The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-12-15
What Do You Want for Christmass

AS the Christmas season approaches
the usual grumbling about hard times,
empty purses, so many to give to, the
difficulty of finding at reasonable
price what will be suitable for such
and such friends and, above all, the
utter impossibility Of finding out what
"will do for a man." makes itself
heard. From now until Christmas
Eve the chorus Of complaints will go
on growing louder and increasing in
volume until it eliminates in per-
feet wall of despair from those who
| find at the last moment that they
have forgotten to buy anything Tor
this or that friend. The usual resort
in these circumstances is to wait un-
til Christmas morning and then to
select from the gifts received the OBJ
ject one wants least, and send Il to the
person whose name has been omitted
/ fsoasasaF 3;;see-:--S Should anyone consid-
er the above stassment exaggerated
let him take seat in IF the stores
in King street and, while fers,r ng to
be occupied in inspecting some article
of merchandise, lend an ear to the
conversations that are carried on
around him by the throngs of shop
pers. He will hear little but talk
about Christmas presents, not IN
tones that imply any pleasure in Sc
lecting and giving them, but with
complaining and weary voices that In
dicate that the speakers regard the
whole business as an unmitlgated
| nuisance, and that convince the lis
tener it would be an excellent
thing if the custom of Christmas gifts
was abolished, or at least discontinued
until the return Of ''good times"
Perhaps when purses begin to fill up
and we have few years restroom worry
ing over Christmas, we may begin to re-
gard it in different light, and to fnd
pleasure in what should be delight
to each Of US.
The oldest part Of the affair is thas,
grumble as they may, every person
feels compelled to give. Be they rich
or Door, generous or stingy, all are
afraid to set custom at defiance and to
say that shey will accept nothing and
will give nothing this year, because
they DO not feel their means sufi-
cient to Justify any outlay for things
80 unnecessary as are Christmas gifts.
OF course many Of the presents ex-
changed are very acceptable, and
persons of good sense endeavor to
so select them that they will be either
useful or ornamental, but a great deal
of what is given is the vcriest trash,
and no amount of bows, wrapping in
silver paper and tying with "baby rib
bono will make it anything else.
Rathes than compromise SO with our
conscience, would it not be better to
be honest with our friends and tell
them we cannot afford to give anything
worth their accepting; or, if we can
afford to give, why not make an effort
to find out what they should like?
| OF course some of our readers will ex-
claim with horror at such plain deal
ing and lack of sentiment, but senti-
mens has been almost banished from
the custom of giving away, and any
pretcnce of it is mostly sham.
The true value of Christmas pres
ent is entirely independent of its in
trinsic worth, although there are some
mercenary souls who judge only in that
way of everything received, and who
care for nothing that has not cost con-
siderable money. Important as is the
spirit that inspires gift, the spirit in
which it is received is Of equal I'M
portanse, and nothing is more chilling
to a generous person than to find that
he to whom he has given something is
oppressed with sense Of obligation
until he can return still more costly
gift. The things that detract most
from ones pleasure in receiving gift
are, first, the realization that it is a
duty gift, and not prompted by any
special desire to give happiness, and
the appropriateness of it, which
shows but too plainly how little real
thought was given to its selection.
The latter is the outcome of the c1-
preston SO frequently heard at pres
eut about the difficulty of finding
"somet ething that will do" If we care
at all about friend it is not "some-
thing that will do" We send him, but
something that has cost us thought IN
selecting, and that We hope will prove
usafpl and accountable.