Exactly, hahahaha!

__________________
''We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.''-Wernher von Braun

Quinn
NAR Member #98893 JR
SPAAR

Years ago when I was married and after two years in a row of positively AWFUL Birthday and Christmas gifts from my ex-wife including the uber-awful gift of luggage, I issued her a simple edict.
I told her to NEVER again buy me ANY gifts she thought I NEED and to only buy me gifts she KNEW I would WANT.
I honestly never got a lousy gift again.
It might have helped that I told her if it didn't change, her gifts were only going to include items to assist housework and cooking.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Bet that went over like a fart in a diving helmet... LOL

Ya know, I just ask for gift cards... or CASH... that way *I* can get what *I* want, and nobody else can screw it up... infinitely more practical. No stupid lists, no shopping, no returns, no messing around...

I tell my wife to get what she wants for Christmas/Birthday/Mothers Day... that way I can be surprised when she opens it... (at what good taste I have LOL)

Later! OL JR

__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

It actually went over fine.
I just explained that gifts I actually WANT are far more appreciated than anything she thought I needed.
She did NOT want cooking lessons and ironing boards which is what I told her she would be getting if the dumb-a$$ed gifts continued.
I had to have very similar conversation with my girlfriend earlier this year after something that was absolutely awful for my birthday. My girlfriend thankfully is much more logical than my ex-wife.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

"Anything"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r3lvShBmOQ

__________________
Retro-grouch

Wow...

Guess we're both lucky then...

I have some friends that would DEFINITELY need some thorazine if that discussion (or recommendation) were to take place with their wives...

Later! OL JR

__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

Before we go praising this technique, remember, she is now his EX-wife. He just gave the same speech to his girlfriend. Lets see how long this lasts before adopting such a straight forward approach to speaking with the fairer sex.

I know if I had such a straightforward discussion with my wife, she would have been my ex-wife sooner.

__________________
"AND I hope they are from the planet of the "Chunk spunky Mary-Lou Retton clones". - Ironnerd

"Those who trade liberty for security have neither" - Benjamin Franklin

"Semroc is almost always the answer" - Stefanj

www.paulsavia.com

www.soundclick.com/paulsavia

I was married to my ex-wife for 9 years from 2001 to 2010.
The poor gifts discussion occurred the Christmas after my FIRST anniversary.
Had NOTHING to do with why I (yes I) filed for divorce.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

There is a way to approach this matter in a more diplomatic way. My late friend Gary Moore and his father (his parents and sister lived with him rather than the other way around--he bought the house several years after his father had lost it to foreclosure) were very hard to buy for, as were his sister and mother. One night soon before Christmas (in the late 1950s or early 1960s--I forget which), he came home from work in a glum mood (and found them in the same mood), and he told them he couldn't find anything that any of them would actually want; they had had the same problem, which was why none of them were in a celebratory mood, either. Then:

Gary suddenly got an inspiration. He said, "Why don't we change our Christmas traditions right here and now? Let's just put up the tree and decorations, and enjoy them and the Christmas music. Also, let's drop the whole gift-giving thing, with *one* exception: Buying or making food items like pie, cake, or cookies that all of us would enjoy." They all loved the idea, and that evening they went out to dinner on Coral Gable's "Miracle Mile" (the elegant 'main drag' shopping district of Coral Gables, Florida [which is adjacent to Miami], where they go "all-out" with classic Christmas decorations) and leisurely strolled around enjoying the city and store decorations and the music, free of the harried compulsions of the stressed-out shoppers they saw rushing about. For the first time in decades, they actually enjoyed the holiday, and they maintained that tradition for the rest of their lives. I've adopted it myself, and it took away all of the stress and frustration (not to mention the financial burden) of Christmas for me. Also:

Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and Valentine's Day can be handled similarly. My own parents weren't into buying "stuff" for each other on such occasions; they would cook fancy meals for each other, or go out to higher-end restaurants, or go on brief (one-day or weekend) excursions. If people -want- to buy and give physical gifts, that's perfectly fine, but the notion that one *HAS* to buy physical gifts is marketing brain-washing. A good "compromise" can be giving more of items that certain people use (a box of shotgun shells for a hunter, a box of cigars for a cigar smoker, rocket motors for a model rocketeer, etc.), after making sure the items are of the types or brands that the recipients like and use.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

I like Blackshire's idea even better.
Would make holidays stress-free for all to enjoy; just buy gifts for the kids.
I however do NOT think my girlfriend would go for that and I know my ex-wife definitely would not.
I have been divorced for 5 years and my ex-wife still does not like the concept of us not doing Christmas gifts any longer nor the concept of us not having dinner together at least twice a week.
I have been with my girlfriend for over 3 years and the social contact with my ex-wife stopped from day-one of my relationship with my girlfriend. I simply told my ex it was no longer appropriate although she was hard to convince.
My ex-wife about had a conniption when my family decided to stop buying lavish gifts for each other about 5 years into our marriage. She always attached (and still does) far too much emphasis on Christmas being about material gain. The main reason for our divorce was the fact that She did not want to "Keep Up With The Joneses", she wanted to BE "The Joneses". She had the spending habits of a millionaire+ that did NOT jive with our approximate $175K yearly combined income. She refused to change and I refused to accept going into further debt any longer.
One thing I was smart to do was to hire a "Big Gun" shooter of a divorce attorney; I literally got all the toys (jet skis, dirt bikes, boat, full-size video games/pinball machines, etc) and she literally got all the debt and had to pay ME cash at the table. Needless to say it 'paid' to have an A+ rated ruthless attorney. I think she picked her attorney off a turnip truck.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !