On Meaningful Gifts

I think, for most people, one of the hardest things about having a significant other is worrying about what to buy them on occasions where gifts should be exchanged. But I’m sure everyone can agree the best part of the holidays is getting gifts and feeling loved. Talk about a paradox! Wouldn’t it just be ideal if we could fully read each other’s minds and give everyone exactly what they want while getting exactly what we want?

Unfortunately, the science of today hasn’t quite reached telekinesis levels. So, how do you figure out what the perfect gift for your SO is?

“I like something thoughtful more,” Corey Malone ’17 says, “Like, when someone remembers something you mention in passing and then gets it for you. It can be something as trivial as socks but it just shows that you care and you’re paying attention.”

The idea of a “thoughtful” gift can be somewhat complicated and varies based on different aspects of the relationship. For example, I have a friend who had been with her boyfriend for a long time and, thus, felt it was appropriate to spend a decent amount of money on his gift. He, in return, made her a scrapbook.

Although the scrapbook was cute and showed the progression of their relationship over the years, it just left my friend with a really bad taste in her mouth. It’s not like she is greedy or ungrateful, it just doesn’t feel great when you invest in a gift for someone and it’s simply not reciprocated. By the same token, a scrapbook or something else homemade would be a perfect gift for a newer relationship, where the two people do not know each other that well yet and have very few ideas about what exactly to buy them. From most of the people I spoke to there seems to be a general consensus that after being with the same person for a long time, it is expected that gifts should hold a little more meaning.