Points Mean Prizes
Dec. 10th, 2007 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kingandyIs it just me, or are people spending more and more on their loved ones at Christmastime?
I realise that I am not wise in the ways of Inflation and such arcane accounting devices, but when I was young I was told that I could not expect such things as an Amiga Computer or Mega Drive to arrive under the tree; I would have to save my own monies (something I never quite managed to do for the Amiga, in fact, though I did acquire a Mega Drive from somewhere at some point). And, further, had I been wealthy enough to purchase a TV of my own, I would most certainly not have been allowed to keep it in my room until I became a legal adult. Maybe my mum was overly harsh, but it seems insane to me that nowadays people who are substantially less well-off than we were not only buy their children TVs and X-Box 360s but do it specifically to place in their room so they can stay the hell out of the way. Parents peer in the window of Dixons and pick iPods for their children based not on budget or product spec but rather on which case is most suited to their modern lifestyle. And you can bet those won't be their only present, either. People actually get themselves heavily into debt for these extravagant gestures and to my mind it does the child more harm than good, distorting their perceptions of value and money and encouraging the acquisition culture.
I have similar opinions on the subject of gifts for partners, though it is less Kids Today, They Do Not Know They Are Born and more of a sort of faint surprise. I see people stretching their pockets as far as they will go - and further - to buy flashy gadgetry for their other halves, to shower them with stuffed animals and trinkets, and I am bemused. I just don't get it. I am constantly reminded of the friend who, out of some deep-seated urge to demonstrate his love through cash money, spent a fortune on a Christmas scanner, only to find his beloved vastly more entertained by a small wooden turtle and a plastic squid.
Perhaps that makes me a bad partner. Potential suitors beware! I will not buy you the world.
I realise that I am not wise in the ways of Inflation and such arcane accounting devices, but when I was young I was told that I could not expect such things as an Amiga Computer or Mega Drive to arrive under the tree; I would have to save my own monies (something I never quite managed to do for the Amiga, in fact, though I did acquire a Mega Drive from somewhere at some point). And, further, had I been wealthy enough to purchase a TV of my own, I would most certainly not have been allowed to keep it in my room until I became a legal adult. Maybe my mum was overly harsh, but it seems insane to me that nowadays people who are substantially less well-off than we were not only buy their children TVs and X-Box 360s but do it specifically to place in their room so they can stay the hell out of the way. Parents peer in the window of Dixons and pick iPods for their children based not on budget or product spec but rather on which case is most suited to their modern lifestyle. And you can bet those won't be their only present, either. People actually get themselves heavily into debt for these extravagant gestures and to my mind it does the child more harm than good, distorting their perceptions of value and money and encouraging the acquisition culture.
I have similar opinions on the subject of gifts for partners, though it is less Kids Today, They Do Not Know They Are Born and more of a sort of faint surprise. I see people stretching their pockets as far as they will go - and further - to buy flashy gadgetry for their other halves, to shower them with stuffed animals and trinkets, and I am bemused. I just don't get it. I am constantly reminded of the friend who, out of some deep-seated urge to demonstrate his love through cash money, spent a fortune on a Christmas scanner, only to find his beloved vastly more entertained by a small wooden turtle and a plastic squid.
Perhaps that makes me a bad partner. Potential suitors beware! I will not buy you the world.
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-11 01:39 pm (UTC)I did get an Amiga computer.
But it was a combined birthday and christmas present. And arrived in June. And was also used by my parents till it became clear they hadn't a clue how to use it. And came from one of their 'contacts', so probably came at wholesale price.
But that's the way of things with my parents. In some ways they ruined me from a consumer soceity point of view. Every single purchase has to be justified, and once done so is bought regardless of price.
Makes me awful to buy for - if I want it I've got it. There's plenty of things I in theory could do with, but they're not neccessary hence I don't want them.
Also makes it damn difficult to buy for other people 'why on earth would they want that?'. I just default to 'if you want something, tell me what it is. Otherwise you'll get something between nowt and a box of chocolates/biscuits'. Though I default to books nowadays.
Despite this, my parents or at least my mother, are quite big on the whole 'Xmas is a family time. You should be showing you care'. Fine, I mail them an orange in a sock.
This Friday is slated for my 'get your family some tat' day. With luck I can be in and out within an hour, and the whole wretched procedure is put behind me for another year.