Have you ever received a gift that you couldn't use or already had, but you kept it anyway for sentimental reasons?

That very thing happened this Christmas! My boyfriend got me Weird Al’s latest CD, Straight Outta Linwood, which I already had. I kept it because my boyfriend knows how much I love Weird Al and it’s so sweet that he got it for me!

In truth, I’m not sure where either CD is now…

Yes of course. I think it’s just good form.

@SeventhSense

Well yeah, but there does come a point where you don’t want to hoard stuff. I mean, if you really have no realistic use for something and you’re getting cluttered with stuff, you may want to part with it.

I have had that experience! whether it is something that doesn’t strike my fancy the way the giver had intended or something I already have, I find those types of gifts to be my very favorite! I keep them and looking at them never fails to make me smile.

@Dansedescygnes and @KatawaGrey I enjoyed reading your stories! Very sweet and thoughtful!

Definitely re-gift or use the Fruitcake for a doorstop but don’t hurt their feelings.:)

Sure. It happens all the time. I have a big house so I just keep stashing things. However, I am trying to unstash at least as many items as I stash in a given time period.

One of my absolute favorite gifts was a joke Christmas gift. It is a paperweight from the coronation of Elizabeth II and it just struck my fancy when I got it, and is still on my desk to this day.

OTOH, if anyone sends you fruitcake and you don’t want it, I’ll take it. I love fruitcake.

When someone gives me something I already have, especially something that I treasure and enjoy, to me that just means how completely bang on target they were—someone who knows you well enough to make a perfect guess. I make sure to tell them how excellent a choice they made without revealing that I already have it in my life.

If it’s something that can wear out or get used up, I tuck it away for later as a backup. If it’s something you just can’t use two of, I typically make the first one disappear and put the new one in its place. I have done this with everything from books to record albums to kitchen tools.

When appropriate I try to give away the old one, unless I am super-sentimentally attached to it. In that case, I do give away the new one and treat the old one as if it were the gift from Cousin Betsy whenever Cousin Betsy is around.

Just don’t make a mistake and give away both!

I think that the only time anyone ever gave me something that I already had was my first sexual experience – we were both virgins. And no, I didn’t get to keep it. ;)

Somehow that has never happened to me. I have had gifts that I didn’t really like and others that were more for the gift giver than me, but no, it hasn’t happened.

@KatawaGrey You mean you have BOTH of the Weird Al CD’s that were sold?

Absolutely!

And, eventually, without hesitation, with enormous gusto and ceremony, I gave it away. In the form of another gift. Because the act of treasuring someone giving you something, regardless of the object, allows for the sweet sensation of sentimentality to flow through your veins. What a thing to savor. And as corny as it sounds, and it is corny, very, once you have permitted yourself to feel it for even a brief beat of time, no matter what you deliver to someone else or even back to the original gift giver – you will undoubtedly experience an authentic moment within yourself. Sorry for the mush, but giving and receiving gifts is a tender spot for me. Nice question.

@FB Welcome to Fluther Lurve.

@FB
Don’t you realize that there’s no such room for such authenticity in society. You’re doomed to be happy carefree and without burden if you keep that up.
Oh the humanity. ~_~