Wrapping Conundrum

Unwrapping is more fun than wrapping.  Okay.  No surprise there.  I am basically stating the obvious that people have known from time immemorial.  I just had to get it off my chest.  I also needed some way to start this blog entry.

It is the Christmas season, and with it comes presents.  This year I was tasked to buy a lot of stocking stuffers.  That was the easy part (I mean, can anyone say dollar store--though, there seem to be fewer and fewer things there that are still one dollar).  I had no problem amassing all the required items, and, if I do say so myself, managed to avoid anything too crappy or too tacky.  The only problem was what to do with the stuff--to wrap, or not to wrap.  Since the actual gift exchange was going to work somewhat differently, I decided to wrap.  I guess I feel that unwrapping is a fundamental part of Christmas.

When I lived in Japan, whenever I bought somebody a gift, I always asked the store to wrap it up.  This was great and it was free.  They did it easily, and it always looked great.  The best part was that it only took one piece of tape (usually a store sticker) to wrap it up.  One piece of tape.  Amazing.

If only I could do that.  Usually I have to fumble around, hoping that I have cut off the correct amount of paper, though I have either cut too much, or too little, or the angle is so askew that nothing will line up.  I usually have presents that look like they were wrapped by a guy wearing oven mitts and dark glasses in a dark room.

Normally, nobody complains, and the unwrapping takes mere seconds so any evidence is long gone.

On an environmental note, one person wrapped their gifts using recycled newspaper.  They looked better than mine, and saved money.  Kind of wish I had thought of that.