Useless Gifts

[cotten]

'Tis the season to express our love and appreciation, our generosity and good will to family, friends, teammates, coworkers and strangers. While I am purposefully steering clear of a discussion of the commercialization of the season, I recognize that more gifts are given in December than in any other month of the year. Many of these gifts are lovingly, thoughtfully chosen I'm sure, and I normally prefer to focus my thoughts on those. Still...

This is a thread in which we can talk about gifts that are useless. They have no functionality in our lives. We can't eat them or wear them or decorate with them or play with them. I mean, I suppose they're nice, but they serve no useful purpose we can think of except to enrich those who sell them. Ever given or received a gift like this? If so, what?

Perhaps a good one with which to start is when you receive notice that a star has been named after you. You are given a lovely laminated certificate printed on nice paper, plus a chart to help you find "your" star. You don't actually own it, of course, and anyone living in that vicinity may never know that their star has been officially named after you. This gift cost the giver between thirty and sixty US dollars. I'd be hard pressed to find any use for it, except perhaps as a fan when the July Georgia sun gets a might warm.

I enjoy being loved and appreciated as much as anyone, but to me this qualifies as Exhibit 1 in our Useless Gifts category. Can you think of others?

cotten

(No, I've never given nor received this particular gift. If that's what you've already gotten me this year, let's talk! )

[amyFB]

......................................

[Fatstrat]

Eventually one IMO gets to the point that it's in the giving. I've reached that point where I already have everything I want that I can afford. And if I can't afford it, I know my kids can't. So I don't ask for or expect much. While at the same time I will enjoy giving them things I know they want but can't afford. But instead of useless stars etc, I'd much prefer a new pack of socks or underwear.

[Pick guard]

One year paid membership to AGF.

[Twelvefret]

Cotton, there is a pressure to give something, that many feel.

[YamaYairi]

My sister in law once gave me a stupid yardstick with a stupid wooden sign glued to it that said "Let It Snow." It was supposed to be used to measure snowfall. I eventually found a use for it as a stirring stick for paint.

[MikeBmusic]

Galileo thermometers. If you don't know wha tthese are, look them up - glass tubes with a clear oil in them wiht little glass balls that float to show the current temperature.
Pretty - yes. Useless -yes, can't read them form a distance. Dangerous - yes, if you have pets or small children that can knock them off their stand, shattering, with glass shards and oozy oil everywhere.
We received a set of 2 (Farenheit and celsius) as a wedding present, somehow got rid of those, then someone gave us another one. I've got it on Craigslist but no biters yet.

[ewalling]

There seem to be a variety of spending rituals in our culture that we might recognize as wasteful and pointless, yet we still maintain them. Christmas/holiday gift shopping among adults is certainly one of those pointless and, in this case onerous, rituals, as far as I'm concerned. The construction of cars, computers. and washing machines with built-in obsolescence so that we have to keep re-buying them seems another. And yet without our constant buying of all this 'stuff', the economy, as we have organized and know it, would tank. Each December, the news anchors eagerly tell us if it's been a good year for pointless spending on useless gifts or whether the figures are down and the retailers hit with low profits and threats of unemployment or bankruptcy. The deal seems to be that we keep squandering our resources on endless crap and we get to keep our jobs and prosperity. There seems a contradiction here because as much as many of us might like to see the back of Christmas/holiday shopping, our financial wellbeing is bound up with its survival and the survival of other such extravagant and wasteful spending.

[Silly Moustache]

Such things change with age.

Our grandchildren are now of an age when they no longer want the old folks to buy them "things" - Jane just stuffs a couple of £20 notes in a card for them.

I wanted to buy Nanny Jane a fluffy onesie but the shops have been stripped bare. She asked me what I wanted .....well nothing really in ant sensible budget.

I might buy her a little wooden ornament or some such for xmas day but as it is only to be us - it really isn't that big a deal any more.

We just took the gold watch that her father gave her for her 21st in for some serious work so I'll pay for that. Maybe she'll give me something for the new tuners for my 12 string. Not much in the way of "Christmas box" delights!

For many years my stepson and whichever wife he had at the time just bought me a bottle of whiskey. I don't expect that this year.

[amyFB]

When giving becomes a chore, the magic disappears.

Useless gifts - this is the marketing tail wagging the retail dog. Or I might say it is just about commercialism trying to run your heartstrings.

Over the years, I find a growing tendency to do my giving year-round; the gift occurs because something caught my attention as suited to someone I care for.

yours in tune and peace,
amyFB

[RedJoker]

This is kind of a downer of a thread but I get it. I'm getting married the day after Christmas and as both of us are older, we really don't need the typical "starting out" type wedding gifts. We started telling our families that we wanted no gifts but they told us they were getting us something anyway.

So we registered so we could reduce the useless gifts.

[Vognell]

I could honestly do without any gifts. I have everything I need (if someone wants to give me a GS-Mini Mahogany or Epiphone Les Paul Ultra III, I'd be willing to negotiate). At a certain point, you realize having more and more and more stuff is just a huge liability. I'm trying to get rid of crap I don't use and don't need, so I'd prefer not to receive any gifts, no matter how well-intentioned.

Better off to donate to someone who really needs essentials, such as food, clothing, shelter, or education.

[cotten]

I genuinely enjoy expressing love and appreciation, generosity and good will to my family, friends, teammates, coworkers and, yes, to complete strangers. I am excited when I feel like I've done that wisely, and disappointed when I realize that I've basically given a useless gift.

A homeless fellow came into my office a few minutes ago. I've come to know Jim fairly well over the past couple of years. My heart genuinely bleeds for him, and I sincerely wish I could help. But I've come to realize that if I handed him $10,000 cash today, by a week from today he'd need it again. Money is useless to him. No, worse than useless, because he uses it to harm himself and those around him. Our church folks have provided him food, clothing and shelter, even a couple of jobs. His personal habits have squandered those gifts. A local homeless shelter will no longer accept him, and neither will three of the low cost motels in which we sometimes shelter people in need. He's even been thrown out of a local soup kitchen, though I've talked them into welcoming him back, if he behaves.

Jim has been in and out of rehab programs and mental health facilities and jails (no major crimes). Today, I gave him a new, warm coat and some food, knowing full well that he'll sell the coat for a tenth of what it cost, in order to harm himself further. Though he needs that coat, I know that in his case, it was as useless a gift as someone's spending $70 to name a star after him.

Still, I cannot control him, I only have a shot at controlling me, and I want to be as loving and generous as I can be. I'll just try to be wise enough to give Jim and others gifts that they can actually use. (If you're the praying sort, would you please pray for "Jim?")

cotten

[RichM752]

One of these?

http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=84391

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by RedJoker

... I'm getting married the day after Christmas...

Well, congratulations on your upcoming wedding! That's pretty cool!

- Glenn