Jackie McGregor: Hey big spender: NI shoppers top generous list – gift made me go ape!
“So, I forgot to send her daughter a card last year, I usually put some money in it, but I was ill last Christmas and didn’t send cards, and do you know what she had the cheek to do? She asked about it!” exclaimed the woman I was eavesdropping on in a supermarket queue.
“She pretended she was enquiring after my health. ‘I wondered if you were okay as you always send money in a card,’ she says. I rarely see her, I’m under no obligation to give her daughter anything, but because I sent it the last three years on the trot, it’s now an expected tradition,” she fumed.
“She’s got some nerve, I wouldn’t send anymore if I were you,” said her friend, indignant on her behalf.
“She turns 18 next year so that’ll be the end of it,” replied the grudging gifter with a firm nod of her head. It’s that time of year again when we think about buying Christmas gifts, it can be a costly business.
My son’s primary school years were when I spent the most on gifts. I feel for parents dealing with it now.
After buying for the teacher, classroom assistants and your child’s close friends, a parent will inevitably produce a gift you weren’t expecting, sending you rushing off hunting last minute tat to reciprocate.
This happened every year. Just when I thought I had covered everyone, someone would approach with an unexpected gift for junior. I’d accept graciously whilst meanly thinking, why are you giving me this, we’re purely on nodding terms and our children aren’t even friends?
Then there’s those people who, even though you agreed to not exchange gifts, they buy you one anyway, making you feel embarrassed and indebted.
Northern Irish shoppers are expected to spend the most on Christmas gifts in the UK, averaging £452.38 each, according to a recent MyVoucherCodes survey.
Generous gift-givers haven’t always been my experience. The worst Christmas gift I ever received was from a former boyfriend. He’d been dropping hints he wanted a leather jacket, which I bought him.
As I excitedly unwrapped my present, my expression turned to horror as my eyes drank in the monstrosity in my hands.
It was an excessively hairy, orangutan stuffed toy, sporting alarmingly large pink teats and holding a banana. Thankfully he didn’t utter the words, “I saw this and thought of you.” I later discovered he had won it in an arcade claw machine.
Yes, Christmas is costly, but it’s disappointing when your partner gives you a gift that lacks thought and is evidently the cheapest thing they could find.
Some friendly advice for gift-hunting men - most women prefer perfume to a primate.
I’ll leave you with a moment of reflection and the tale of the thrifty gift-hunter who approached a sales assistant in a department store. He wished to buy his partner some perfume and was shown a £70 fragrance.
“That’s a bit much,” he said. The assistant suggested a smaller £30 bottle.
“That’s still a lot of money,” he complained.
She then presented him with a tiny bottle costing £15. The man grew agitated and barked, “I’d like to see something really cheap,” - she handed him a mirror!