Democracy Dies in Darkness

Do you hate every gift you receive? You may want to work on that.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “We are either glad or sorry at a gift, and both emotions are unbecoming.”

4 min
(Washington Post illustration; iStock)
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My late grandmother Big Mama was horrible about gifts.

She couldn’t fake delight at a Christmas present she didn’t like. And she had no problem returning the item to you — on the spot — and suggesting a replacement more to her liking.

I adored this woman. But rude!