow
Grinning, I pulled the package out of the closet. I had gotten my brother a zoid, LigerZero(phoenix) for his thirteenth birthday. I showed my mother the box, which was about as big as a PC monitor.
"What do you think? Pretty cool eh?"
"Are you sure it's for your brother?" My mom laughingly asked. "Seems to me it might be for yourself".
And in a sense she was right. My brother was asking for ragnarok stuff for his birthday. However, I had already helped my mom buy him a bunch of pre-paid cards and a guidebook, so I figured I didn't need to give him anything on that front (although I did arrange for him to receive a few in-game items).
A friend of mine once told me something about gift giving: "Never give anything that they would have bought for themselves". It's pretty good advice. If you give something that they would have gotten themselves, it's as if you had just given cash. Useful, but not impressive. Ultimately, it's forgettable.
The best gift is something that the getter wouldn't have thought of themselves, but upon getting, they enjoy and treasure. Even better if it's something that will remind them of you when ever they look at it. In that sense, it's better to stop trying to second guess "what they really want" and just buy them something that you want to give: something that YOU think is cool.
I mentioned this theory to Raven when we were out shopping.
"So what I'm saying is, if I give what I'm interested in, it's a gift that's straight from my heart!"
Raven nodded. "I guess that's right. It's more interesting to receive a gift that's surprising too."
"Yeah. Hey, check out this command wolf! So, baby, you want a zoid for your birthday too?"
The Command Wolf I gave Raven:
Image taken by Raven
The Stormcrow
Labels: toys
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