Knowing your audience 101

Christmas is a lot of things for many people.  For some a celebration of faith.  For some a celebration of family.  For others, it is a unique gift giving bonanza that has nothing to do with the value of the gift but better yet, the analysis of how well your gift giver knows you, the receiver.

Case in point.  As you may or may not know, I have a few specific interests that provide a wealth of excellent gift opportunities (backpacking, food, sports, etc).  However, I am also a mercenary of thrift shopping so if I find what I want at a price that is exceptionally soft, I will typically spare the rest of you the agony of paying full retail and I will just buy it for myself (Like how I just took the one thing that is really aggravating about me and made it a personal act of heroism for your benefit?   SO what does one purchase for the guy who may go out and purchase your home run of an idea for himself?  How about some of these:

Sleeve of Madagascarian (sp?) spices

 Or perhaps a few of these:

Schnapps (not the sugary kind)

 Or perhaps you go completely off the grid and go for something like this:  Everlast Heavy Bag Gloves

Nothing says Christmas like a small satchel of spices from Madagascar, Bitter Herb Schnapps from Sweden and some good old-fashioned whuppin’ mitts. 

Odds are, that 99% of you who might read this probably could not care less for any of these items but I LOVE them!  They are fascinating, challenging, aromatic and story-telling all at the same time.  And it shows that my loved ones have the pulse of who I am and what I would like…and that goes beyond just these few extreme examples.  For instance, I know I can expect coffee for Christmas.  The lack of surprise does not detract from it at all because it is always something that is nicer or more flavorful than anything I would get for myself (and shoving your face in a bag of pent-up coffee aroma is never a bad way to start your day either…see?  you just imagined it, didn’t you?  Invigorating).

Hooray, Brad!  Your friends/family/co-workers know you so well!  You are to be commended!!  (Now….what is your point, you self-absorbed literary midget?)

My point?  My point is that I am not as good at this excercise as the rest of you and I wonder why?  I typically form narratives in my head about the people for whom I will be getting a gift and and I puchase/knit/can/dehydrate the item or items that fit the narrative.  Ask my wife sometime about my marriage proposal.  In my head, it was a sweeping adventure leading to a fantastic tipping point.  In reality, with out all the imaginative cues and my personal vision (which can be difficult to create with the spoken word) it didn’t translate as dramatically to her (I still think it was awesome).  Am I too caught up in imagination to translate to reality?  That doesn’t sound like me.  Too out of touch with gift giving to be good at it?  Too focused on the rush of the season?  Maybe and maybe….maybe not.  Going to have to look into it. 

Hello newly discovered New Years Resolution!