75. Gifts People Give

A married couple is talking at home. The husband is attending the Family Management course at NILS on his wife’s behalf. They are discussing a homework on ideal gift items for family members.

Husband: Show me your homework.

Wife: Here. Show me yours.

(Both exchange handwritten pages)

Husband: Yours are different than mine.

Wife: Obviously. You have selected wrong gifts for different purposes. Haven’t you read the notes?

Husband: What notes? The classnotes? Those are meant for you to read.

Wife: I don’t know how you can write them and not read them at the same time. Anyway, you are supposed to give cheap gifts to people living in small nuclear families and expensive gifts to people in large joint families.

Husband: Why?

Wife: Because in a joint family a lot of people will get to see what you have given as gifts. Expensive gifts will make you look good. And in joint families people often sit together and open gifts in front of others.

Husband: And for nuclear families other people do not get to see the gifts?

Wife: How will people see? The gifts will be opened later at home with only a handful of family members around. And unless they are very bitchy, they will not complain about inexpensive gifts.

Husband: And even if they complain, it will make them look bad and not us.

Wife: Yes. Now you are learning things.