Have You Ever Returned A Gift?

At our team pot luck yesterday, everyone filled out a questionnaire about the people in the room, on the premise that it would stimulate conversation. The questionnaire contained probing questions about Christmas.

One of the questions wanted to know if anyone had returned a Christmas present given to them last year. The question made me think. I have not been guilty of returning a present, but I am guilty of selling a few items later, when I thought I needed the cash more than the gift.

I'd gotten plenty of use from the gift, I just thought I didn't need it anymore (or had some other lame rationalization for getting rid of it). What comes to mind are a portable typewriter and a set of golf clubs. Both gifts came from my parents, on the hope that either would spur me on to a successful career. Well, I'm not Tiger Woods.

My father used to tell me that if I invested my time and energy in the game of golf as a youth, I'd have life "by the tail." Unfortunately, even though my father's advice was always top-notch, I failed to find the action plan to make it happen.

The typewriter was the result of my childhood dream--I always wanted to be a newspaper reporter. It was a beautiful machine. My typewriter was pale blue, with white keys, and a black textured case that protected it as I bounced around with it from place to place. The roller turned smoothly when you spun the dial at the end of the carriage. The carriage return arm made a slight clicking noise when you slammed it home upon completing another line of prose. I loved that typewriter. I never became Ernest Hemingway or Bob Woodward.

When I typed on that typewriter I employed the hunt and peck technique. It didn't bother me. I once watched a prominent newspaper editor, from the town I grew up in, use the same technique to write an editorial for the days deadline. I never became a newspaper reporter, but I did become a writer.

I'm not sure what I wanted that prompted me to sell those items. Today I am writing this on my Compaq laptop and I haven't golfed in years. Times change and the typewriter and golf clubs are but a memory. But oh, what a sweet memory.

FORE!