gift obsessions

With Flag Day fast approaching (6 days!), the subject of gifts has come up repeatedly. I already know not to expect anything from Craig. Something about a $600 plane ticket...
My dad is very reliable at sending me a check* for $25. I will get a little trinket from my mom in about 2 years, along with any other bday or xmas presents that have accumulated over time. My sister is very good at sending a card, sometimes with a Target gifcert. Craig's family (parents, grandparents, aunts, sister) usually send me a card and a little something too.

So I've come to expect these things like I'm a little kid. Sure, nobody ever buys me a new bike, but nobody ever did anyway. When I get cash, I make a point to go actually buy something fun with it, instead of just depositing it to pay bills. I do prefer cash though, just because there is a universal belief that if you like something, you must be obsessed with it and so anything everyone buys you must have to do with it.

For example: At one point I liked dolphins. I still like them, but as much as I like anything else. However, my mom is still buying me dolphin trinkets, 15 years later. Seriously, I've gotten over it. Same thing happened when I got my faerie tattoo. Suddenly I was hit with a barrage of faerie-themed stuff.

A friend of mine recently surprised me with some beads for my bday. She was going to find cats or penguins, but she liked the multi-colored dots better because they screamed des. I'm glad that she didn't get me the animal beads, because a) there's not much I can do with them, and b) it would just reinforce to the world that I am obsessed with these things.** I do like the dots, as they are much more fun.

So even though I'm a grownup (am I?) I still expect gifts. I think it's terribly selfish of me, but I do reciprocate. After all, motto #5 says that birthdays are truly special days and nobody should have to pay for anything on their bday. So I always make sure to take a friend out to dinner at the very least. Usually I get them a little something too. If I can't find anything that absolutely screams to be had (I do pride myself on my gift-giving skillz) I get them something silly. This is always a good option for anyone, and it explains why I have a magnetic Dress-up Elvis on my refrigerator. If your friend doesn't appreciate silly gifts, then they don't deserve to be your friend anyway.




*When he worked at Sears, he was always sending me Sears gifcerts. Until I told him to stop because I had absolutely no use for them.

** The people at work are sure I'm a "cat person" because, yes, I own one cat. I would own a dog too if I had room and time for it. But that doesn't register with them. So they're always forwarding me crap that has some computer-altered cat picture saying "I thought you would like this!" and they're always wrong.