TIL a $5 thrift store vase was a better gift than the $80 kitchen gadget my aunt gave me

So my aunt got me this fancy $80 electric wine opener last Christmas. Thing broke after three uses, and it was just this big plastic thing sitting on my counter. Meanwhile my buddy found a vintage milk glass vase at Goodwill for $5 and gave it to me for my birthday. I still use it every week for flowers from my garden. Which is weirder, spending money on something that looks like a gift but isn't useful, or getting something cheap that actually sticks around?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaretm2324d ago

Hang on, I gotta push back a little. That $80 wine opener probably looked nice on the Christmas table and made your aunt feel like she got you something thoughtful. The $5 vase might be your favorite now, but it could just as easily be some dusty junk someone else would toss. The price tag isn't really what matters, it's what the giver thought would make you happy.

jesse_fisher24d ago

What if the real difference is about what the gift says about the person you are now, not what it cost back then? Like, that $80 wine opener might just remind her of the person she used to be when she bought it, but that $5 vase could be a sign of who you've grown into. Nobody's talking about how a gift can accidentally mark a chapter in your life that's closed, while another one fits perfectly into the one you're living in now... I've got a couple things around the house that were cheap as dirt but mean everything because they showed up right when I needed them, and some pricey stuff that just feels heavy with old expectations. Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that don't try to prove anything.