This morning I was watching the news and the subject of 'gift registries'/'wishlist' was being covered. It is the Holiday Season, but who knew there would be such polarized opinions about wishlist. There are people that like having wishlist, like myself, who believe there is nothing wrong with letting people know what gifts you might be hoping for. There are also those who seems to like the convenience of being able to see what someone would prefer. On the other side of things there are people that don't want to have a wishlist because they want people to put thought into the gift. And there are people who believe that people who have wishlist are being arrogantly expectant. But who's right?
I myself think that a wishlist/registry should be vast in the amount of items it contains, and diverse with concern for price ranging from the ridiculously expensive to the humbly affordable. I believe my system allows the shopper a true option to be thoughtful. I'm not saying that a big wishlist is being expectant, but rather shines a light on ones interest and in that way a shopper could decide on their own if they want to purchase a wishlist item or come up with something on their own based off of the information they have observed from the wishlist/registry. From this stand point the argument could be made that people who have wishlist with very few items or have no wishlist at all are conceited jerks who desperately want attention, but that could be false. I believe some people are actually humble, and I believe there are people that want to hide behind a facade of being content for elitist reasons but really do have wishlist wants they won't publish. And then again there are people who aren't very creative, so they just aren't able to add many items to their wishlist. There could be other reasons for having a limited wishlist but frankly I don't care. So is a big wishlist wrong?
No! There are some people out there that see a big wishlist and think the creator of the wishlist is greedy. I disagree. In addition to the points I've made above I'd like to point out the obvious, it's a "wishlist", it's not a 'practical needs list'. What fun would a 'practical needs list' be anyway? If society decides to go that route I think it should be based on all one's needs, and not just selective needs; we can all learn so much about one another. For example: You are looking at someones needslist and see the person needs hemorrhoid cream, you now know more about that persons life and you can assist with an uncomfortably personal gift. After all wouldn't that be thoughtful? That may be too extreme. I don't think it's wrong for a person to list their wants and/or needs, or even their demands. There is nothing that says you have to buy anybody any gift if you don't want to. I don't even think it's presumptuous if someone dares to add a "highest" priority to a wishlist item, and that being said I wouldn't hesitate to purchase an item from a wishlist that has a "lowest" priority, as the person who added the item to their wishlist obviously wants it but just not as much as something else. So what does my wishlist look like?
It should not shock anyone that I have 173 items contained in 8 categorized wishlists. Of the 173 items and 8 list there are 23 items in one list of weird and/or funny things I've found that I don't want, but thought it would be neat to share my finds. My categories are fairly basic; Clothes; Cooking Stuff; Media; Outdoor; Tools; Ridiculous; Stuff I don't want; and Miscellaneous. If you are curious as to what the biggest and most expensive item I have on my 'Ridiculous wishlist' is, it is a new Toyota 4x4 pickup. Am I ashamed to display such extravagance? No. It's on my ridiculous list for a reason, and I have no expectations or even rational hopes that I'll be receiving such a thing as a gift........well ever. The least expensive items in my wishlists are only around $4.
As a shopper/gift-giver I don't think I've ever looked at a wishlist and thought "what an expectant @#%!" or anything like that. I'm not saying I've never had a problem with other peoples wishlists, because I have. My issues with other peoples wishlist are usually things like they have too few items for any gift to be a surprise, or every item on the wishlist is more expensive than my budget. I have also found that sometimes I'm just ornery and don't want to purchase any of the options listed, but manly because I don't understand the interest in the items. Eventually I get over my personal issues and figure out something to give. It's hard for me to understand the people that just hate wishlist.
Basically I think there are people that prefer to complain and try to justify their negativity with a glazing of moral superiority. I don't like it. If you feel some sort of irrational obligation to buy a gift from a wishlist that is your problem, and resenting the list or the person who made it isn't going to help anything, nor is it in the holiday spirit. If you don't feel that way GREAT! My advise to everyone this holiday season is to relax and enjoy being with people you love or at least like, and if you are going to give gifts remember it's hardest to think of something on your own, it's easier to shop off someone wishlist; it's even easier to pick something at random; it's even easier still to give a gift card; and it's easiest to give cash. Giving nothing doesn't count because doing nothing is nothing and nothing is disappointing.
