Gift-Giving Dilemmas Only Southerners Experience
While Southerners do love giving gifts—oh, how we love it—we also find ourselves stumbling over the same region-specific gifting dilemmas every holiday season. (When will we ever learn?) From choosing presents to reconciling rivalries, here are a few of the most troublesome.
Gifting Team Gear…for a Rival
When you decide to gift friends and family gear from their favorite teams, you may encounter an existential dilemma. Can you, a tried-and-true Auburn fan, possibly buy your Uncle Al an Alabama hat, hoodie, pennant? These gifting catch-22s arise all over the South—Georgia vs Georgia Tech, Florida State vs Florida, Clemson vs South Carolina, SEC, ACC—it’s a dilemma each and every year. Can you swallow your pride and buy rival gear? Shudder. It’s a question every fan has to answer for themselves.
To Monogram or Not to Monogram?
Southerners have a reputation for monogramming. Some of us live in monograms from head to toe, so of course we love gifting monogrammed items too. The issue arises when we have to track down a middle initial. If a gifter doesn’t know a recipient’s monogram, that’s when the games begin—the covert strategies we employ to track down the information we need are sneaky...and effective.
How Many Trinket Trays Is Too Many Trinket Trays?
When in doubt, the fallback Southern holiday hostess gift is a trinket tray (monogrammed or not). It's just what we do. It’s a no-fail gift for the inevitable rush of holiday parties, and it’s always both useful and beautiful. However, the dilemma with this gift is significant—can you give it two years in a row? Three? We think yes, because one can never have too many trinket trays, but it’s still a question we Southerners ask year after year.
Staving Off the Perennial Question—“Can I Have That Recipe?”
It’s the phrase that sends shivers down any Southern hostess’ spine—“I don’t need a gift this year, I just need that recipe!” Granted, we are usually happy to oblige that friend, but when passed-down, family-secret dishes are in play, that is a gift we just can’t give. Enter Southern Living. We’re sure to have a taste-alike recipe to please the guest in question.
WATCH: Christmas Card Etiquette Mistakes We Hope You'll Never Make
What gift-giving dilemmas do you encounter every year? Take a spin through our 2017 gift guides to source some gifting inspiration this holiday season.