In Praise of Gift Cards!

Here’s a cute post from Lil Diva on using gift cards as a gift.  I hear it every year at birthday time, anniversary or over the holidays. My wife says.,. “It’s so much more personal to shop shop shop for just that perfect gift” for just that perfect couple relative or friend.  Of course she’s the one who thinks shopping is tantamount to the highest calling you can receive from the almighty.  There’s nothing as important or self-fulfilling as wandering aimlessly around the mall on a Sunday afternoon searching for just that perfect gift.  Then you get the satisfaction of watching the recipient open it and then try as they might to effusively thank you for such a thoughtful gift, while you know all along that they would rather have had the gift card.   I’ve heard the argument on both sides, and it’s rare that anyone finds the perfect gift, so I don’t even bother any more.   

In my opinion many folks want to do the shopping out of kind of guilt trip to do something special for the person they want to give something to.  They spend a lot of time looking for just the right thing, and often fail.  But they would never give a gift card because it makes them look like they don’t care, or worse they don’t know enough about the person to give them an appropriate gift.  How silly is that?  The giving of a gift card is a heartfelt way of saying you want to do something nice for the person and know that when they get to pick out what they want it can be more meaningful to them. 

 I suppose there will always be two sides to this story, but as I am close to this business I often to my own totally unscientific research on the matter and I ask folks what they would rather have.  Some will tell me a specific item, but are even afraid to do that for fear that it may money than I wanted to spend.  Most have said (as I do) just give me a gift card from the Award of Choice and let me pick out the card that fits my desire the most at that moment.   

As mentioned on the blog…, Diva, therefore, seldom deigns to purchase anything so impersonal as a gift card--only slightly superior to stuffing cash carelessly in an envelope. It seems as though one couldn't be bothered to think about the recipient's interests or preferences at all. It's a Lazy Gift, I have told my husband.

Truth?

Diva *loves* to receive gift cards.