Every now and then I receive guest post requests from other blogs or websites. I almost never take them up on their offers. Not because I don’t like when someone’s doing my job for me (hey, what’s the name of my blog, again?). But the problem with guest posts is that most of them are sh*t; the topics that they propose are mundane; they are rarely well-written; and worst of it, people don’t even try because the only thing they want out of it is backlinks. Why anyone would want a backlink from my tiny blog — I have no idea.
There can be exceptions, however. Michelle Hutchison works for an Australian financial site finder.com.au that recently crossed the ocean and came out with the U.S. start-up finder.com. A couple of years ago, she and her boss were coming to New York and they had contacted me, so I dragged them to a German restaurant in Park Slope, we had a few drinks and they gave me a bear. Not a beer, a bear. My kid had a blast!
Anyway, this is not exactly a guest post, but they did a nice infographic about stupid Christmas gifts that people so much love to buy and hate to receive, and while I’ve always known it’s a waste of time and money, now we have an official proof. 🙂
Buying Christmas Gifts: The Infographic
Still insist on buying Christmas gifts no one will need?
Just think about all the waste that goes into this gift-buying racket: you agonize over what to buy and where to buy, and they agonize over how to return it to the store without standing in line for 2 hours.
I especially liked these pointers:
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Most unwanted presents are clothing and accessories (46%), followed by household items (13%), cosmetics and fragrances (12%), literature (6%), technology (5%), food and drink (4%), music (3%)
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Other unwanted gifts (11%) include sex toys [seriously?], gift cards [Aha!], jewelry, wall calendars, scented candles and gag gifts
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Bosses are the person Americans don’t want to buy presents for, followed by their mother-in-law
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Friends give the worst presents, followed by parents, then in-laws and then partners
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Almost 1 in 5 (18%) of Americans said their partners are hopeless at buying presents for them
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1% of people said getting drunk was their favorite part about the holidays, while 4% said there’s nothing they like about Christmas
Seriously, just buy them a prepaid card. But not a store gift card, mind you (see the bullet point #2), but Visa or Master. And use the cashback portal if you know what I mean.
Just kidding, I know you do. 🙂
Full Article: Christmas confessions: finder.com exposes the who, what and why behind America’s wasted $9.5 billion in unwanted gifts
Photo: OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay
