Do you give Christmas gifts to people you barely know, service people, or ...

[Rora]

I always give to family, whether I like them or not!!

I typically don't give gifts to service people or people I dislike but sometimes I will write a friendly card.

 

[Halbleib1]

We give gifts to our parents, my husbands grandmother(mine have all passed away), an aunt of mine I am close to, nieces and nephews and of course our son and each other. We do not exchange gifts with brothers and sisters as there are too many. I have 4 siblings and my husband has 1. My family decided that we would buy gifts for the kids only so we carried on that tradition with both sides of the family.

My MIL thought we should buy for aunts, uncles and cousins that we do not even see throughout the year much less at Christmas nor do we know them all that well. We told her no we can not afford to do that you do what you want to do and leave us be. She still brings it up at least once each year though.

 

[Inigo]

We have to do a grab bag gift thing with DH's family, and I absolutely hate it. We'd rather draw names and pick a present out for a specific person, but instead we have to buy a nothing special present for no one in particular. I'm thinking we need to find Billy Bass, and maybe next year they'll agree to drawing names again.

We do a dirty Santa grab bag at work, and I love it. The worse the present it, the better. It's a lot of fun trying to be creative, evil, and fun trying to find something for that event.

 

[lynxstch]

someone said (it wouldn't let me do a partial quote!)..And I have heard that Mailmen cannot accept gifts-at all

We live outside the city limits...we ALWAYS gift our carrier..usually with homemade goodies which she raves over..last year the budget was really tight, and with the cost of making homemade candies, cookies, etc..so high, I opted to crochet our carrier (and her sub) with homemade scarves..they loved them and wore them every day the rest of the season when the weather called for it..when we lived inside the city limits..I also made a big bag of homemade goodies for the carrier..he and his wife sent me a lovely thank you note..saying it was like a never ending gift!

As for this season....the budget is even tighter..gifts for the grandkids, 1 special friend, 1 special neightbor..and a family gift for each of my husbands siblings..we aren't exchanging gifts with each other..we do it during the year whenever we find something the other might like!

 

[disney1990]

We always buy at least one toy for Toys for Tots. Even being out of work this year, we will continue to do this. There is always somebody out there that is worse off than we are.

 

[dizluvah]

Sorry-But I agree with that poster. You have no idea the sanitary conditions of the kitchen of the person making that food.

And I have heard that Mailmen cannot accept gifts-at all

I don't know about current postal regulations but my uncle was a USPS postman in the same Massachusetts town for 40 years and he made out like a bandit at Christmas - he devoted an entire closet to the gifts he was given each holiday season (he delivered for both residential and business customers)- more often than not they were alcohol - ironically he isn't a drinker but he would "re-gift" from the closet for friends who would enjoy the booze. He retired approx 5 years ago.

 

[crazelion]

No. But that don't stop me giving to charity.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

No. We did give a couple of bucks to the ROTC high schoolers collecting for Toys For Tots.

 

[MsDisney23]

No. I only give gifts when I really feel I want to give the gift. For the most part, the only people I give to at Christmas and on their birthdays are my daughter and my sister. Any other gifts are random, just because I feel like it gifts. For instance, last week, I sent a new Disney antenna topper to a friend in Missouri. It was totally unexpected. I just saw it and thought of her. To me, that's the best way to give and receive gifts.

Peg, you are one of the most classy woman on the DIS. You made a huge difference on my first visit back to WDW after my transplant. I still have the cards you sent me and the Big Mickey Mouse, plus the beautiful gift basket!

Peg is someone who really cares about everyone! Thank you for being my friend!

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

Sorry-But I agree with that poster. You have no idea the sanitary conditions of the kitchen of the person making that food.

And I have heard that Mailmen cannot accept gifts-at all

lol, do you have any idea of the sanitary conditions of processed food? How many rat hairs are allowed in your peanut butter, etc.? I'll take my chances with home made any day of the week.

Per the OP's question, i give to the mail carrier, my hair lady, the trash guys, the paperboy (who never misses), a few people that DH works with, etc. I like doing it. It makes me feel good, and hopefully brings a smile to their face.

