As exciting as Christmas can be (it’s one of my favorite holidays of the year), it’s also my most stressful. It’s my fault, though; we have all year to find gifts for people, friends and family who we spend a lot of time with. When I go shopping with my friends or hang out with my sisters there is always some item that’s brought up: “I want...” And it’s those moments I wish I could go back in time and remember what they were trying to say because once I hit the stores, everything is overwhelming. It’s not always easy to just pick something and wrap it up as a gift for a dear friend. As I get older, the impulse to count the boxes with my name under the tree becomes less and less important. I like to pride myself on being a thoughtful gift-giver. It’s always a good feeling when you see someone light up when they open your present — the one you save for last so that it triumphs over all the other ones.
But gift giving can be a little more complicated than simply buying something nice for somebody. One of the first things on my checklist when picking a gift is to consider what they have gotten me in the past because I’ll have to buy something of equal value. It seems fair that the friend who bought me the expensive sweater I wanted for a whole year should get the same care in her next present, as opposed to the one who buys everyone random miniature bath and lotion sets that comes in a generic flowery scent.
It seems very shallow, but sometimes we unconsciously characterize our friendships based on the value of the material gifts we receive from people. Generally speaking, the more we know about someone, the more we want to spend on them. But with expensive gifts also emerges a complex relationship. Gift giving should never be obligatory, but it starts feeling that way. Once when a friend got me a luxury birthday present, I freaked out — mainly because I didn’t know how I was ever going to get her something that nice. She did it out of a good intention and she didn’t expect me to get her anything extravagant in return, but I certainly felt the need to do so.
It’s always harder to pick out a gift when the price tag must be higher because we wonder whether the money would be better spent on somebody else. College students are working around a very limited budget and it’s hard to pick something really nice for our significant other, best friends and siblings. You want to save enough money to get a great gift for your best friend but at the same time, you don’t want to compromise the number of people you can get presents for and there isn’t always room in the budget for both.
When I decide to participate in exchanging gifts, it can be stressful to find something really meaningful because not all of my feelings can really be translated into material items — whether they are expensive or not. I love to give gifts solely for the purpose of Christmas, to celebrate the holidays and the idea of giving. The atmosphere of the holidays definitely makes presents more meaningful than if we were to just give our friend a sweet surprise on some random day.
Gift giving is unavoidable during the holidays. Nowadays, people shop the whole week before Christmas, have a special day with their families and then rush out the door the next day to the nearest mall for all of the season’s markdowns. Even now, Black Friday was just a week ago and yet the majority of the population is waiting for more sales. But even with all the complications, the materialism and the obligations, I think we should embrace the Christmas tradition of giving gifts. It’s a time to spoil the people you really care about, even if your wallet becomes empty in the process.
By CINDY VU Columnist