Social sudoku

Buying something for someone else is not an uncommon event in my life. Indeed, I buy plenty enough for my friends and family when they need something in particular, and I love buying silly things to make my boyfriend smile... But what about the time when the recipient of the item you're buying is likely to judge you? What if it's an event that you can't ignore, like Christmas... Or a birthday? This brings me to the main point of today's post: What do you buy as a present for someone you don't know very well but must seek to please nonetheless? a little bit about getting presents for other people recently.

Now, this hasn't stemmed from nothing; it hasn't come out of the blue. No, no, it is in fact my mother's boyfriend's birthday on Sunday (well done, mother's boyfriend, your birthday coincides with Easter. Your birthday is completely overshadowed by a social expectation that you must have bought me an egg).

Now, the easiest thing to do when finding presents for people (or at least getting ideas) is to find out what they like, or enjoy, and focus on things based around that. Your first frame of reference is how much you're willing to spend. Set this out first, and stick to it. Note that there should be a minimum amount of about £10 (I'd say roughly $16) if you're buying presents for someone you like/respect. If you don't either like or respect the person you're buying presents for, don't buy presents.

So, Mum's boyfriend likes... Beer (I'm not 18 so I can't buy that yet), Cars (pah!), and racing (tickets? Pah again!). This means I'll default to all things RELATED to the things he likes. Hence, beer and car relatgetted jokes and presents. What's affordable? What's within my price range (I'm capping at £20 as a student with a part time job)? Well, this leaves me with fewer options.

I've already done all the deliberation, and decided that as a joint present there will be beer, and later in the week, a mug with a picture of a car on it. And hopefully mum's boyfriend will be especially pleased when he finds that the picture of the car is in fact HIS car. If any of you are thinking that might be a little, er, lame, he owns one of these.

I'm mainly relying on the beer; you can't go wrong provided you know their favourite brand of alcohol or food. As I said, it's always a time-saver to appeal to their happy side by buying things you know they like, just in large quantities.

The other way to buy a kickass present is to appeal to a more secretive side of the recipient's personality; this is particularly useful in buying presents for people you know very well, though don't go over the top, clearly. Also do remember who you're buying for; buying your parents clothes is kind of acceptable; buying them 36 cans of Relentless/Monster/Coca Cola may not go down as well.

Good luck in your present quests!!

Happy reading, folks! Victoria Jane

P.S. Apologies for the infrequency of posts, I'm working on academic schtuff and am therefore rather busy much of the time. When exams pass I may (but not definitely) have more time on my hands to talk to you all. Thank you!