Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Obligations

Aerin's Cranberry Blog has a great post on the subject of obligation.

Aerin raises good questions: Are you obligated to give a gift to someone who gives a gift to you? Are you obligated to give them a gift that is as expensive as the one you received?

I really like Aerin's take on this subject (and not just because she gives this blog a shout out).

I'd like to hear readers' thoughts on this. How do you deal with the question of obligation in gift exchanges?

1 comment:

Aerin said...

Thanks for the shout out!

I think it really depends on the person and the situation. I do not feel that an exchange of gifts is always necessary. I don't even think that an even exchange is necessary either.

When we give only because we feel obligated to - it feeds into gift giving no longer being a gesture of appreciation for someone. Just like you've written here before - it becomes something we do because we have to - and everyone feels odd as a result.