Christmas time has long ago stopped being a season to be merry as old Christmas carol goes. It has become a season of giving gifts to our business partners, colleagues, friends and dearest. This gesture is well-meant: amidst the general goodwill we want to thank them for all they had to put up with throughout the year and strengthen our good cooperation. But if we are honest with ourselves, a lot of these gifts we receive are actually unwanted and yet, our good manners oblige us to pretend otherwise.
Ornaments such as a pair of half-size martini glasses, holding unpleasantly perfumed gel candles, embellished with a decorative vine is an example of a gift nobody could really find the right use. And gift shops are full of items of that could be described as gaudy. But gift giving is a social transaction and not an exchange of useful items, as some authors pointed out. Moving on to corporate gift giving, choosing an appropriate gift for someone you do not know can indeed be a bit risky so opting for a gift voucher might put us on a safe side. This can at the same time be seen as a bribe because it is so close to money and can result in awkward situations.
However, giving vouchers for theatre plays a lot of people might find useful. Spa gifts and wellness treatments would probably fit the same category. Recent years have seen gourmet food products in the form of quality wine, delicious chocolate or home-made jams, olive oil and the like increasingly popular in Croatia. In the UK charity gifts are becoming more and more popular. The idea behind that is to purchase charitable gifts on behalf of the gift’s recipient. These charitable gifts include wells, goats, football tournaments or teacher training for African communities that need them.
