If they didn't put a lot of thought into your gift, CHELSEA CARTER figures it's only right to regift.
TUSTIN, Calif.
(AP Illustration/Jacky Myint)
It's that time of year -- time to eat, drink and regift.
It begins in my household shortly after Thanksgiving when boxes pre-wrapped in commercial red or green paper begin to arrive. All of them contain the same thing -- chocolate. There's chocolate with nuts, chocolate creams, chocolate and caramels.
I write the perfunctory thank you note -- and then promptly regift it.
The reason is simple: I don't think a lot of thought went into the gift, and therefore regifting is my holiday right. My logic? I give the gift of calories to those who can afford them.
And, apparently, that's OK, according to etiquette experts.
At the Emily Post Institute, the answer is this: "regifting should be done only rarely, and under specific criteria."
The criteria?
_The gift is something the recipient would enjoy.
_It is brand new (no castoffs allowed).
_The gift isn't handmade, or one that the original giver took great care to select.
If you still need convincing, the Internet experts at Gifting Resources say it's about being resourceful.
"Regifting is a nice way to utilize unwanted or unneeded gifts that others may value. When it may be impossible or just impolite to make a return, regifting is a crafty means of 'giving back' -- (only to another person)," according to their Web site.
For those who aren't so sure, you can join the debate at Regiftable, a Web site geared toward determining whether regifting is in poor form.
For me, holiday regifting is a right -- and as long as chocolate keeps coming in the front door, they'll be going out the back door to another recipient.
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asap's Chelsea J. Carter prefers gift cards.
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