I can't change my past. I can influence the future. But for that, I need to be able to choose a freaking present!
I first heard this sweet little rhyme from my dad:
The past is history
The future's a mystery
Today is a gift
That's why it's called the present
But no, this post isn't about poetry or tenses. I have a serious problem. (Well, what's new, eh?)
It's that time of the year again. I don't celebrate Christmas (or even New Year's for that matter) but the Ghost of Christmas Gifts seems to have possessed me.
As is common knowledge, I can count the number of close girl friends I have on one hand. (3 fingers, to be precise.) So obviously, the 100 odd (and I use this word oh-so-lightly here) remaining friends are all guys. (Go ahead, i'll say it with you. Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!) I don't have the fortune (or misfortune) of having any eunuchs as friends. Unless, of course, he\she (no pun intended) is doing a good job of hiding it; which, by the way, IS how I know all my friends - with their clothes on. Where WAS I again??!
Yes. Gifts. It is SO hard to find a reasonably priced gift that a man will truly appreciate. If you're buying for your lover (or the married man whose mistress you are), you can just buy yourself some sexy lingerie and it substitutes as a gift for the both of you. But to shop for a gift for other men??? Diffi.. nay.. impossible!
Don't get me wrong. I don't think guys are fussy about what they're gifted. I think most guys are glad about the fact that at least some girl, other than their mom, thinks they're worth spending some money on. But you can't get a guy something he really wants and likes without burning a hole in your pocket.
Once again, I'm not saying that guys are hard to please. In fact, it's our gender that has that reputation. I don't know how true that is either. I'm rather very very easy to please EXCEPT if I have sufficient evidence to believe that the 'gifter' concerned is loaded. (And by sufficient evidence, I mean my gut telling me, "He looks like a rich guy!") That's when I believe "sentimental and thoughtful" just don't cut it. But serious rich-guy talk aside, I'm 22 and I still love receiving soft toys as gifts. Same goes for artificial jewelry (some of which, I must admit, look better than the real stuff), cute looking stationery, cartoon merchandise or even hand-made cards, most of which can be bought under 20 bucks. Add another 20 bucks to it, and you've got yourself a whole year's supply of gifts for me. And I'll be thinking the world of you all year round. Marvelous, right? Thanks to Hallmark and Carlton and the female sex being the mushy type, most guys have it pretty easy.
However, is there anything you can get a guy for 20 bucks, or even 40, that he will want or even like? I don't mean to say that guys are ungrateful for the gifts we do get them, nor will they ask for the receipt to exchange it at the store; they just smile, say thanks, and put it away in a box somewhere till the next men-only garage sale. (I'm so sure they have these!) But there are just no I'm-on-a-student-budget gifts available to give guys.
I can gift books to my few book-reader type friends. But what about the rest? Guys like cars ('all the way to Mars and back' way over budget), gadgets and other technical gizmo (too complicated for me to understand and pricey too; plus if he wanted something, he'd probably already gotten it anyway), and girls. (I refuse to start playing pimpstress. It's just Christmas, not a winning Powerball ticket, for Christ's sake!)
So guys, please tell me, what exactly do guys appreciate as gifts, that doesn't cost me my kidney and won't end up in the designated men-only garage sale cardboard boxes? (In spite of how this entire post may sound, this is a genuine cry for help, "Help!"
The past is history
The future's a mystery
Today is a gift
That's why it's called the present
But no, this post isn't about poetry or tenses. I have a serious problem. (Well, what's new, eh?)
It's that time of the year again. I don't celebrate Christmas (or even New Year's for that matter) but the Ghost of Christmas Gifts seems to have possessed me.
As is common knowledge, I can count the number of close girl friends I have on one hand. (3 fingers, to be precise.) So obviously, the 100 odd (and I use this word oh-so-lightly here) remaining friends are all guys. (Go ahead, i'll say it with you. Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!) I don't have the fortune (or misfortune) of having any eunuchs as friends. Unless, of course, he\she (no pun intended) is doing a good job of hiding it; which, by the way, IS how I know all my friends - with their clothes on. Where WAS I again??!
Yes. Gifts. It is SO hard to find a reasonably priced gift that a man will truly appreciate. If you're buying for your lover (or the married man whose mistress you are), you can just buy yourself some sexy lingerie and it substitutes as a gift for the both of you. But to shop for a gift for other men??? Diffi.. nay.. impossible!
Don't get me wrong. I don't think guys are fussy about what they're gifted. I think most guys are glad about the fact that at least some girl, other than their mom, thinks they're worth spending some money on. But you can't get a guy something he really wants and likes without burning a hole in your pocket.
Once again, I'm not saying that guys are hard to please. In fact, it's our gender that has that reputation. I don't know how true that is either. I'm rather very very easy to please EXCEPT if I have sufficient evidence to believe that the 'gifter' concerned is loaded. (And by sufficient evidence, I mean my gut telling me, "He looks like a rich guy!") That's when I believe "sentimental and thoughtful" just don't cut it. But serious rich-guy talk aside, I'm 22 and I still love receiving soft toys as gifts. Same goes for artificial jewelry (some of which, I must admit, look better than the real stuff), cute looking stationery, cartoon merchandise or even hand-made cards, most of which can be bought under 20 bucks. Add another 20 bucks to it, and you've got yourself a whole year's supply of gifts for me. And I'll be thinking the world of you all year round. Marvelous, right? Thanks to Hallmark and Carlton and the female sex being the mushy type, most guys have it pretty easy.
However, is there anything you can get a guy for 20 bucks, or even 40, that he will want or even like? I don't mean to say that guys are ungrateful for the gifts we do get them, nor will they ask for the receipt to exchange it at the store; they just smile, say thanks, and put it away in a box somewhere till the next men-only garage sale. (I'm so sure they have these!) But there are just no I'm-on-a-student-budget gifts available to give guys.
I can gift books to my few book-reader type friends. But what about the rest? Guys like cars ('all the way to Mars and back' way over budget), gadgets and other technical gizmo (too complicated for me to understand and pricey too; plus if he wanted something, he'd probably already gotten it anyway), and girls. (I refuse to start playing pimpstress. It's just Christmas, not a winning Powerball ticket, for Christ's sake!)
So guys, please tell me, what exactly do guys appreciate as gifts, that doesn't cost me my kidney and won't end up in the designated men-only garage sale cardboard boxes? (In spite of how this entire post may sound, this is a genuine cry for help, "Help!"
reviewed by LovingAndLosing @ 11:10 PM
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