Bob (BS):<\/strong>\u00a0So far we\u2019re in agreement; I\u2019ve got a nice rum-spiced eggnog<\/strong> here, proceed.<\/p>\n SW:<\/strong> No, the other kind of Christmas spirit.<\/p>\n BS:<\/strong> Whiskey spiked cider<\/strong>?<\/p>\n SW:<\/strong> Moving right along, I’ve had a hard time finding the spirit this year, what with one thing or another;\u00a0I think one of the reasons that\u00a0“the spirit”<\/strong>\u00a0is so hard to find is the advent of the\u00a0Gift Card<\/strong>.<\/p>\n BS:<\/strong>\u00a0Maybe\u00a0Al is hiding ‘the spirits’ from you; sounds like you need a gift card for a hot-buttered rum<\/strong><\/p>\n SW:<\/strong> (I\u2019m ignoring him) It used to be so fun shopping for the perfect gift, wrapping it up and filling the space under the Christmas tree with beautiful and shiny packages. When the grandchildren were younger we would wrap up everything in cute paper with big bows and the fun of Christmas was watching them tear open the packages with wild abandon and shrieks of delight. \u00a0Heck, when they were\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0little, the\u00a0box<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0could provide them with an hour of fun.<\/p>\n BS:<\/strong> OK, I see what\u2019s really going on here \u2013 you do realize that today\u2019s little kids still get presents that are wrapped in shiny packages and put under the tree, they don\u2019t get gift cards. Aren\u2019t you really saying that unless you have young children around, who may still believe in Santa Claus, that Christmas morning isn\u2019t quite the same? (Do we need a \u2018Santa Spoiler Alert\u2019<\/strong> on this blog in the event that there are still some believers out there?). I don\u2019t think the gift card is the Grinch that Stole Christmas, they have their place in today\u2019s Christmas celebration \u2013 they are practical, easy to wrap, easy to hide, they travel well and \u2018one size fits all\u2019.<\/p>\n SW:<\/strong> I admit, they are very practical. \u00a0The recipient gets\u00a0exactly what they want.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0You don’t have to guess about size and color. \u00a0They can take BS:<\/strong> I think you\u2019re beginning to see the light.<\/p>\n SW:<\/strong> But still…buying gift cards elicits\u00a0all the excitement of\u00a0getting your oil changed<\/strong>. \u00a0You go into the grocery store, peruse the gift card rack, and BOOM! you’re done.<\/p>\n BS:<\/strong>\u00a0That’s what I’m talking about!<\/p>\n SW: (I\u2019m still ignoring him) I have a friend that refuses to give in to the gift card age and continues to buy gifts for her grown grandchildren. \u00a0Last year I asked her how that worked out and she said, “Oh, they return\u00a0everything<\/em>\u00a0the next day.”\u00a0\u00a0But she doesn’t care<\/strong>. \u00a0She loves the process of finding the gift, wrapping it up and watching as they open the package on Christmas morning. \u00a0I wish I had her fortitude. \u00a0I have to say:\u00a0\u00a0I hate giving gift cards.<\/strong><\/p>\n BS:<\/strong>\u00a0The last time I wrapped a gift, it looked like a wet bow tie on a stack of old newspapers. On behalf of the male gender, who typically don\u2019t like shopping to begin with, much less fighting the crowds this time of year, we love gift cards. \u00a0 The gift card allows guys to do all their Christmas shopping in the grocery store from that gift card rack right next to the beer. Another advantage of the gift card is that you know exactly how much the giver values your relationship.<\/p>\n SW:<\/strong> You wouldn\u2019t want to see the value of the gift card I\u2019d get for you!<\/p>\n Your authors – Christmas 1972<\/p><\/div>\n BS:<\/strong> OK, there is no question that the gift card will never replace the wonder and excitement of a child unwrapping ‘that special gift’ on Christmas morning<\/strong>. I admit the gift card is indeed \u2018less personal\u2019<\/strong>, but like it or not, we live in a world that\u2019s very different from the one we grew up in. I know it sounds trite, but I think the true \u2018spirit\u2019 of Christmas<\/strong> lies in the giving<\/strong>, no matter what; be it the perfect gift perfectly wrapped, a picture or another reminder of a wonderfully shared moment, a gift of your time to the less fortunate, or a gift card. \u00a0Giving is really the only thing that gets me in ‘the spirit’.<\/p>\n SW:\u00a0<\/strong>I couldn\u2019t agree more; my shared moment came the other night when I sat down with\u00a0Dash the Wonder Dog<\/strong>\u00a0to watch\u00a0“A Charlie Brown Christmas”. \u00a0<\/strong>I hadn’t seen it in several years and, of course, Dash had\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0seen it. \u00a0When Snoopy<\/strong> came on the screen Dash lifted up and tilted his head to one side so I explained the story to him (and yes, I really have gone around the bend). \u00a0And in that moment the Christmas spirit finally hit me – there I was on a rainy night, curled up with my sweet dog, listening to Linus<\/strong> simplify the whole season in his beautiful soliloquy: \u00a0“Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men”<\/strong>. \u00a0It gets me every time.<\/p>\n BS\/SW:<\/strong> We sincerely wish you and yours a very happy holiday season and may 2015 be filled with many blessings for you, including reading our blog and refereeing our “fights”!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Bob Sparrow and Suzanne Sparrow Watson Last week we tried a new style of blog – “the interview”. \u00a0This week we are publishing another format that we hope to continue periodically in 2015 – “point-counterpoint”, or better known as … read more![\"Point\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Point.png\")
<\/a>Suzanne (SW)\u00a0<\/strong>Well, it’s that time of year again, when we are supposed to get in the “Christmas Spirit”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/a> advantage of the after-Christmas sales.<\/p>\n<\/a>