Ask Emma

Question: My friend gave me a Christmas present which I recognized as the one that I gave her last year. I am so tempted to give it back to her for the New Year’s to teach her a lesson! I know a lot of people who regularly regift, but I never do that. This time, however, the situation begs for it, don’t you think?
Answer: Unless you stop the insanity right now, it threatens to become an endless tug-of-war of needless gifting and regifting. And by needless I mean not only your intent and your friend’s behavior that triggered it, but the value of the gift itself. Would she be willing to regift something meaningful? Most of the time, those thoughtless, heartless, and generic gifts end up either collecting dust in a garage, or being given to yet another unsuspecting friend. Perhaps, in a sea of unwanted presents your friend received, she could not distinguish between the one you gave her and all the others. She just picked it up and gave it to you not remembering that it came from you. The best thing to do would be to give your friends something you will be remembered by, but it takes time and research. The easy way out is to give something disposable, like a box of chocolates or tickets to a show. At least, there is a hope it will be consumed or used, and not stored for a whole year until the next gift-giving occasion.