h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm starting to enjoy this Christmas feeling now. The office Christmas party is on today, and a long lunch is in the offing, which is always a good thing. The weather is beautiful: mild, sunny, clear and calm. The only difficulty today will be resisting the temptation to indulge in alcoholic drinks at lunchtime - which never serves the afternoon gym session too well...

Christmas shopping is the usual mess: I can't think of anything to get for anyone, and I'm almost certain that nobody has any special requests, anyway. Finding time to take care of it is also difficult - making enough money to live on while everybody is on holiday is more of a priority, I'm afraid. I realise that this sounds mercenary, but I don't really think that it is.

The "peace on Earth, goodwill to all men" part of Christmas I really quite like though, and the carols are fantastic. For once you have an opportunity to smile at people without them necessarily questioning your sanity...! It's warm, the sun shines, people laugh easily, children are excited, Mums and Dads feeling virtuous and predisposed to being nice to each other and to other people: what could not be good about this?

The fact that work's server, in spite of all trials, is still working, too, is a comfort. I hope that this situation maintains its currency over the holiday period...

I can't help thinking that Christmas would be a very good idea if anybody knew what anybody else wanted, and when that does happen, it's wonderful... but searching for the right gift to deliver the loving personal message "Look—I got you a gift!" always gets to me a bit.

I read a really interesting essay in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday ( http://www.smh.com.au/ ) by a fellow named Ross Gittins, about how gift-giving is one of the most economically irrational (and unrationalisable) activities that participants in modern economies actually do. As he points out, it would make much more sense, and provide everybody with a lot more satisfaction ("utility", in that wonderful econ-speak) if we just gave each other money instead.

No matter how irrational it is, though, it is fun when you manage to nail the right gift for the right person!

I agree that the "loving personal message" is a bit pointless, and I suspect that sometimes it's done more out of habit than anything else. I like giving gifts, though, for the way it makes me feel to give something to somebody else which they like...

I love giving present, but I hate finding them. Usually when I'm looking for a gift, I want it to be perfect and something they really want, but I have a lot of difficulty finding this. That's why I only just finished my christmas shopping yesterday, and I'm still not happy with one of the presents I got.

And the thing is, the person would probably like anything I gave them just the same as anything else.

As for "loving personal messages"-- I have none. I'll just give them the present, and be done with it.

Oh, I love giving gifts. It's the exchange of meaningless gifts that I don't like. Like when you get presents in the mail from people who haven't seen you in eight years and it's, like, fuzzy slippers, or a nice wool scarf, even though you live in Florida.

That's the bit of the season that seems all wrong.

But gifts are lovely things to give.

Does "...when you get presents in the mail from people who haven't seen you in eight years" happen to you all that often...?

I don't think that's ever happened to me. It sounds like the sort of thing for which there is some sub-text, though, some unspoken guilt-relieving mechanism - particularly if such things come from family! Then it's not really a gift to make either of you feel good, but to make the giver feel better...!

That sort of seasonal affliction doesn't seem to have struck us much, here - but there's always time, I suppose.

Of course, if such gifts come from acquaintances you haven't seen in a while, depending on how good the present is they may be indicating that they want to see you again as soon as possible. This may not be a bad thing, in some cases...

Hmm. No, always family.

Though I haven't gotten one in a few years, they used to come from my father's family, whom I last saw when I was maybe three or four.

So you're quite right, there.