thought of the day 2009 12 25 - Gift Cards

So I had to spend time in the mall over the weekend and now I realize why I hate gift cards so much. The idea of a gift card is fine. "I don't really know the best thing to get you, but I value you in my life...with $25 at the Gap."

But the actual giving of a gift card is pure evil. When you give someone a gift card, you're basically sending them on an errand. And more than that, you're typically sending them to the mall to run that errand. That bastion of crowds and consumerism, where you have to dodge little kids on trains and tourists while getting lost and trying to remember if you passed the Radio Shack or the Orange Julius when you were coming from the parking lot.

Gift cards are pure evil. Just don't do it.