Worst gift ever

A wonderful gift suggestion for the person who has everything: Make a donation in their name to a worthy cause—with the understanding that the cause ought to be something your gift’s recipient actually supports. I have received great gifts of this type from friends who donated to the public library and a literacy campaign on my behalf. In one case, I continued to donate on my own.

But I once had a friend (yep, that’s past tense) who might best have been described as passive-aggressive. She donated to a cause she believed in—on my behalf. Not only did I receive a lovely thank-you note from an anti-abortion group I thoroughly disapproved of, but I continued to receive their mailings for years. Even after I’d moved three times. It was the annoying gift that kept on giving, complete with (unused) anti-choice bumper stickers.

I wanted to reciprocate, say, with a gift to NARAL Pro-Choice America or perhaps a feminist organization. (She was one of those “I’m not a feminist” types, in spite of her advanced degrees, good job and half-time nanny.) But I figured that, since karma is a bitch, she’s probably already gotten hers in return.