Skip to content
Menu
Write Early, Write Often…Write Something!
  • home
  • what sits on my desk
  • what i read
  • about me
  • contact
Write Early, Write Often…Write Something!
12/14/201110/27/2016

a rant, of sorts….

so. it is this registry thing. my rant, that is…When I was a sweet young thing going through the whole process of wedding event, you registered your china, silver and crystal. I do remember a conversation with my sister, Belinda, about how cool it would be to register at Builder’s Emporium, a LA 60’s version of Home Depot/Lowes Home Improvement. I loved that store. I could wander in there for hours and figure out projects.

Actually we got little of practical use for the wedding. The shower, yes, that was practical, but thankfully stuff I didn’t know I and some of which I still have. Now, thirty-five years later, I love that. And, for the wedding, we received gifts of Dorothy Thorpe crystal platters and bowls, Lennox vases, crystal candlesticks, even matching Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy figurines about three feet tall! Tom hated them and I think that’s why we no longer have them, I think he helped in their demise….

Even today I can look around at the various gifts and think, that’s from John Castle, or that’s from John and Anne Myers or that’s from Mike McCall, or from my grandparents, my aunt and uncle. It’s kinda cool that my memories of dear friends and relatives are wrapped up in what others thought at the time we might enjoy. What might decorate our home. What we might use year-in and year-out for celebrations, holidays, everyday events made more special. Can you say that about a Cuisinart mixer or a toaster oven, Calphalon pots and pans? No. Unlikely that they will last as long as the memories of the people who found your registry and bought an item. Purchased, wrapped, sent, delivered. Done.

So. that brings me to the definition of a gift and why registries are becoming a bête noire for me. A gift: a thing given voluntarily without payment in return. To honor an occasion.  [2003 Revised & Updated Illustrated Oxford Dictionary] Similar words are grant, bestow, largess, confer, donate…you get the picture. Nowhere does it state demanded, requested, appealed, called for. To me, the current trend, and maybe I’m just off on another planet, is that when an event happens such wedding, birth, baby showers, bridal showers, for all I know divorce, first day of school, graduation, housewarming, birthday; all of which you can probably create a registry for now, is just another way of  saying, ‘I need these things NOW, so get me this stuff.’

Forgotten is the thinking about a gift that the recipient might remember and treasure for years, the shopping for the item that reflects your relationship with the recipient, the honoring the occasion, whatever that occasion may be, with the effort of finding the perfect gift, hopefully bringing joy and love to the gifting process. Bah! Humbug! Registries make it just too damn easy!

 

Musings from a reader first, lover of dark chocolate and Irish whiskey, tennis player and writer of mysteries, science fiction, and historical non-fiction.

Recent Posts

  • ENGAGE
  • THE GETAWAY POSITION
  • THE MISSIONS
  • NOT THE DOG
  • TIME

Categories

  • Art & Craft
  • Musing
  • Reading
  • Writing The Past

My Favorite Places

SCBWI
SCBWI Carolinas
Sisters In Crime
SinC Triad Chapter Murder We Write

Archives

  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • February 2019
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • June 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • December 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • August 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
©2023 Write Early, Write Often…Write Something! | Powered by WordPress and Superb Themes!