Rou

You're always supposed to be thankful. Even when you hate the gift, you smile, nod and thank the person telling them that you love it. Even when it looks like reindeer dung. I get my fair share of crappy gifts. Hell, one of my aunts has made crappy gifts into an art form. I'm not going to rant about those gifts though.

I'm going to rant about a different type of gift. I'll call them double edged gifts. Gifts that seem like a gift for you, but have some extra feature that ends up making it less of a present and more of a burden.

Couple examples here. First up, is the gift card I got from one relative. Gift cards are good. Gift cards to malls that are over 100 miles from my home... are bad. There are better options than mall cards, particularly for family that lives far away. Visa has a gift card that works anywhere. Best Buy, Target, Circuit City, JCPenny, Borders, and hundreds of other major chain stores work well too. But a 2 hour drive to spend a $25 gift card... not so much.

Next up, the cell phone. Now, I didn't get this one, but a co-worker did. He doesn't have a cell. Doesn't want one. Doesn't like them. His mother got him a cell. And paid the first 2 months. But signed him up for a 2 year contract. Joy of joys. Now he has a phone he doesn't want, but he has to pay for it for the next 2 years! I didn’t even know you could do that to someone.

How about World of Warcraft for a guy that had a serious evercrack addiction? Like, a $1000 a month ebay evercrack habit. Took him a long time to finally break away and get over his MMORPG addiction. Does anyone think WOW is the answer?

I dunno. It's the spirit of giving and all, but come on people. A little thought in your gift giving will go a long way.