Soooo....

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by katiesue

Maddy's elementry room Mom's organized the teacher gift giving occasions. Usually you could donate any amount you'd like (or nothing) and they would in turn get gift cards with the proceeds to places they knew the teacher could use/enjoy. I always liked this as I felt I did something nice for them but it wasn't a silly gift they'd end up tossing anyway.

One would hope, but I've listened to the moms talking about whether we should get the teacher a gift certificate for a massage. Ick. While I always contribute when asked, I feel that the only gift that our teachers should get are 1) a card made and signed by all the students at the end of the year and 2) properly funded schools to get rid of this culture of teacher as charity case that has been fostered over the years.

Originally Posted by katiesue

I'd rather cash or a gift card then some gift I really don't like, want or need.

I guess, but only if it comes from somebody that doesn't really matter to me, in which case no gift would be fine. As with all the waste motion involving our schools, I have to wonder how much gas we're burning running around buying gift cards to trade with people who really don't mean that much to us.

And I would add the THE most annoying holiday shopping experience I've ever had was standing in line behind someone at Starbuck's who was buying about thirty gift cards for people in varying denominations with varying card styles. Mallet! Mallet! Mallet!

That said, I have been happy to receive gift cards that I would certainly use at times when giving a personal gift was appropriate.

[lindyhop]

Originally Posted by Alex

If a gift card can never expire, then a store that issues one is obligated to maintain the systems and databases necessary to redeem them in perpetuity. At least with expiring cards you know that XX months/years/etc. after cessation you can just forget about them. Because it really sucks when developing something new to be told "oh, we can't use that technology because those gift cards we issued for a year back in 1997 won't work with it."

In the case of my company the "systems and databases" happen to be me and an Excel worksheet. The whole system (not quite the word) makes me twitchy.

[katiesue]

I agree with the over the teachers thing. Teachers day turned into a whole week long celebration, their Birthday, Christmas, end of the school year. A little out of hand. Hello it's their JOB. And honestly compared so some other jobs the pay/benefits aren't that bad.

I'd love a thoughtful gift over cash or a card. But my family seems to be genetically challenged in thoughtful gift giving. In the last couple of years I've gotten cow socks, earrings with frogs on them, feetie pajamas. If they feel they must send something (and honestly nothing or just a card is fine) then cash or gift card might be better than any other random thing they pick out.

[BarTopDancer]

I love to get gift cards to stores that I love. I received a Sephora gc for my birthday. Much happiness ensued. Followed by an "I told you so" conversation between my two friends (it was a toss up between Macy's and Sephora).

I give gift cards to stores I know people love to shop at. Or will give them a gift card to a store where I know they want a specific item.

Cash is ok and I can be good about allocating it to something fun - but I know I am probably in the minority (I received cash from grandparents from a young age and had to save it or use it on something fun)

[Alex]

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.

But I thought receiving gifts annoys you.

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.

[lindyhop]

Last night at dinner my phone had no service. It literally said "no service" on the phone. But GD on one side of me and Cheeseman on the other both had service, both had Sprint, same as me. When I got home the phone still said no service so I turned it off and then back on. The message now said Phone Off. How could the phone be on but off? Turning it off and on a few more times didn't help. Instead of bars I had an alarming little x.

So I tried calling the cell from my landline phone but there was no dial tone on that phone. Now it was getting creepy. It was midnight, I was exhausted, and I was apparently cut off from the world. I did check to make sure I had internet access. If that was gone I was really going to panic.

This morning I managed to figure out the dial tone problem (the wire into the answering machine was a little loose) and then I headed to the Sprint Store in Downey because it's also a repair center. I told them my phone didn't think it was a phone any more. One of the employees was checking me in so one of the techs could look at the phone and she took the battery out to scan the bar code inside the phone. She put the battery back in and turned the phone back on and I could see the screen looked normal again and there was no "phone off" message.

Now I can get back to my vacation (Christmas shopping, house cleaning, and checking to make sure the stupid phones are working).

[katiesue]

Yes the over the top teacher gifts are new, as far as I can tell.

So I think then it depends on the person. A thoughtful gift for BTD would be a Sephora Gift card. A thoughtful gift for Alex would be a DVD possibly but definately not a gift card to a store, which would mean shopping, or hometown buffet (which is just gross anyway). All depends on the person.

I never get my Mom a gift card because she's always complaining that she forgot to use one blah blah. My cousin on the other hand who's having a really hard time right now financially, would much appreciate a Vons or Target card.

[Ponine]

Okay, so Lindy, did they say WHY it did this?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Ugh. Cookie/Holiday Sweets Glut '07 is in full force at work. And, as usual, the various cookies and cakes are put in the common area right near where I sit all day so I can pass it over and over and over.

[lindyhop]

Originally Posted by Ponine

Okay, so Lindy, did they say WHY it did this?

Of course not. My impression was that they'd never seen it before. My phone, going where communication devices have never gone before.