Sometimes, when we do for others, we forget the underlying meaning can look much different than we intend.
Here’s an example: The Viking is a twin. That’s not the example.
The twin is married to a chic who is, as I’m told, a fantastic baker. Not really shit for a cook, but has the baking thing to a science. Nearly to a recipe, if you will.
She also is a huge Disney fan, so that is a gift avenue all its own.
So, I’m doing that thing I do where I am just aimlessly looking at things I have no business buying, as I spend a great deal of time doing.
I scroll across these mini crock pots that are Pixar themed, and just adorable. I know from my time on Pinterest that mini crock pots are great for everything from mini meatloafs to individual sized lava cakes.
So I buy these tiny little cooking devices, they come in a box of three, and they are super cute. But, herein lies the problem:
I can’t give this woman these crock pots. Do you know what that says coming from me? “Hey, bitch, I don’t know you, but I hear your cooking is the fucking pits. Here’s a cookbook on what you can throw into these things to make it edible”.
Regardless of the fact that I’m not at all saying that, it certainly reads that way, now doesn’t it?
So, he is giving them to her. I can’t be a part of that, because coming from a strange woman, that is an insult. Coming from someone who is family to you, and is a part of the running joke behind it, it’s just a cute Christmas gift that you might be able to get some use out of.
I’ve been the recipient of a gift that says something, yet has an underlying inference that isn’t so great. Hell, I’ve been the recipient of several gifts of that nature.
So, in the spirit of giving one another gifts that don’t suck, and also don’t make us feel like shit about ourselves, let’s put a level of thought into what we buy for one another this season. Also, if it sounds better coming from your spouse, just let your spouse hand them the gift bag and back seat on this one.
Believe me, it makes a huge difference in the grand scheme of things.
Sometimes, we want things to sound a certain way, but we forget that our words carry a great deal of weight. Often we find it easier to just let our gifts speak for us.
Y’all, let’s be certain they’re saying what it is we want the recipient to be hearing.
I have had my share of dickhead gifts too. Really people, can it be so hard not to do that? Or am I the dick who sees offence in a lighted make-up mirror under the tree? The perfume that was his mother's favorite? How about the coupons for a gym membership or the lovely mumu with no tickets to Hawaii in the folds of the fabric? This is the nature of passive-aggression really, and why it can spoil a holiday. You spend your valuable mental energy wondering about shit you never wanted to think about. ROTF, peace and love.