Tue 12 Dec 2006
I got to catch up with a close friend yesterday on the phone. She was tossing around holiday gift ideas for her boyfriend. And then she said, “I gotta be careful what I say I want these days!” Because the last time she carelessly said that she wanted something she saw on TV, and it was close to Christmas, she ended up with a Showtime Rotisserie Grill from her then-boyfriend. I remember getting the phone call from her; she was sooo upset that it was laughable. “I have never ever gotten an appliance from a boyfriend for a Christmas gift before!” she’d complained. And the poor guy had been so proud of his gift, hinting that it was something she’d expressed that she’d really, really wanted. Recently, she happened to have caught an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond in which Ray gave his wife Deborah a crock pot for Christmas, and to top it off and make it even better, he bought her a set of pots and pans. Deborah was beyond offended. Seeing that episode did not allay her fears.
This year, she’s afraid she may have “accidentally” over-expressed her desire for a Chia Pet Herb Garden. It’s something she’d likely buy for herself if she decides she wants to cook more, but definitely something she does not want to unwrap Christmas morning. “I hope he forgot I made that comment, it was months ago,” she said yesterday. The conversation moved to bathrobes, and she mentioned she saw some really nice ones at Old Navy (?) recently when she was out shopping with her boyfriend. Then she paused. “Oh crap, I said I really liked the bathrobe and that I needed a new one, I hope he doesn’t buy me a bathrobe for Christmas!!” Hahaha!
I’m actually okay getting an appliance from a boyfriend, provided it’s something I have really been wanting. My judge got me a hand-held vacuum cleaner for my birthday a few years ago, and the staff pooled together and got me a scanner. Some other time I got a Tanita body fat scale. I was delighted every time. But then those aren’t my boyfriends. Hmm. I’ve never gotten an appliance from a boyfriend, either.
Normally, Chance and I don’t get each other gifts; however, this year CHance want to do a small gift exchange. I started to freak out because everywhere we go I point cool stuff out like I always do and now I am thinking he might be thinking I am hint dropping and I am not. I have to be careful from now until X-mas. Damm these holidays!
However, I just remember him hint dropping BIG TIME for these camouflage pants and darn I already bought his gift. It’s coming from Hong Kong, so maybe I will buy the pants just in case it doesn’t arrive in time.
You buy such exotic things, like the silk top from China for his bday last year.
Welcome to the world of internet shopping. I don’t realize it is being shipped from out of the country until I see the invoice or I get charged an international exchange fee from by bank. I wonder how the bank figures that out. They charged me 43 cents. Must be a percentage.
Usually, when the website gives me a price in yen or pounds, that’s my first clue. 🙂
They actually charge me in US$. Maybe it’s a US company that has their manufactor out of the country for cost reason.
today is supposed to be the biggest internet shopping day. coincidentally, I’m internet shopping.
B got me snow pants and gloves last year for Christmas. But… mostly because HE wanted me to go. Sigh. He says this year I’ll REALLY like my gift but I’m kind of scared. hahaha. Since I’m so broke we implemented a $25 maximum. I wonder if he’ll follow it. …yeah, he probably will.
Oh! I meant go [snowboarding with him].
Jordan – whatcha getting me? j/k
PL – he wanted you to go where? I’d always wanted to do a cabin in the snow thing, but that has yet to happen. So what’d you get B for xmas?
I’m currently one of the three frolicking on your land.
And I’m frolicking with you in emails too.. let’s see if I can get you on IM and on the phone too….
I’d have all communications relative to Cindy if I were in the court room while doing this.
Diana emailed me from her Blackberry in the JURY BOX while on jury duty!!
in my defense, i wasn’t being questioned at the time, and i was using my BB discreetly.
It’s a good thing the judge didn’t do to you what teachers used to do, which is make you read the note out loud.
