Sitting in a hair salon yesterday, I overheard a conversation from the next chair. The patron was telling his stylist that he and his wife don’t exchange gifts anymore at Christmas – that they just didn’t see the point of it. He said he didn’t like the shopping and, I suspect, the subsequent wrapping and quite possibly, the not-knowing if the gift will be “a good one” or “a bad one”. This was an agreement that was made amicably between the both of them.
He said that instead they chose to go somewhere or do something together, no wrapping necessary, just packing. And he also said his Christmas lights had been up and on since the warm snap in early November. So, not bah, humbug at all. Obviously, he and his wife were keeping Christmas in their own way.
About the gift-giving, the stylist said that she thought that Christmas presents were only fun for little kids, anyways. Hmm, I wondered: What about all those people who still are children in their hearts? What if your loved one really does want the flourish of paper and bows and maybe a new little thing that would not show up any other time of year?
And what about the givers? What if you really love to give other people presents? In the minimalist/environmentalist atmosphere we live in, is this wrong?
One of my first favorite stories about Christmas was O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi. It’s an old enough tale that I can spoil it: in the story, a newlywed couple, desperately in love, finds themselves destitute at Christmas. The husband decides to sell his prized heirloom watch in order to buy some beautiful combs for his bride’s long lovely tresses. The wife cuts said long tresses, sells them and buys the husband a chain for his watch. It’s Christmas giving at its sacrificial best.
Of course, as a young girl I always thought that the wife got the better gift – after all, her hair would grow back and she could use the combs. But the story wasn’t really about the hair, the combs, the watch or the chain. It was about the giving something away that mattered to you so that you could make someone else happy. Even if the gift made no sense in the end, it really was the thought that counted.
But thoughts are hard to wrap. Sometimes they need to be conveyed in gift bags and boxes – or sometimes, suitcases. Gifts don’t need to be extravagant, and the suitcase doesn’t have to travel far either, to mark the occasion, to show someone else that you love them – with a bow on top.