I listen, I just don't understand
I always get a little leery about presents.
First off, I try to buy the right one.
When I was about 12, I wandered down to a Wieboldt's department store in Chicago and bought my mother a hair dryer. It was a hand held unit, but you could also put it on a wooden stand.
Since my mother didn't have a hair dryer, I knew she would love it.
I remember her face Christmas morning, the surprise of finding a hair dryer from her son. She had very thin hair. I remember her using it, but I don't think she used it regularly. I think she avoided hair dryers for a reason.
My dad was easy to buy for. He smoked Marlboro's, drank Budweiser and ate walnuts. I could not buy beer, but I could be cigarettes and walnuts. So for several years in a row I gave him a carton of cigarettes and a pound of walnuts.
He was happy, I was happy. Or so I thought.
After he died, (pick a disease: bad heart; emphysema; stomach cancer..any one of them would win) Jackie and I helped my mother clean out the house. Imagine my surprise when I opened a storage cabinet on the back porch and 50 pounds of walnuts tumbled out!
Back in the broke years, Jackie had seen an ad for some Christmas plates. For our anniversary, I went up to Rockford and saw what I thought were the plates. I bought a set; they were something like $70 or so....a lot of money for us, but a lot less than what she had seen the set advertised for. The clerk asked me if I wanted a second set. I told her we would never have that many people over at one time.
I got home and could not contain my excitement. I gave them to her, right in the bag.
She looked at them and asked me what I was thinking.
I had bought a single place serving of Spode. To get our set of eight, I would have to fork out another $490!
That's when I found out there is a difference between a setting for four and a four piece setting.
I returned the dishes and got a refund.
Hopefully, this year I will make better choices.
Just in case, I will save the receipts.
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