When you have to buy a gift for your friend then you should be considerate to what that friend enjoys. I mean, after all, if they are a friend, then you should know them enough to at least have some indication of what their likes and dislikes are.
Same Sex Friends
If you are a female and you are looking for a gift for your female friend, then you probably already have several ideas as to what this person likes or dislikes. There is usually a common thread of some type between friends, you can utilize this information when making your final decision.
For example, if you and them enjoy watching a sports, then you could pick up a book on that sport or on their favorite player. Or if you and your best friend enjoys flavored coffees together, you can pick them up some flavored coffee and give it as a gift. I realize this is a borderline gift, but sometimes you may have nothing else to choose from. If you wanted to really make a great impression, pick several small items that you know they enjoy and package it all together.
Opposite Sex Friends
I have some great friends that just happen to be of the opposite sex. This can make buying a gift a bit hard for some people, however, there are several ways of approaching this.
1. * If your opposite sex friend is married *, ask his or her spouse what the person might like as a gift. If there is a chance of jealously, make sure to explain why you are wanting to buy the person a gift. This puts the fact that you are going to give this person, the spouse, gift out in the open, so it does not look suspicious. For example, you might be wanting to know because this person has really helped you through some tough times. Of course, if you and this person are good friends, the spouse is already aware of the relationship and there may not be any problem with the aforementioned jealously.
- If your opposite sex friend is not married, * but you are married, make sure not to pick an intimate gift for this person. Underwear, socks, you know, all those gifts we do not really want either. A funny card and maybe a box of their favorite chocolates or cookies will work. I have given t-shirts from my area to one friend of mine because he lives a great distance away and loves to workout, so I know he can wear this shirt while doing so.
So again, just give it a little thought. You may also want to tell your husband that you are giving this person a gift if you are afraid of something being said later. Even though most of my opposite sex friends just happen to be other people working in the musical world also, I still like to mention to my husband that I am getting this person a gift. That way it leaves no room for suspicion.
Friends that come in a couple
If you have friends that are married to one another, then there are once again several ways to approach this. You can either plan to buy one gift for both of them, or two separate gifts geared to each of their individual tastes.
- Example * A few years ago I had a couple of very close friends that had been so wonderful to me. I would travel to their area to use the studio there. As a result I got to be friends with both the husband and the wife, so when the holidays came, I had presents picked out for each of them as well as their pets.
I chose to get several small items, instead of one big item because each of them had very different tastes. The wife enjoyed bath products while the husband enjoyed products geared more to activities outside the home.
But yet another couple of friend of mine that were married, both enjoyed about the same things so I bought one more expensive gift to give both of them.
So you will need to feel your ground with this. The best piece of advice I can offer is stop and think before just running out and picking out the first thing that comes to mind.