Where in the world am I today?: Hopefully – Port Canaveral FL, USA joining the Monarch of the Seas.
Nothing say’s Happy Holidays like a Steak… Right? Yes? No? Maybe? Well I’ll be honest, I’d never really thought of it as an ideal gift myself which is why I was caught off guard a bit while I was sitting in the Horizon Court Buffet aboard the GRAND Princess about a week and a half as Peter Gossamer ordered steaks on-line for key clients, family and friends (for fun the links above will take you to three different on-line retailers for steaks…to be honest, I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the ordering process to figure out which one Peter was actually using). The image was made even more amusing by the fact that Carol, Peter’s assistant and fiancé kept telling him to hurry up with the orders because the ship was slowly easing away from the peer in Dominica. The wireless signal that Peter was connected too was land-based not ship based, so as we moved away from the peer there was a very real risk that the connection would dwindle before a key transaction could be completed. In the end I think Peter managed to get about 70 – 80% of his ‘shopping’ done for the Holidays in one foul swoop via a couple of on-line delivery companies… Amazing!
Though a steak isn’t necessarily a product that I’d first consider as the gift that says ‘Thank You,’ the idea of a gift to say thank you is something I’ve recognized for years. I posted about the ‘GGOL’ (Generous Gift Of Love) as it’s become known in the circle of performers who attend C.A.M.P. in Winnipeg back in July. This idea of giving something back was driven home to me in Japan where I was exposed to the Japanese tradition of giving the bride and groom a wedding gift, and then having them give you something back as a thank you for coming to their wedding. When I got married in Japan, my wife very gracefully looked after all of the arrangements on that end of the spectrum as I felt completely out of my depth, but wedding package services that you can have organize your ‘special day’ in Japan include previsions for these gifts from the happy couple.
If steaks are a bit off the radar in terms of what a thank you gift can be, then some of these gift packages from Japan struck me as even more odd. Laundry detergent, facial tissues, toilet paper…all of these things are considered appropriate thank you presents from Japanese brides and grooms… Why? Well my wife explained it to me like this… People in Japan don’t have large homes, so giving them consumables makes more sense than giving them ‘objects.’ Laundry soap and household paper products are items that gets used up and are something that most people see as having day-to-day value which can at times be more important than a luxury item or trinket that just sits around and collects dust.
My friend Scotty Watson told me of a rule that he and his wife have in there home that goes like this… Nothing new can come into the house unless something old leaves. The way Scotty spoke to me about this rule I knew he was quite serious and as he seemed to quite like all of the stuff that he had collected for himself over the years, the chances of him wanting to pick up anything ‘extra’ that would force him to get rid of something he already had and really liked seemed somewhat remote. One thing that replaces another…that’s OK, but a rule like this would make most people think twice about accumulating crap if they had to get rid of things they already had as part of the process…
If you look at gift giving with this in mind, then the best possible gifts are likely the ones that improve your life without adding extra clutter to it. If you wrap your head around this then perhaps the idea of a Steak as a gift isn’t so odd after all. Well…unless you’re a vegetarian.
