Lookout! A tangent.
Is this thing of giving gifts to teachers new? I grew up in a pretty low class neighborhood and it seems to me such a practice (beyond Christmas cards) was unheard of. Same with presents for the mailman, private instructors, etc.
As I've moved into upper middle class circles I see things much more often and I can't tell if it was always common in these circles or if I've just moved across income lines at the same time as new fads have come in.
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But I thought receiving gifts annoys you.
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It does, so I'd really prefer that if you're going to do it anyway, you at least look like you tried rather than just being an obligation of "oh, I have to get Alex something, I wonder if he ever goes to Home Towne Buffet, oh well, let's get him a gift card for it."
Cash was a perfectly acceptable "generic gift" when I was growing up (until she died a couple of years ago every Christmas card from my great-grandmother included a $5 bill) and I just don't see how forcing me to shop at a specific location is a gift of any greater value. A gift card is just giving me the gift of something I consider to be one of the biggest pains in the ass in the world (shopping).
About the only value I see in the material gift is that it potentially saved me from some time spent in a store.