Well, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t keep the holiday season from coming back around again. So I’ve been forced to start thinking about what kind of gifts to buy. Which reminds me of just how bad I am at buying gifts. But, I’m pretty sure every guy is bad at buying gifts. Last year at around this time, I actually wrote an article about that very topic. Here it is:
Once, when I was in boot camp for the U.S. Navy, they put me in a locked room and released tear gas into it. I was stuck in there for over a minute, and it was excruciating. The pain was horrible. That experience, however, pales in comparison to the dread I feel when searching for a gift for my significant other. I have learned a few tips along the way, though, and I’ve managed to become at least an average gift-buyer.
A general rule of thumb is to not buy anything that adheres to the traditional gender roles employed by women. Even if your girl is the best cook in the entire world – and even though it is a well known fact that women are much better in the kitchen then men – try to stay away from kitchen equipment and cooking utensils. She wants to know that you put thought into her gift, and are not just validating her role as the caretaker in the relationship. Along those same lines, avoid cleaning tools. You may watch her as she toils to keep the house spotless, and you are certain that the newest handy-dandy broom apparatus will do wonders for her in getting her chores done, but don’t buy it. That is a guaranteed one-way ticket to the couch, and that’s if you’re lucky. Such a gift is like you telling her, “You’re a great maid, keep up the good work!” That is definitely not a good way to sweet talk your precious woman.
I do have a message for the ladies, though. Men, for the most part, are atrocious at buying gifts. A lot of times, we will buy things like cooking utensils or cleaning tools thinking that they will actually help you, and thinking that you will actually like them. We are not purposely trying to make you feel used or unappreciated, we just don’t think about the negative connotations of such gifts. So please keep that in mind as you are unwrapping your presents, and try to take it easy on us.
Men, when you are shopping for your girl, try to find a gift that is unique and that shows you appreciate her – not as the cooking, cleaning master that she is, but as the loving, caring woman that makes you a better man.
But, just to be safe, hide the knives before she opens it.
(Originally published by the author on Helium.com)
Craig Withers (the liberal)
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