group1.Christmas and New Year are just a few weeks away and it’s the time of year again when people shop around for gifts that are intended to make others happy. Late last month, a friend of mine asked for my postal address he wanted to send me a greeting card. First off, I was surprised to see that a men in his 50s had such a sentiment for sending New Year cards, and moreover doing it so much in a advance.
In this digital age where he could send best wishes online in just a few clicks, he still prefers the traditional way of using stamps and the service of the Thai post office in delivering happiness.
group2.But he has a good reason to do so. The cards he is about to send were created by disabled artists and his buys of those cards means he is also helping people with disabilities. Upon learning that, I suddenly understood his enthusiasm for this once-a-year activity in sending out the charitable cards.
But despite such a buying-for-a-good-cause idea, Christmas and New Year have still become very commercialized, which encourages big spending on presents, particularly at department stores and gift fairs.
Group3.Myriads of potential gifts are available and people are willing to spend hours hunting for one they believe their recipients will be happy to receive once the gift box is unwrapped. But is this always what actually happens?
The authors of Scroogenmics demonstrate a different scenario when presents are unwrapped. They say recipients may not be so merry about getting something that is not on their wishlist. Worse , they have to pretend to like it. Sometimes, I myself fall into this awkward situation, having to pretend how much I appreciate getting a scarf, when not even a Hermes one can give me a thrill. Still , I have to beam away and utter wow to give happy.
The scarf then become a new never-to-be-worn piece in my cluttered wardrobe.
Scroogenomists went on to note how gifts can be useful to some people and useless to others; the latter is economic waste.
The theory was coined by Joel Waldfogel, a professor at University of Pennsylvannsylvania’s Whaton business school.
Six years ago, the economist penned Scroogenomics, outlining the pointlessness of Christmas giving and describing the holiday season as an orgy of wastefulness.
The economic waste is not only wallet-flattening but time-and effort –consuming in finding presents beyond mundane coffee mugs, cotton towels and toilertries that are beautifully wrapped as enticing gift sets.
The choice made by the giver, which often fails to please the recipient, who might also undervalue the present, is another concern for the Scroogenomists.
It’s the thought that counts, not the price of the present. But when people deem themselves a generous Santa Claus, they may go over their budget in buying gigts.
In fact, after all, the true spirit of the holiday season is giving, rather than complying to convention. It is then that to the joy of giving with emotional value will truly be appreciated by the recipient.
I used to be, but no longer am, victim of Christmas consumerism, nor am I waiting for any Santa Claus to bring me gifts since my room is already cluttered with unused stuff, some of them New Year gifts from last year.
And I am not thinking of buying cards to exchange with friends either—guess I’m a Scrooge myself.
But in the end I began to fully understand the friend who bought the charitable greeting cards. It reminds me of the true spirit of giving, where a good cause should benefit any time of year.