Ok, I’m about to get a flurry of responses, but what’s wrong with getting an appliance as a xmas present? I desperately need a new blender and toaster oven.
it is not so much “wrong” to get/give an appliance – it is just too practical, for what most people consider a “special” time of the year. of course it’s nice getting things that you actually need, but i feel that the holidays/birthdays are times for you to get something that you fancy but maybe feel like it’s impractical to have. because we all deserve to get things that we otherwise may not get for ourselves. 🙂
also, sometimes, in a moment of impulse, we see things on a late-night info-mercial, that we think maybe “cool” and are what we want, i.e., a vertical rotisserie. but that moment fleets quickly, and all we are left with, is a vertical rotisserie that’s stashed in some corner and never used.
Like Diana said, there’s nothing “wrong” with buying/receiving an appliance, it really depends on the relationship between the recipient and the giver. From a person you’re emotionally involved with, most women would prefer a gift that’s more thoughtful and personal, something special. Something that shows he knows us. Most guys, however, don’t really put as much weight on the gifts he receives, so as long as he likes it, it’s fine. I’d be comfortable getting a guy an appliance if it’s something he really wants/needs, but if I were dating a girl (who isn’t “butch”), I’d get her, like, jewelry. Maybe lingerie.
Take the example of the TV show…for Ray to get his wife Deborah a crockpot and pots and pans, she takes it as, “All I am to you is someone who cooks for you so you get me something to further enslave me in the kitchen.” We all know this isn’t a guy’s intent, but that’s how some women take it.
TurboTiger: Nothing wrong with getting appliances, but I am a different breed of a lady. I am not butch by any means but I am more practical and look at Christmas and Birthdays for opportunities to get those things I really need but won’t splurge on myself.
Vanessa, you’re kinda like me in that you’re more into the symbolic and sentimental value of a gift rather than its monetary value. I’m sure I told you the story of the gift I got from some guy who treated me like a gold-digger.
I’m sure you did, but tell me again.
i LOVE the silver-toned angle with the inscription cindy got me earlier in the year. it’s in my car and i see it every day.
If I really wanted the appliance, I wouldn’t mind getting it for Christmas. If I’m going to get anything, I just want it to be something I’d like or want.. don’t waste your money if it’s just going to collect dust. So hopefully the person knows me well enough that they would get something I wanted. My ex mother in law used to buy me clothes that she thought was nice .. but then again she was in her 60s. I never wore them (is that bad?).. and when I moved out, I left them in the master bedroom closet. Later my ex told me that he couldn’t bare to go in the closet to see my things so his mom did it for him and she found all the stuff she bought (most with tags still on it). That’s horrible. I feel bad. If I had known SHE was going to be the one to remove the things from the closet I would have donated them before I moved.
I have no idea why I got on this anyway…
I just like to type sometimes.
Diana means angel. I didn’t get her an angle. Or a fishing rod. Haha. I remember when she first opened it, she looked at me all weird and said, “You got me a religious ornament?” I said, “No, no, read the inscription on the angel! It’s the Serenity Prayer!” which, incidentally, is one of Diana’s favorite quotable quotes that she always had trouble recalling correctly. Now that she’s hung it in her car, she said her driving conditions have been a lot smoother. Except for the recent expert witness she had in her car whose head took out her rear view mirror.
Vanessa – I’ll tell you about it via phone or something; it’s too long and horrible to type out.
Jordan – ouch. Well, it’s okay, we like to see you type. You reminded me I really really need to clean out my closets.
My ex’s Mom once gave me an 80’s pink sweater with sequence on it and with a matching scarf. I hated it, but my Mom loved it so I gave to her.
oh yeah, i meant angel! that was weird, i didn’t even notice it. i had initially typed “ankle” and corrected it to “angle.” that would have been funny, if i made everyone think that cindy got me an ankle and now it’s hanging in my car.
but my mechanic fixed my rear view mirror for free, since i had all these other services done. but still, he was nice about, he definitely didn’t have to throw it in.
diana – HAHA! ANKLE!! What are you, a Soprano?