I’m always stopped short when the little card reader at the supermarket asks if I want to pay with a “gift card.”
Who the hell gets someone a gift card for Safeway? “I just thought of you when I saw it hanging there next to the cash register. I mean, I know you often need to buy food, on account of needing to survive and all, so it seemed perfect.”
Or maybe people actually want them and drop hints? “I’ll tell you what I really like--groceries. Seriously, I spend practically all my time thinking about groceries. By the way, did you know it’s my birthday next week?”
It’s one thing to get a Target card for a college student or something, but it seems that every store offers a gift card. I looked it up, and even Dollar Stores have gift cards.
Which I think is extremely convenient if you want to give a $50 Dollar Store card to someone and say “I really wanted to give you exactly fifty really tacky gifts, so finding this card was like manna from Heaven.”
I’m thinking of creating my own gift card--a Greg Card if you will--and handing it out to people I know. Probably more people I don’t like, though. Because I can say, here, this card enables you to spend some time with me--but after it runs out, you have to go away or pay me to stick around. Gift cards are thoughtful, and I’m a thoughtful person, so I think this idea is pretty sound.
Dude, yeah, I laughed. But when I was in college, my mom always put Safeway giftcards in my stocking at Christmas, and sometimes mailed them to me (halfway across the country). She and dad paid tuition; I paid room & board, and it was her way of helping me out once in a while.
What kind of services would you be required to provide during the gift card time?
One of my friends gave me a substantial amount of money in GC to groceries when I moved to L.A. She didn’t know what I needed as a housewarming gift and she knew I was on a budget so it made the most sense and whoa. It was fantastic. One of the best gifts I’ve gotten in a long time because it just made sense.
I get grocery store gift cards for my grandma for Christmas because I have this fear that she will spend so much on Christmas presents for us, she won’t have enough to spend on herself. This has never actually happened, but it lives in the back of my mind, so I do it.
Pro-tip: go look at apartments on the weekends. The recession is biting pretty hard and they gave us a $10 Safeway gift card just for taking a 10-minute tour with them!
My church gets a percentage of my purchases if I used a Kroger gift card - so I load it up once a month or so & just use it.
With the exceptions of Madonna and Brittany Spears, and a certain political party, nothing exists in our society unless there is a need for it. The comments reflect that. From now on, I am going to ask people for Cabela’s gift cards for Xmas and birthdays.
I was going to say something silly about the GregCards, but Papa Goose’s comment (Brittany Spears.. hehehe!) made my day.
Are GregCards anything like gas cards? If so, they’re wicked useful.