Recycle... but be very careful!

Christmas Day is only a few days away. I’m sure many of us, especially those in newspapers beating seemingly insurmountable deadlines, have yet to prepare gifts. As always in a job like ours, the adrenalin rush as the 25th hour approaches can work wonders whether in completing a Christmas story or, that’s it, doing last-minute Christmas shopping (check out the tiangge where prices of goods are less painful to your pocket).

Again, as usual in this season of rushing, I’m dishing out (unsolicited) friendly tips on giving gifts without falling flat on your face — as (blush, blush, blush!!!) I have in a few occasions (like Christmas).

Here they are:

• Recycle if you must but be very, very careful. Oftentimes, the items you recycle are far better (read: more expensive) than the ones you intend to buy. Make sure that you throw away the card addressed to you and change it with the one for the intended recipient.

Once, I got a recycled gift (a Grey Flannel cologne) from a well-meaning friend who forgot to remove the card addressed to him. I liked the Grey Flannel so I thanked him profusely without mentioning the “wrong” card inside the box. Five Christmases ago, I (ehem!) recycled a pair of expensive cufflinks. The recipient promptly called to verify if the item was really for him because my initials (“R.L.”) were engraved on them. To save face, I bought an equally nice pair (a bit expensive, I must admit!) and changed it with the “wrong” gift. The initialed cufflinks are still with me, unused!

• Make sure that you give the right gift to the right person, so 1). don’t give sweets (chocolates, cookies, cakes, candies, etc.) to a diabetic friend (but sugar-free goodies are welcome); 2). don’t give a small-size shirt to your six-footer friend or an XL briefs to your petite crush; 3). it’s okay to give your religious friend or relative a rosary bracelet, a Padre Pio pendant, a prayer book or a Sto. Niño statuette for the night table; 4). If you have to give perishables (pansit, chicken-pork adobo, puto’t-kutsinta and the like), tell the recipient to eat at once (and share it with officemates) or to refrigerate it; 5). refrain from giving a post-dated check that’s good one year later pa (grrrrr!!!); 6). Give gifts that last and last, like a subscription to a magazine (Vanity Fair, Reader’s Digest, etc.) renewable every Christmas.

• Giving away diaries or calendars? Check the date. If you’re giving some this year, be sure that it’s for Year 2012. One time, a government official’s son treated his friend-movie reporters to lunch and gave them calendars that year, OMG, two-years-old!

Also, check expiration dates on items. A movie-TV actress was deathly embarrassed when she found out that she had given away “long-expired” chocolates that had grown moldy. Siempre, profuse with apologies, pinalitan niya ang mga tsokolate (“un-expired” this time).

• Books are valuable gifts. I love books and I enjoy receiving them any time of the year, with occasion or without. I presume that my friends love books, too, so I give them books on their birthdays, during the Christmas season or even if there’s no “season” or no “reason” at all. Kris Aquino is a bookworm so I give her books. Remember to give books straight out of your library or from the bookstore.

I have a story to tell. Years back, my writer-friend received a book from his actress-friend. He was thankful, of course, but guess what he told the actress? Yes, the book was the same one the actress had borrowed from him! The actress’ “alibi?” She told my friend, “I liked the book so much that I am giving it back to you as a gift.”

• Last but definitely not the least: as the Michael Jackson song has been reminding us, “…and you wish you could give more than just presents from a store. Why don’t you give love on Christmas Day?…No greater gift is there than love. What the world needs is love…”

Gentle reminder: don’t give street kids money because (and I hope they don’t) they might buy solvent or rugby with it. It’s better to give them food or clothes (never mind if they are hand-me-downs) or blankets to keep them warm during the cold, silent nights. Give not just with your hands but with your heart. Remember what the poet said? Not what we give but what we share for the gift without the giver is bare. Who gives himself with his alms feeds three…himself, his hungering neighbor and Me.

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