A CHRISTMAS GIFT WORTH A SATISFIED SMUG SMILE!

 

A CHRISTMAS GIFT WORTH A SATISFIED SMUG SMILE!

I got an aftershave as a gift on the Christmas day. It is one of the commonest gifts that people get and give on this festive occasion. Look in any of the gift shop windows during this time, you would be sure to find a plethora of perfumes, aftershaves, and such, displayed in brightly colourful, eye-catching packagings. The newspapers and the magazines are bursting with half to full page adverts of big brands. On the television a lot of very creative, sexy and glittery adds start appearing in primetime slots. Online the social media is awash with similar adverts.

 I was incredibly thrilled to get this. My old one was almost run out. I was planning to buy a replacement soon. As I have not got a favourite or “can’t live without” brand, choosing one in the shops becomes very difficult, more so because this is a nonessential item, at least for me. The merchandise available in the stores and online is truly astronomical. I would have spent hours in sampling quite a few of them and then found out that the one I had taken to the counter was so expensive, it would not be a justifiable spend, ethically or financially.  I would be back to the drawing board!

 An essential item is much easier to choose and justify its price than a purely luxury item. Even though financially I can easily afford a really expensive object, I do fill a sense of guilt when the item is not a need.  I am not alone in feeling that. After all, “guilty pleasures” and “buyer’s remorse” are very frequently used British idiom and phrase respectively, not for nothing!

 The feeling of guilt in spending excessively on a Want not a Need, comes from the fact that it reminds one of conspicuous consumerism and the appalling economic inequality. It is also related to a niggling feeling that the money could have been more useful in doing something charitable or of more utilitarian value.

Last year after much rummaging I found an aftershave I liked, it had a classic, crisp fragrance, and the price was not too high. When I was taking it to the till to pay for it, a co-shopper conspiratorially offered a completely unsolicited advice “you would find it much cheaper online, I bought it yesterday on Amazon”.  I did thank him but I am afraid my hesitation betrayed my frustration and annoyance at the time. I put the box back at the shelf and later that evening ended up spending an hour or so on Amazon, the online shopping giant. The aftershave was indeed fifteen pounds cheaper but I spent another eighty pounds on other bargains!

Now you can see, why I was so delighted with this gift. This was like having three gifts in one: an aftershave I like, removal of guilt and the last but not the least, a big chunk of time. What is not to be chuffed about and have a smug smile!

A PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFT

 

 Christmas 2020 finished a few days ago. Despite lockdown due to increasing Covid19 cases we managed to give gifts to near and dear ones and got some too, thanks to the efficiency of online stores and the postal services.  

While shaving this morning I was reminded of a gift Bibha gave me a decade ago. Over the years I have received many gifts on birthdays, Christmases, anniversaries, parting days, meeting days and on several unbranded days.  How come I was reminded of this one gift from years ago? The reason was simple, it was that very electric shaver I was using.

When I unwrapped it, I was surprised and delighted. A good gift must elicit these two emotions.

Though I would have liked to try one I would not have bought it for myself. Somehow, I had the notion that manual safety razors do a better job than electric ones. In essence it was just a status quo bias on my part. It is for the very same reason that many people including me continued driving a manual car for a long time. It was just a chance that in 1985 I booked a car in Florida on my holidays and the hire company gave an automatic car. After a few cautious practice drives in the huge Hotel’s carpark, I took it out on the roads. I found it much easier to drive and safer on the road as well. Back from holiday, we exchanged our manual car with an automatic one. I have not driven a manual car since then.

I wished to challenge my notion about the electric razors too but it did not make sense to spend so much money just to try it. As you know one cannot return a razor after using it even once^¤! So, if it were not as good or better than a manual razor, it would be a waste of money spent. This is a purely utilitarian view. I do hold this view when I am buying for myself but certainly not when buying a gift. In my opinion a good gift is one that the recipient would not usually buy for him/herself and it may be useful but certainly not in a utilitarian way. this is what produces surprise and delight.

I used the shaver that very morning on the Christmas day, 2010.  it was a smooth shave as good as the razor and it did the job in less than half the time. I did not have to even wet my hand or to mess with soapy lather. Since then, I have used it every day, it has been a trouble free and efficient companion. I wish I had it when I was working, it would have given me a few more precious minutes to sleep! It is not just a shaver but also a prolific saver. It had saved a lot of time, money and blood^¤¤ too in the last 10 yrs. And is still going strong.

You see it did turn out to be a utilitarian gift in the end, but I did not have to pay for the risk! That made it a perfect gift

 

¤ Health and safety regulations

¤¤  bleeding from nicks and cuts