Gifts : Are they all about money ?

Saturday is my boss's Birthday. We are about 10 of us reporting to him.We have a culture of taking the birthday boy/girl out for lunch. But since he is our boss , everyone wants to do an extra bit.Though I don't completely buy in of doing that just because he is boss , but I am ok with it , since he has shown his affection for the team enough number of times(which is although a part of his managerial role).

Okay , so we decided to do an extra bit , but for a lunch.Now what should this extra bit be. Some one suggested cake and we all were on for that , but they said thats not enough. Another extra bit...:P.Okay , I said a huge card , with everyones signatures and some nice words , which he can put on his desk.No , they said , a card is a waste and no one treasure that.Its only for a day and later , it lies dumped in or torn. May be his kids would tear it off.So what else? Now comes the real point.A crystal piece or a sandal piece ...ohh now I get the point. The extra bit is not to add an extra feeling , but some extra money. Boss should realize that the team has spent some good amount for his birthday.So its all amount money, you see though nobody says so.

Well , I never thought gifts in terms of money.I am too bad at that.For me gifts are more of an expression of feelings than money.I treasure a gift for the amount of thought thats put in that and not the money.That I know , will be misinterpreted in today's world.People would think I don't want to spend on giving something to someone.On a lighter note though,I can always go with this theory with my husband , who would be more than happy , if I spend less... ;-)

Similarily,I can wear a dress which I may not like at all , if thats gifted to me by some close relative.For the matter of fact that I know , It would have been bought with love and thoughtfullness and I should respect the feelings of the person.And I would never let the person know that I donot like it , coz I know that it hurts.

Now I remember my baby shower last year. My director is a female and she knows what a baby means to a female.She does a baby shower ceremony for those who leave for maternity and same was done for me.It was organized as a surprise.They decorated the conference room and I was called for a meeting.The room was full of people and balloons all over. Cake was cut and we had snacks. They gave some good money as gift, for Aryan, contributed by all.I felt TOP OF THE WORLD.I was really touched by their thoughtfullness , the effort to plan the surprise , to decorate the room , get the snacks and plan some games.I respect the money they gave as gift but that was too secondary for me.What mattered to me was how they made me feel.

They could have given me the envelope just at my desk and I could have forgotten all by today.Or they could have not given the envelope and I would have still treasured the feeling.

So , may be you know what I wanted to say , but may be not every one thinks the same way. May be I am one of the stupid emotional kind of persons, but you know I cannot really help it.