Christmas Gifts 聖誕節的禮物

I am in the midst of fighting at the last minute to buy gifts 最後一分鐘 before Christmas. My wife has let me know, no live gifts this year. Some people just give up and give money, but I have always been a fighter. Or, some would say I am just plain stupid. I let you decide.

I have always tried to get gifts 意義性的禮物 that are interesting, represent something about myself and of course that the recipient would like. Given these complicated and conflicting goals, it is not surprising that I’ve had some spectacular failures 選錯了好幾次. Aside from mailing tropical fruit 後院摘的熱帶水果 from our yard that got smashed and jars of exotic honey that burst in mid-air, there have been some more concrete failures. The most memorable was a fish grill to someone whose taste in fish does not extend past the frozen fried fish sticks. Then, there is always the fear that someone will open up a present and say “uh, thank for the…uh….what is it?” 已經打開了禮物還是不曉得是什麼?

So, we come back full circle to these ease of giving money. That fits into the Chinese tradition of giving red packet 紅包, but I’ll save that for an upcoming holiday.