A Dark Side To Gifting

It was another smiling sunny day today, but since it’s the day before a holiday, there were two occasions where I was almost in an accident, and both times it was someone changing lanes and not paying attention to the car beside them. The second time it was on the highway and thank Heaven I noticed the woman turning towards me. Fortunately there wasn’t anyone close behind because I’m sure I would’ve been rear-ended because I had to slam on my brakes. The only damage done, were the few things I had in my car having sailed forward. That was definitely a close call. You can be sure I laid on my horn after I dodged that crazy driver.

When I arrived at office, I busied myself with getting settled-in for another day, and as I suspected, it was a bit on the slow side, so I decided to get some more things winter readied. While I was digging in some boxes I had in storage, I happened upon a apothecary bottle I’d found in an attic some years ago which was blacked by coal soot, and after giving it a good washing, I noticed it had measurements of ounces on one side and milliliters on the other, along with a stamped name on the bottom, which prompted me to go online to see if there was one for sale. Well, I found a near exact copy for sale, but the one I found was only half the size and the seller of it asking $25.00 for it. It was manufactured sometime around 1910, and for some stroke of luck, there were no nicks or scratches on it. With my being familiar with a client who collects such items, I gave him a quick call to tell him I had a present for him, so sometime next week I’ll be delivering it to him. Isn’t it crazy how we sometimes go looking for something and end up finding some little treasure that causes us to veer off in another direction?

Having cracked another full pound of black walnut meats over these past several days, a woman I’ve known for a number of years kept popping in my head as I was finishing it up, which was my cue to give her a call to see if I could stop by for a moment or two. Thank goodness she was free, so I placed that plastic zip-lock filled with nuts, then put them in a brown paper sack and drove over.

When she came to the door, I held up the sack and said, “I’ll know for sure you’re a psychic if you can tell me what’s in it.” Well, she was at least in the ball park because all she said was, “I think it’s something edible.” Oh, if I only had a camera to snap a photo of the look on her face when she peeked inside. Having known for sometime her love of baking, I figured she’d be excited over them. She went on to say she no longer buys the ones in the store because they always look and taste different. I suspected it’s been years since she’s had fresh ones. There’s nothing that gives me more joy than to freely gift a deserving soul, something they never would’ve expected. As I’ve mentioned before, there’s definitely an art to giving, and certainly not all these do-gooders running around with their so-called “gifting”, which usually ends up being another publicity stunt to increase their business’ public exposure. We all know the type.

Unfortunately like with most concepts, there’s definitely a dark side to gifting which I’ve always referred to as “sin offerings”. Having watched from afar and found how they’ve continued to work, there are many examples I could give, but several of them stand out in my mind. The first one, involved a husband who had a passion for infidelity, as well as wife-beating. Well, whenever it got so bad to where she had serious thoughts of divorce, there’d be a brand new vehicle delivered for her personal use which was his sin offering to her which she freely accepted. Another time there was a monstrous diamond ring he’d purchased as yet another sin offering. I’m sure the list went on up until his death.

Another one I remember, was a contractor husband who’d miraculously build his wife a new home, and most certainly as a sin offering for his infidelities. If my memory serves me right, there were at least three bigger and better homes that were built before she’d finally had enough. Those sin offerings did do the trick for those men, but unfortunately their children were permanently affected by those troubled marriages. So you now see, gifts aren’t always what they seem to be, and especially after discovering their real intent.

I may sound terrible when speaking about this, but just yesterday, I ended up talking to a friend of mine about how a guy I’ve known for a very many years, always complained about being burdened with so many expenses including the costs of feeding, housing and schooling his children. I must’ve been in a rare mood because I took my filters off when saying, “Well, he just wanted everyone to feel sorry for him, just so he could generate more business, but I never took the hook because I knew he was a womanizer while he was married to his first wife with children, so after the divorce, he married again and had even more.” So wicked me said, “Why should I feel a bit sorry for a man who couldn’t keep his zipper up?” I also went on to say that to my knowledge, I never once heard my parents complaining about how we their children were a financial burden. Not once.

I was kinda hoping to get a call from a seller who’s planning on listing his home this week, but I’m sure with Thanksgiving in the mix, it’ll end up being delayed until next.  I’ve worked with that family for a very many years, and every time we’ve done business together, it’s been a memorable experience. Yes, there still are some darned good folks living in our midst.

I’m hoping all of you have plans for some get togethers which will create pleasant and long-lasting memories. Unfortunately, there were a number of disastrous Thanksgiving happenings for me in the past which will likely leave a bad taste for this particular holiday forevermore. The one loving Thanksgiving the most, created my most recent.

Tonight’s One-liner is: Misfortune purposely created for another, is an even greater sin.

Joe Chodur

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