August 12, 2009
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//The Thought That Counts?
You can always tell when someone is selfish and short-sighted when it comes to buying presents for another. You can even find out how careless the person is when it comes taking care of things that are around him.
I hate buying presents. It takes a lot of effort to pick the right present and you still might have gotten it wrong. So… it’s the thought that really counts. And the effort, I suppose.
Sometimes present-shopping is not so hard, especially when it’s buying a videogame and I happen to know a lot about them. Some tools think they know a lot about them. But I wonder why they think this way when they hardly read about them or try out the demo or even own a current generation videogame system. Do people just get in a habit of pulling things outta their asses instead of admitting that they don’t know?
But I digressed.
Knowing exactly what game I should get for my friend, I went to a local game store. Surprisingly, there was a used copy of this relatively new game I was looking for. Unfortunately, I also ran into an acquaintence I really didn’t like knowing at the store. One of those that likes to talk about how much they know but knew very little. He decided to follow me around the store and give me comments on everything I laid my eyes on. Annoying, I know. The used copy of the game I planned to buy was in bad shape: The disc is scratched, the box is dirty and it’s missing cover art and instruction booklet. The previous owner just didn’t give a fuck about maintaining the game in good working condition, something I’d make an effort in so that 1) the game will remain in working condition and 2) in case I don’t play the game for a long time and come back to it, I’d still recognize the game from the cover art and know how to play from the instruction book.
So I decided not to save that money and buy a completely new copy, so everything within the packaging is guaranteed in good condition. The tool that was following me around asked why I didn’t get the used copy. I told him I want the game to be in better condition. And there he went on to piss me off. He brushed off my idea of buying a fresh new game by telling me that the recipient won’t care, that it’s the thought that counts and the recipient should be grateful to get a present.
First of all, you don’t know whether the recipient cares about the quality of the present or not, so don’t make such an inconsiderate assumption. Why would you so selfishly assume that the world evolves around your personal convenience? If it’s about the thought that counts, then what’s the value of the thought when you decided to buy a scratched up used game as a present just so you can save a few bucks? Don’t bother buying a present for someone if you’re gonna have an attitude that the recipient should thank you for throwing him a leftover bone.
Go shove all your saved money up that cheap ass of yours.
