Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to be a good gift recipient. By
Speaker 1: making yourself very easy to shop for, you can allow
Speaker 1: others to have fun giving you gifts and give them
Speaker 1: the gift of making this far less stressful. One of
Speaker 1: the upsides of adulthood is having your own money and
Speaker 1: being able to buy yourself what you want within reason.
Speaker 1: Of course, that jaguar or yacht might not happen, but
Speaker 1: if you want a sweater, or a juicemaker or a book,
Speaker 1: you generally buy it, and this is quite efficient. But
Speaker 1: when it comes to gift giving occasions, people can be stumped.
Speaker 1: If you wanted a sweater, a juicemaker, or a book,
Speaker 1: you would have already gotten it, so people tend to
Speaker 1: throw up their hands and funnel more money to Amazon
Speaker 1: in the form of gift cards, or you wind up
Speaker 1: with a sweater that the person feels stressed about. Saying oh,
Speaker 1: I don't need anything isn't helpful. Even if it is true,
Speaker 1: the social pressure to give gifts is strong, so it's
Speaker 1: actually nicest to let it be widely known that there
Speaker 1: is a certain category of things you always like. This
Speaker 1: makes it easy for people to know what to get
Speaker 1: you if you don't have one already. Consider starting a
Speaker 1: collection of something precisely for this purpose. In trusting bottle
Speaker 1: openers or corkscrews, old lighters, old boy scout paraphernalia, depictions
Speaker 1: of cellos, miniatures, tacky Christmas ornaments, vintage cookbooks. You want
Speaker 1: something that is specific but broadly available, then people will
Speaker 1: know they can always add to your collection. If you
Speaker 1: are not taken with the idea of collecting things, you
Speaker 1: could collect, I'm putting that in quote marks here. Things
Speaker 1: that are specific and consumable. Let people know that you
Speaker 1: are a connoisseur of hot sauces and you will get
Speaker 1: varieties from everywhere. Or you could become known for liking
Speaker 1: flavored vodkas or really smelly blue cheeses. Again, think broadly available,
Speaker 1: but distinct enough that there is no doubting what fits
Speaker 1: your interests. If you really don't want any stuff, then
Speaker 1: let your favorite experiences be known. Have a favorite restaurant,
Speaker 1: or be known for liking movies in theaters. That way
Speaker 1: people can give you gift certificates. You could also let
Speaker 1: people know about a cause you feel passionate about. If friends,
Speaker 1: family members, and colleagues know that anything related to dog
Speaker 1: rescue will warm your heart, then they can feel confident
Speaker 1: choosing to donate in your honor to animal welfare charities.
Speaker 1: They know that you will be happy about it. Now,
Speaker 1: I know, on some level this all seems inefficient. If
Speaker 1: you don't need anything and it is going to take
Speaker 1: the other person time and money to get you something,
Speaker 1: then why is anyone bothering? And if you can have
Speaker 1: an honest conversation with people in your life about not
Speaker 1: exchanging gifts, that is great. Many extended families decide to
Speaker 1: only do gifts for kids, which is certainly a good option,
Speaker 1: and offices might do a secret Santa type gift exchange
Speaker 1: to make sure people only buy one present, or a
Speaker 1: white elephant gift exchange so the gift doesn't have to
Speaker 1: be thoughtful. The whole point of a white elephant gift
Speaker 1: exchange is to not be thoughtful. But the more I
Speaker 1: read about the human brain, the more I see how
Speaker 1: deeply embedded the idea of reciprocal gift giving is. For
Speaker 1: the situations are the folks who aren't going to be
Speaker 1: able to help themselves. The nicest and least stress inducing
Speaker 1: thing you can do is be very easy to shop for.
Speaker 1: So as friends and family start asking you what you want,
Speaker 1: figure out something specific but broadly available that you can
Speaker 1: be known for liking. You will solve this dilemma of
Speaker 1: what to get you for years to come. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.
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