I love giving gifts and since freecycle came in to my life I’m a huge fan of “paying it forward” too. However the more I give away on freecycle the more I wonder why I bother. It appears people no longer feel its necessary to just say “thank you” anymore. Not just once have I experienced this with freecycle but thrice. THREE people who’ve been given something and have just taken it and walked away.

Last night however was the last straw, I gave away quite an expensive item, I could’ve ebayed it but no, I thought I’d give it to someone who needed it (to be fair it could’ve been a used singular shoe and I’d have expected a thank you had someone requested to have it) and they took my item, didn’t look back once and didn’t even say “thanks”. That’s right, took announced they’d come to collect it and just went. Yeah, personification of rudeness right there.

Its not just the manners of the takers who use freecycle that’s provoked me into writing this post but also this youtube video of Madonna that came out earlier this week…

Seriously since when did it become to acceptable to be ungrateful and rude?

Here are a few of my top tips on accepting gifts with good grace…

1. Quite simple – say thank you. No one expects you to throw yourself on the floor and make a big deal out of it but a thank you goes a long way. Once I found someones mobile phone, tracked them down and they thanked me as well as bringing me a pack of haribo for my kids (ok so I don’t have kids, they just assumed I would have being from Newport and all that but still…nice thought).

2. We’ve all received gifts we don’t really like or want but you know what…you’ve given gifts that people don’t like or want too, would you be happy if it was your gift that was given the rolling eyes (yeah you Madonna) and bitching treatment? No you would not. So keep it shut. If you don’t like something have the good grace to just say thank you, take some time to realise that you’re lucky to receive anything at all and move on.

3. Don’t see gift giving as a competition. You can’t “out gift” someone, if you’re playing that game just stop it. Gifting should come from the heart not because you want to impress. If you get in to the “my gift will be better than your gift” then you’re going to be disappointed with what you get because you’re always going to be looking for something bigger and better.

4. Watch your reaction. You may like what you’re given but a roll of the eyes or a scowl is going to make the giver want to smack you and remove their gift from your person. Seriously, I need to tell myself this one because I’m a terrible face puller.

5. Say thanks on paper – remember when we were kids and were coerced into writing thank you notes each time we received a gift? Well lets bring that back shall we? Doesn’t even have to be on paper if you’re more technical minded – send a text, write an email – you get the point. Just a little after thought to show you really did appreciate it.

Excuse the ranty tone of this blog post but these people just irritate me beyond belief, I can’t believe that so many people have forgotten good manners?

Please do add your tips for accepting gifts with good grace below x

I may have to do a post on using freecycle – let me know if you’d be interested in reading this and I’ll see what I can do…