Gift card or not to gift card?

I received my drop shipment of Teenage Christian magazine this week and was thumbing through it before I distributed it to the teens in my youth group.  In the magazine, which arrived after Christmas, was a list of Dos and Don’ts for Christmas giving.  One of the items listed was gift cards, and it was placed in the Don’ts list for being too impersonal.  I sort of chuckled at this, because I remember thinking this way a few years ago.  My attitude has completely changed, mostly because I have been the recipient of several of these cards.

I enjoy receiving gift cards if they are to places I frequent.  Gift cards to places I don’t go, however, are a different story.  This is even more troublesome when the gift card is to a place I don’t go and isn’t enough to actually purchase anything from the store.  Gift cards to places I visit, however, are like receiving a little piece of flexible treasure.  When my wife asked what I wanted for Christmas, I told her to just get me a gift card.  Starbucks and iTunes are my favorites.  She told me she wouldn’t get me a gift card, and she didn’t.  My oldest son got me one for iTunes, though (awsome gift!). 

I can understand her attitude toward getting me a gift card.  I don’t think I would ever get my wife a gift card for Christmas, either.  If I did, it would have to be to someplace she didn’t usually go or she would spend it on family needs.  I might as well just get her gift certificates to the grocery store.  If I gave her one to a place she didn’t go, I’d have to make sure she could actually get something there.  By the time I’ve done all the research to figure it out, I could have just purchased the gift I decided she could afford. 

So perhaps gift cards are more impersonal than a specific gift that was chosen for a particular person.  I suppose the question at this point is whether they are too impersonal.  Are they a cop out, or does being able to give a gift card to a favorite store reflect the same kind of thought that giving a sweater by a favorite designer would?

Let me know your thoughts.  Would you give a gift card?  Would you like to receive a gift card as a gift?  If you could pick the store to receive a gift from, what store would it be?

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