a gift for dr. awesome
recently, my friend katie was trying to buy a gift for her neurologist, who is actually kind of a colleague, having helped katie navigate her journey toward becoming a doctor. i asked what she knew about her: "not much. she's russian, has a husband and a young son, stressful job, and coworkers who don't really respect her (edited version)."
i suggested a gift card to a well-rated local restaurant as a treat (and to take dinner off her task list for one night). "i hate giving giftcards and that's out of my budget," she quipped. "i prefer giving personalized, custom gifts. i was thinking candles or a succulent with a message inscribed." her budget was $20.
"not a candle! that is the most generic 'checkout line' gift. a gift card to the store where you got the candle would be better," i shared (knowing she hates gift cards, i'm so annoying lol). plus, so many candles offgas horrible stuff and some that are supposed to smell good just STANK (i'm looking at you yankee candle). don't get me wrong, there are VERY NICE candles out there, but they are pricy and i've come to the point in my life where i'm cognizant of air quality in my home and i'm not lighting garbage up for my kids to inhale, or trying to burn down this house (i vaguely remember one of my kids noticing a smoldering trash can fire once and while i'd like to blame it on them, i'm pretty sure it was my fault). so yeah, i came down HARD on the candle idea. sorry, katie (and candles)!
and as for plants, getting a mom something else to take care of, unless you know she genuinely enjoys and loves plants, is probably a bad idea. she's taking care of patients all day, and then going home to take care of her family. give her a break. that said, if she were to get her a plant, a succulent would be a great choice. they are pretty hardy and some greenery in a sterile doctor's office is always nice. plus, she could engrave it with something funny and flattering to boost her mood while at work. we brainstormed (har har):
- it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know you're the world's best neurologist
- you don't have to be brainy to know you're #1
- it's a no brainer, you're #1
katie loved the last one--and when i checked in with her the next week to see what she ended up getting, she hadn't decided yet! i'll be sure to check in with her again but this kind of situation arises too often and is exactly why we are creating pleasy. katie spent weeks thinking about a gift for dr. awesome, consulted friends, thought about it more, and ultimately couldn't decide because of gift anxiety. this is awful! dr. awesome deserves to know she's awesome today!
all we are saying is, in gifting, like with any other relationship-based behavior, communication is key. our goal at pleasy is to enable people to communicate their wants, preferences, likes and dislikes easily and accessibly for those interested.
of course, we don't undervalue the element of surprise! that's what gift preference lists are for. for example, say dr. awesome indicated on her list that her favorite holiday is christmas and she loves ballet and coffee. maybe katie could get her a ballet-slipper christmas ornament or ballet-themed coffee mug. that itty bitty bit of information is a great jumping off point for inspiration. as anyone in this position knows, any clues are so helpful in this sphere.
and that's why we're here: to help you show your love and appreciation for the people in your life in a thoughtful (and stressless) way so we can all gift happily ever after. xo