Re-gifting or re-giving is the act of taking a gift that has been received and giving it to somebody else, sometimes in the guise of a new gift. (wikipedia)
The practice of re-gifting is frowned upon/taboo in polite circles but occurs regularly in most. I, of course, have NEVER re-gifted. Hee. But if you look at it differently, it is morally and ecologically sound to re-gift. Let’s say you receive a sweater that looks like the microscopic cross-section of a paramecium and it doesn’t happen to be your style. It is far better to give that sweater to someone whose taste it suits than to add to the ultimate waste in the world by buying another one just like it for a different relative with questionable taste. Now there are two paramecium sweaters floating around the world when there could have been just one. And think of what happens when both of those sweaters start falling apart in about 6 months with the synthetic fiber having a carbon half-life of about 5,730 years. If you don’t know anyone who might be interested in the sweater, you can re-gift it to a local charity. Morally sound.
Or you can be evil like me who re-gifted a lot of t-shirts designed by a reprehensible person to all the homeless people who hung out in that said person's neighborhood. Or maybe that is just creative re-gifting.
There is, however, a wonderful item that changes the dynamic in a fun way. It is the gift that expects to be re-gifted.
Next time you go to a party, bring the wine in the Built wine tote and leave it behind so that your host will have something to put her wine in when she goes to her next dinner party…and so on.
Last winter TP brought 2 of them over. A few weeks later I took one of them over to LM and MM’s house (to which they replied I would be seeing it again when they next come to visit). The second one we took over to LO and RS’s house last Saturday (to which LO replied she would be bringing it back over to TP. I doubt one has found its way back home so quickly).
The reason it can be re-gifted is because it really isn't the gift in the first place. It is just the wrapping. The wine is the gift.
Therefore, when the Built tote is the gift itself, you may not re-gift especially when it is the beautiful one given to us by our niece, GK. This one will only be going out to the deck and back.
Fantastico!
Love it. Thoughtful and practical!
ReplyDeleteLoved it.
ReplyDeleteMy ex-mother-in-law was the Queen of Regifting. It was my first exposure to it...being the early eighties. Had never heard of this.
It is not practiced in my circle.
As one who does not do much of the gifting thing I just give to charity. This way the item can be purchased for little or no cost to someone who is looking for this item that I no longer have a use for. Recycleing is the only way! We all must participate on many levels.