I Can't Be The Only One,

BlackTalon

There are much better ways to go about this than pretending your family members gave you watches as presents.

"Hey, what's this on the sofa? ...Looks like Santa must have dropped his #ST2! The clasp probably got caught in the damper when he came down the chimney, and the watch fell off when he walked to the cookie plate. I better put it in my watch box and keep it safe for him until next xmas. ...And hey, what's is this over here? Looks like one of the raindeer dropped his solid gold pie pan. Boy, is he going to be worried when he realizes it's not on his leg anymore. I'll keep this safe as well, as I am sure he will really, really want it back. ...And what is that on the floor over in the corner? It looks like ..."

JwRosenthal

Knowing now it’s a running joke and your not giving your wife a new vacuum for Xmas as you get a watch makes it more humorous than sad.

My wife always bemoans that I am tough to buy gifts for (all my friends too). If I want something, I buy it…doesn’t leave much room for gift giving. And if I can’t afford to buy it, then they sure as shit can’t.

What my wife does do is listen (unlike my friends who just suck at giving gifts and hit Target the week befor ). She listens to the little things I say throughout the year- shit, I need to get one of these, or I broke this- maybe I’ll find a replacement one day- always the little things as I’m always focused on the big things. She’ll notice that I haven’t purchased said replacement item and sure enough- it will appear for a birthday or holiday.

I broke my favorite coffee mug- it was the perfect volume, handle was large enough for me to get my hand into (holding it palm against the mug, thumb out) and the lip was the perfect thickness. I just used the mugs that came with our dinner set after I broke it- but she tracked down a very close replacement.


I broke the Lucky Stike ashtray that sits on our front patio table- I liberated that ashtray from a restaurant in NYC in 1996 and it had always sat on my patio table. She tracked down an identical replacement on eBay (and apparently learned they were only made for 2 years as swag to bars from Lucky Strike).


My dog chewed up my favorite pair of Dents leather gloves which I had owned for 15 years (were perfectly broken in- ugh!). I was wearing mittens and didn’t bother buying another pair…I got a new pair this year.


The fact that she listens to me and cares enough to take note of the things I let slide is more meaningful than the most expensive or rare item I can think of.
I do the same for her- not going to innumerate. but to me these are the gifts that truly mean something…I can get my own watches.

gbesq

Speakung as an admittedly OCD collector among a bunch of other OCD collectors, the OF membership is probably the last group of people on Earth that should be tasked with evaluating whether someone has a mental health issue. 😀

STANDY

I dare you to wrap one with “From Tiffany ”




😁😁😁





(As long as your wife or daughter aren’t named Tiffany)