 

[Nancy]

I only buy gifts for family now. When the kids were little there were small gifts for teachers and also for their dance teachers..but I do not give gifts to the mailman or trash guys or anyone else. Hairdresser maybe..if I was there right before Christmas I would probably tip extra but I tip good all year so if I don't give her extra for Christmas I don't feel bad.

 

[disykat]

I only buy for family. The four of us exchange and then we give to eight extended family members. I'd love to cut that back as well but gifts seem important to them.

I do not do any extra Christmas tipping or really any extra charitable giving above my normal. Most of the charities that collect at Christmas (Salvation Army, food bank) are already on our giving list so it's not really extra. I tip the paper deliverer, dog groomer, hair dresser, etc. all year long. I've never met the mail carrier or the sanitation worker. I am a teacher and teacher gifts just aren't big here. I've always shown appreciation to teachers the same way I'd like to receive it and gifts don't figure into that. I know for a fact that they appreciate my time more than a gift. If I see something I want to give to one of these people, I'm much more likely to do it at a different time.

Gifts are really not a huge part of our Christmas celebration. I know I'll get skewered for this and I'm not trying to insult anyone else's opinion, but to me "tipping" at Christmas just seems tacky. It makes more sense to me to be generous year round.

The whole gift thing is a pet peeve of mine. We have a neighbor who is outright nasty all year (to the point where people tell me they overheard her talking about us in town, etc.) and then shows up with cookies every December. It's insulting IMO.

 

[PatsGirl]

I buy only for family, Toys for Tots, and another Xmas charity that I host myself through work, The Giving Tree. DD makes Cape Cod Turtles for anyone she chooses to, usually her teachers and the bus driver and maybe a few friends too. If I meet a friend out before the holidays, I might sometimes splurge on a bottle of wine for us to share pre-meal

 

[OceanAnnie]

Yes I do. It seems like a lot of people. I need to sit down and write my list and ideas. I'm a little behind this year.

 

[minkydog]

I don't gift the garbage man or the letter carrier. Sometimes I will gift the UPS guy, because he comes to my house every 2 weeks with a big box of diapers for Christian and he always has a smile or a kind word.

My siblings do not send gifts to each other. We give money or time to various charities instead. I give my mother small gifts, mostly edible since she is a hoarder--she doesn't need any more stuff to save in her house.

As far as people outside our family, the only people that I give gifts to are Christian's 2 teachers and 2 parapros--they work their tails off for him! And we'll definitely give our nurse Samuel something nice, maybe a gas card and some homemade cookies since he's living as a bachelor here in the States while he is working hard to bring his wife and child over from Kenya. Last night he told me he wants me to teach his wife how to cook American food. I'm writing a cookbook for my kids so I think I'll run him a copy, too.

 

[Carly_Roach]

lol, do you have any idea of the sanitary conditions of processed food? How many rat hairs are allowed in your peanut butter, etc.? I'll take my chances with home made any day of the week.

I'm another person who doesn't eat homemade food from people I don't know. I'll eat cookies and pot-luck food made by my co-workers, but even then there are a few co-workers whose home-made goodies I simply won't touch because I'm aware of their cleanliness habits at work.

But strangers or neighbors that I don't really know? Sorry. Pass.

The difference between stranger's food and restaurant food is that if you get ptomaine poisoning from a restaurant, you can sue them to cover your medical bills or get some kind of redress for their uncleanly kitchens because you paid for that food/service. Stangers and neighbors? You're out of luck. No avenue for redress.

As to the original question, no - we don't give Christmas gifts to people we barely know, service people or people we don't like. Including family members.

 

[minkydog]

I'm another person who doesn't eat homemade food from people I don't know.

Me either, and sometimes I don't eat homemade food from people I do know. Christian often brings home snacks, cookies or pancakes that he and his classmates made at school during their speech class. I'm sorry, but just knowing that these kids all of whom are severely/profoundly mentally handicapped, who suck their fingers, drool, and have various other unsavory behaviors, have made me some cookies--uck! I just lost my appetite. I don't even want to eat something that i saw Christian put his hands on, and he's my son!

 

[spacemermaid]

I buy gifts for friends and family, not because it's expected, but because it's what I want to do. (And it helps that I don't have any family members that I don't like/don't like me ). I also leave a little something for our mailman, as I do Ebay & he always goes above & beyond, picking up & delivering multiple parcels pretty much every day.