Amazon patented a system that let’s you stop bad gifts from shipping & convert the dollar amount to other gifts.

THIS – whether you like it or not – is an advancement towards a simpler life and more meaningful navigation of consumerism and the problem of “stuff”.

It’s brilliant….I am sure ettiquette people hate it…. one woman interviewed said “returning a gift you haven’t received is the ultimate example of narcissism.” She also mentioned that it means the person doesn’t know you and you should go “take them out to dinner or call them up”. I am not sure about any of you… but has anyone tried to stop people from giving you bad gifts? It’s not *MY* fault people are mindless consumers and have this knee jerk reaction of giving for validation purposes. I really think that “etiquette” angle misses the point.

It’s fighting the battle of mindless consumption and working towards my commitment to simplicity.  For the past 5 years I have sold items that fill up space in my life… both literally in the physical world and mentally – like those endless projects and errands and things you need to fix.  But I note life is still not simple.. and I realize I have been somewhat passive in my commitment to simplicity.  That’s not how it works… we love capitalism, but it is in this system’s best interests to keep you on the hook… buying, purchasing, consuming, getting….

So it’s not something you can passively do.  It’s something that is active, and it’s a fight.  Every holiday season can be a war, battle after battle.  That might be extreme, but soon you have storage, garages, closets full of things you can’t even remember…. and it overwhelms our lives.

So… albeit etiquette people have their own assumptions in regards to this, I think it’s part of the rising tide of efficiency and simplicity when it comes to ownership and consumerism.

Thank You Amazon!

The simpler concept is that it stops Gaffigan’s joke about getting bad gifts:

“You know when you open a gift that’s clothing and you are like ‘not even close’.  Thanks for giving me an errand to run”.


45 seconds in…..

But I like the idea of Aunt Bertha asking if I “think those little bobble head Elvis’ that dance to sounds” are cute, and I will reply, “Yes, the new Dyson vacuum works really well”

I mean… it may be as simple as that. For real. Info mercial and QVC are shaking violently and hugging one another. But eventually, we will understand that when I like a gift that you gave me, it might not be the one you gave me. It will be something natural, understood, and completely acceptable in the future.

About Uncle Fishbits

I'm.. just this guy, you know?

No Comments

Be the first to start a conversation

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.