s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but I find it weird and give gift cards.

Ugh, please don’t. I hate gift cards. I have a stack of probably 30 of them. They never get used, get sorted to the bottom of purse, eventually taken out and added to the growing pile. My 7 yr old plays with them now

Spend them or regift them.

That’s the thing, it passes the burden onto me to remember to put them in my purse, remember what stores they are for, remember to use that specific card when I happen to be at that specific store. Or I have to take to the time to look up organisations that will take them as donations, drive there to donate. I just don’t want to be bothered at this point. Spending my $10 Coldstone gift card just isn’t on my list of things to do

Cash it is.

[Anonymous]

I married into a family from Hong Kong via Canada and DH insists on cash. So far most of our teachers have been younger than us so DH stuffs it inside a red envelope and I stuff it inside a card and if it’s wrong either way, we’ve told ourselves that we can hide behind him not knowing the cultural norms or me not knowing his cultural norms. So far no one has complained or told us to stop.

Some years when we know cash would be awkward (older teacher or clearly well-off) or when we know a teacher truly loves the independent bookstore by school, we give them a big gift card for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whatever teacher complains about gift cards should come to my school. I've never gotten a gift card from a parent. My last pay check is at the end of June and July and August are hard for me, even with summer jobs. I'd love a gift card to anywhere!

+1. There's some seriously spoiled people on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not since the teacher has a personal connection to your child. Trader Joe's giftcards have been universally well-received.

I do amazon as not everyone shops at Trader Joes, Target, and some of those stores. On Amazon, they can take the gift card and exchange it for another gift card if they want. I never go to Trader Joes.

What's so hard about going into a store and buying something with a gift card? I don't get the laziness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not since the teacher has a personal connection to your child. Trader Joe's giftcards have been universally well-received.

I do amazon as not everyone shops at Trader Joes, Target, and some of those stores. On Amazon, they can take the gift card and exchange it for another gift card if they want. I never go to Trader Joes.

What's so hard about going into a store and buying something with a gift card? I don't get the laziness.

Many reasons already listed. It makes more work for the gift receiver. That isn’t really a gift. What’s so hard about putting $20 in an envelope? That is infinitely easier on everyone- unless you happen to regifting from the piles of gift cards you never got around using.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Worrying about corporations, dude, it’s just not that deep. Cash is beyond tacky. Cash is what you give to a babysitter as a tip, or a neighbor who is a graduating senior. Don’t worry about it, just give a nice gift card and be done with it.

No way! Cash is king. I’d rather have $20 in my wallet than a $100 gift card to god know where.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not since the teacher has a personal connection to your child. Trader Joe's giftcards have been universally well-received.

I never shop at TJ so this would be useless to me. No one gift card will suit everyone, whereas cash is legal tender everywhere.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know why but giving cash feels weird to me, but it shouldn’t because it’s the same thing as the gift card.

Op, I think if you give cash or a gift card it will be appreciated either way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whatever teacher complains about gift cards should come to my school. I've never gotten a gift card from a parent. My last pay check is at the end of June and July and August are hard for me, even with summer jobs. I'd love a gift card to anywhere!

+1. There's some seriously spoiled people on here.

+1
All this fighting and everyone loves to open a card with money in it. COME ON. It's universally delightful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but I find it weird and give gift cards.

Ugh, please don’t. I hate gift cards. I have a stack of probably 30 of them. They never get used, get sorted to the bottom of purse, eventually taken out and added to the growing pile. My 7 yr old plays with them now

Spend them or regift them.

That’s the thing, it passes the burden onto me to remember to put them in my purse, remember what stores they are for, remember to use that specific card when I happen to be at that specific store. Or I have to take to the time to look up organisations that will take them as donations, drive there to donate. I just don’t want to be bothered at this point. Spending my $10 Coldstone gift card just isn’t on my list of things to do

Oh that’s so hard. What a burden.

[Anonymous]

I don't even know why I feel this way, but I give daycare teachers cash and elementary school teachers gift cards. Maybe because I feel like elementary school teachers are professionals and daycare teachers unpaid? No clue.

The whole gift card for teachers thing is a little strange IMO. We're dual feds (and not the dual GS15 ones that everyone else seems to be on dcum) and if someone tried to give either of us gift cards or cash it would be an ethics issue. I get a small bonus from my agency after my performance evaluation (nothing like private sector 5 figure bonuses), but dh's work doesn't do that. Do teachers not get bonuses from their work?

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher who doesn’t see a difference between cash and a gift card. You don’t need to give me a gift at all but when you do either is fine. Cash is easier for you and easier for me, so I don’t really see the point of the card, but really either or nothing or a thank you note is fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't even know why I feel this way, but I give daycare teachers cash and elementary school teachers gift cards. Maybe because I feel like elementary school teachers are professionals and daycare teachers unpaid? No clue.

The whole gift card for teachers thing is a little strange IMO. We're dual feds (and not the dual GS15 ones that everyone else seems to be on dcum) and if someone tried to give either of us gift cards or cash it would be an ethics issue. I get a small bonus from my agency after my performance evaluation (nothing like private sector 5 figure bonuses), but dh's work doesn't do that. Do teachers not get bonuses from their work?

I am a long time teacher. I have gotten things like a free plastic water bottle with the school logo, or pizza in the break room, or permission to wear jeans.

Ethics rules are different for different professions. There are things I can’t do with students that you could probably do with your clients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't even know why I feel this way, but I give daycare teachers cash and elementary school teachers gift cards. Maybe because I feel like elementary school teachers are professionals and daycare teachers unpaid? No clue.

The whole gift card for teachers thing is a little strange IMO. We're dual feds (and not the dual GS15 ones that everyone else seems to be on dcum) and if someone tried to give either of us gift cards or cash it would be an ethics issue. I get a small bonus from my agency after my performance evaluation (nothing like private sector 5 figure bonuses), but dh's work doesn't do that. Do teachers not get bonuses from their work?

Daycare teachers are professionals too. And also underpaid.

[Anonymous]

The only people who don't like cash are the gift givers. It's not the gift receivers. Because a gift isn't really a gift for the receiver; it's meant to stroke the ego at the giver.