To damer stod og snakkede. Tante A: "Ja og så forærede jeg mine to børn hver nogle lækkre, hjemmevævede håndklæder i julegave. Du ved, de har begge to mange børn, og travlt med deres arbejde har de jo også."
Tante B nikkede forstående.
Tante A fortsatte: "De kunne nok trænge til noget lækkert. Men her i juledagene kom jeg så på uanmeldt besøg hos dem begge, og ved du nu hvad?"
Tante B rystede på hovedet.
Tante A fortsatte: "Jo, hos min søn, der hang håndklæderne nok så nydeligt på gæstetoilettet. Men hos min datter ... der var de allerede godt brugte, og et af dem lå oven i købet på gulvet."
Tante B så forbløffet ud.
Tante A fortsatte: "Ja, og så besluttede jeg altså at jeg aldrig ville give min datter eller hendes familie noget hjemmelavet mere. De passer jo ikke på det."
Tante B nikkede forstående.
Det var ikke lige den udgang, jeg havde regnet med. Sønnen ville jo ikke bruge de dejlige håndklæder, men kun have dem til pynt. Datteren derimod brugte bare tingene efter hensigten, højst sandsynlig med glæde. Jeg ville have vævet flere håndkælder til min datter, når de andre var slidt op, og så finde noget stille-til-pynt-tingeltangel til min søn til næste jul. Eller er jeg bare underlig.
--💎 --
Two elderly ladies were talking. Aunt A: "Yes and then I gave my two children some delicious, hand-woven towels for Christmas. You know, they both have many children, and they are busy working too."
Aunt B nodded understandingly.
Aunt A continued: "They could probably do with some luxury. But then over Christmas I came on an unannounced visit to both of them, and do you know what?"
Aunt B shook her head no.
Aunt A continued: "Well, at my son's place the towels hung beautifully in the guest bathroom. But at my daughter's ... they were already well used and one of them was even lying on the floor. "
Aunt B looked up.
Aunt A continued: "Yes, and I decided there and then that I would never give my daughter or her family anything homemade any more. They don't appreciate it."
Aunt B nodded understandingly.
It wasn't exactly the outcome I had expected. The son does not want to use the nice towels, only show them off. The daughter on the other hand used them for their purpose, probably happily so. I would have promised my daughter more towels when those were worn out, and maybe find some showy brick-a-brack for my son for next Christmas. Or am I just weird.
You are not weird alone. Though perhaps recognising the beauty and worth of the towels shows that all hope is not lost for the son. Saving them for best is understandable - even if it is NOT what the towels were designed to do.
SvarSletI'm the son in this example!
SvarSletTo me it shows respect to the gift giver to recognize the worth of the gift and try to keep them in good condition, and also a mark of respect to one's guests to offer one's "best".
This is just my perspective, and I can see the other viewpoint too.
Something can indeed be said for both uses of the towels. What buggered me was the mother's reaction. As if she did not know her children and their differences beforehand. And feeling insulted that Daughter choose to actualy use the towels!
SvarSletNo one more important than my own family will be in my home, so why not let them use the "nice" things?
SvarSletA lady i knew, when her husband's mother died, inherited the beautiful furniture from the dining room, including the buffet. Inside the drawers were the most lovely table linens, all with notes in them that said, "Do not use! Saved for good!" The woman had saved them all so long she had never gotten any joy out of them.
The lady telling me about it began using them, she said there was no reason not to enjoy them and let them do what they were meant to do.
My point exactly. We joyfully use the nice plates and so on on any given ocasion - nor sp much when the children were very small, but now whit the youngest being 14, nice things are bmade to be used ;)
Slet