That's it

If I give a gift to someone I usually do it with gusto. The kind aimed to knock their socks off or strike a chord. So when I give a gift I'm not proud of, it really eats at me. This usually only happens in last minute instances, although those occurances can also guarantee a higher caliber gift than what I might normally settle for, given the urgency of the situation. This is what I thought was going to happen yesterday, when I rememebered I was seeing someone dear to me that I had forgotten to get a birthday gift for.

Earlier that day I had discovered a new fragrance boutique full of aroma treatments and therapies for everything: body, shower, home, drawers. It was pretty fantastic. But the sales people were so pushy, they seemed desperate. In any case, when I realized I needed to dash for a quick gift, I thought back to that shop and took my earlier guilt in disappointing their efforts as a sign that I should head back and would find the perfect item. But once there, it did not happen. In fact, the experience was worse. The sales people were not going to let me go without my money this time. One woman literally followed my every step, opening everything, explaining what it was, what the notes were, where it was made, and how nice it was. This is no exaggeration. At one point I had to laugh out loud. She was clearly crazy from the fumes in that place. But yet, I couldn't just leave. They were so thrilled that I kept my promise to come back, and I had no time and a great gift to buy. I spent too long examining everything there and settled on something called "Night Friction." It's what I remembered from my first visit. It's supposedly an elixir to wear at night so you will sleep soundly and can quickly relax - hence the name. At first scent, it was very nice, because of the water lily and whatever else they mentioned. And the bottle was beautiful, it altogether seemed very indulgent and feminine (and way overpriced).

However, today, when I opened the free sample they included for me to keep, I sprinkled myself with it.. to my dismay. It stinks something awful after a few minutes. I've been so sick from it that I'm tempted to just admit my gift was crap and ask if I can have it back to exchange. But guess that's not going to happen.

Instead, I'm going to have to modernize my shopping philosophies. I cannot be guilted into buying crap. Not by myself or defeated salespeople.