By Kelly Kasulis, News Correspondent
The holiday season: a merriment of lush greens, candles and tacky lights, chintzy paper snowflakes and, most fickle of all, gift-shopping. For many modestly-financed, brokering college students, the holiday season is not only a time of unusual things coming back into trend (hello, ugly Christmas sweaters and family board games) but a time to re-evaluate what it means to get someone a “good gift.” The average, poor college student living off of work study dollars has to reinvent that meaning to get someone a “not-sucky gift.” Here is your official guide:
Holiday Gifts to Avoid: For Your Friend
Picture Frames: If it’s the first one you’ve ever given your friend, then congratulations – you are officially “very thoughtful.” If it’s the second one, you’re pushing it – it’s a sign that you have lost creativity. Three or more picture frames in the course of a friendship may come off as a sign that either your friendship has lasted too long or it has gotten too weird. Although you’re not likely to lose a friend over it, be assured that they are not your mother or your significant other. They do not need a shrine of you in their house, nor confined to an even smaller space in their bedroom. Instead, slip a few photos of you two into the greeting card. This way, they can update their picture frames if they want, but the friendly sentiment doesn’t commandeer your opportunity to give a decent holiday gift.
Calendars: Riddled with “hot” males holding kittens or cheesy quotes you two have likely memorized from reruns of “Friends,” calendars tend to be too big of commitments. Here is a gift that will not only be with them every day of the next year, but it’s likely that the friend already uses Google Calendar, their iPhone or a planner book to take care of their scheduling needs. Plus, nothing says, “I love you, but you need to get better at time management” more than a cute watch, a similar gift that doesn’t ask as much of the receiver.
Socks: According to Joanne Li, a freshman business student from Edison, N.J., “Socks are the weirdest gift. There’s not really much thought put into it. I’ll buy my own socks, thank you.” The exception to this is, of course, nostalgia socks: the type of sock with zany patterns printed on them, like pieces of sushi or breakdancing dinosaurs, usually found at places like Urban Outfitters or Newbury Comics. For an extra level of caringness, make sure that the pattern somehow relates to one of your friend’s “special quirks.” Otherwise, it just looks like you got them really strange, possibly unwearable things to hide in their shoes.
Gum/Mints: Although many people think this is a tasty, inexpensive addition to any holiday “goodie bag” or smorgasbord of edibles, it will ultimately boil down to one question in your friend’s mind: “Does my breath stink?” Maybe your friend does have a bad case of halitosis, but if that’s part of your New Year’s resolutions or fix-list, it’s best to disguise this friendly assistance into an all-around survival care package. Tuck your gum and mints into a fashionable bag with band-aids, hand sanitizer, over-the-counter pain medicine, tissues and chapstick and you just said “I care about you” in more ways than one.
Cookie, Cake or Brownie Mix: Pinterest has long been trending “Cowgirl Cookies” and other fun DIY ideas where people can mix their own dry baking mixes into mason jars and top them with pretty bows and labels. But nothing says “fun” like having to bake those cookies yourself. Besides, unless you’ve found a way to include eggs, butter and oil to the mix with a lasting shelf-life, you’ve essentially just given your friend an incomplete gift.
Holiday Gifts to Avoid: For Your Significant Other
Makeup: There’s no easier way to say “I like you, just not the way you look” than with a palette of eyeshadow and some mascara. Unless your significant other explicitly requested makeup as a holiday gift, avoid it at all costs, even if you know that it’s something he or she likes. If your significant other does ask for makeup, still be wary; they may just be digging for an, “I like you just the way you are, honey.” Instead, spend some time sniffing out a good perfume or cologne–it’s a gift for you and your significant other to enjoy, and the high-strung status of brand name scents often make you seem like you are dropping top dollar on your special friend.
Too Many Gag Gifts: Even couples with the best sense of humor should avoid the sarcastic refrigerator magnets and the weirdly-shaped shot glasses if it’s the only thing they’ve got in their budget. Gag gifts as sole gifts are reserved for friends and hookups, not someone you are committed to. The holidays are the second most romantic time of the year, and it’s important that you show that you care beyond silly jokes.
Stuffed Animals: On Valentine’s Day, these cuddly companions are a natural part of holiday tradition. For the winter holidays, however, stuffed animals are exactly what they appear to be at every other time of the year–completely and utterly useless. Curtena Nguyen, a freshman liberal arts major, agrees. “You can’t really use them on a daily basis. It’s like stickers or a notepad. I have gotten some really terrible gifts,” she said.
Holiday Gifts to Avoid: For Your Boss
Sappy Greeting Cards: Greeting cards for bosses should be short, sweet and impersonal. Keep your rule of thumb to five words or less on the front. Nothing is more uncomfortable than having extravagant poetry about one’s significance as a role model or highly intimate, gushing holiday wishes poured all over a piece of cardstock given as a mere courtesy.
Clothing or Accessories: Not only is this wildly inappropriate, but it’s likely that you will get it wrong. Consider your boss no different than a distant relative, you know very little about them, and your relationship is somewhat inescapable. The only difference here is, your aunt has to pretend to like you for the rest of her life. Your boss does not.
Gift Cards: When it comes to your boss, you don’t want them to know how much money you’ve spent on them. Business is all about numbers, and you don’t want your gift to be easily compared to your wage, how much you care about your employment nor how much you are trying to sweeten them up. Money also feels slimy, like a bribe. Keep it casual, like a mug with hot chocolate or a box of holiday-edition Keurig cups.
