Swag

Okay, I’ll admit it.  I like spontaneous gifts — and I got some today.  Almost a month ago, NavyOne sent me a thank you gift for helping him get started in the blogging world.  It was completely unnecessary, since it was my pleasure to help out a blog friend and a talented writer, but it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the thought or the generosity.

Because of my travels, it took a little while for me to intersect with the package, since it languished on a friend’s shelf while I was abroad.  Now that I’m back home, though, I finally got my NavyOne swag and I am impressed.  My son was especially delighted with the Budweiser Trident, which he clutched to his chest, all the while grinning like a maniac.  I am happy with the hats:  I have a treasured and growing collection of Navy ship hats, but this is the first time I’ve received any as gifts.

Which gets me back to my point about liking gifts.  I don’t live in a gift world.  Mr. Bookworm and I don’t exchange gifts, because it’s pretty much robbing Peter to pay Paul.  My Mom and my sister live on small fixed incomes, so I give them gifts, but I would be horrified if they tried to reciprocate.  They need their money and anything they buy me would just be “stuff,” bought for the cheap price rather than because it would be something special to me.  I don’t say that to denigrate their impulses.  It’s just an economic reality.

Indeed, generally speaking, if people mechanically give me gifts, not because they’ve found something special that would appeal to me, but simply because they are duty bound to hand something over, what I usually get is “stuff.”  Since my house has black hole propensities at the best of times, the stuff eventually overwhelms me.

NavyOne’s gifts to me, however, are special.  First, there was nothing mechanical about the giving.  This was a heartfelt gesture of appreciation, which imbued the gifts with much greater significance than their automatic presentation on a designated calendar date.  Second, they are not just “stuff.”  They appeal to my patriotism, to my fascination with our Navy, and to the fun of watching a happy child.

So thank you, NavyOne, for giving me real gifts, and not just more “stuff.”