Fighting my way through a crowded store with my arms full of packages is not my cup of tea. My mother loves to shop, but I did not inherit that part of her genetic composition. The part that I despise the most, however, is trying to figure out what gifts everyone would actually appreciate. I used to have this inescapable fear that all of my shopping efforts usually resulted in a rushed trip back to the store or, worse, out to the garbage can. I could never develop any sort of confidence about what to get my Grandma or dear Uncle Arthur. Now, I can enjoy the cute shops and the department stores, especially during the holidays, because I walk through empty handed, unhurried, with all of my shopping finished. I do all my shopping on the Internet, now. Well almost all of it.

While online shopping keeps me from being pushed around in a busy department store or standing in line at a little boutique, it doesn’t keep me from the most dreaded part of any gift giving event; choosing the right gift for a birthday, a holiday, a sick friend or whomever. Then about five years ago, I discovered food.

That wasn’t very honestly phrased, because I discovered food when I was still an infant. But I didn’t discover food as a gift idea until recently. You see, at that time I received a gift basket full of hardly edible sausages, processed cheese spreads (mostly chemicals I think) and crackers that were about as crunchy as a rock. However, the poor quality of what passed as food in that gift turned out to be my inspiration. “What,” I thought, “If I had received genuinely good food?” How different that would have been, and how much I would have enjoyed it.

Since then, I have been busy conducting research (that’s just my word for “sampling”). I have found online vendors who offer genuine quality for about the same price that you can get that synthetic stuff at the mall. (You know the one I mean, but I’m not about to open myself to a libel or slander charge by naming the brand.) Just like the mall kiosks, the online shops handle all the shipping, gift cards, everything. I know that my gifts will be exceptionally pleasant surprises for all of my gift recipients.

These Internet shops offer everything from gourmet fruit baskets to live lobster dinners (well, they won’t be alive when they are actually eaten), from wine gift baskets to cookie bouquets. The array of gift foods is really quite amazing.

For those on my gift list who live nearby, I usually assemble my own gift baskets. Even in those cases, the Internet comes to my rescue with helpful suggestions about how to make my self-assembled gift foods more interesting. The available articles also have great gift ideas for special people who often happen to be especially difficult when it comes to choosing a gift.

So join me in thanking the Internet (maybe Al Gore?) for teaching me how to walk through an aisle of a store, empty handed, with a huge smile. I can do that, now, just to soak up the atmosphere of the season. I’m a tourist when I’m there instead of a harried shopper.

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Interesting Gifts