Shis issue: (Y Delay tap-and-pay (Y Nice guys finish last - but they get second chances ( Respectful shrines or highway distractions? And more! Have your voice heard! Contact: Opinions Editor, Elliot Chan M opinions@theotherpress.ca www. theotherpress.ca I'll save it for someone special » Keep the receipt; you have the right to return the gifts you don’t want Elliot Chan Opinions Editor © opinions @theotherpress.ca here are many circum- stances to gift exchanges, including traditions, hospitality, and romances. Although these gestures are often associated with goodwill and thoughtfulness, gifts can also become temp- tations, garbage, and good ol’ white elephants. Despite the occasional awkwardness that comes with gift giving, nothing compares to the gross attitude of returning gifts. It often stuns me to see the line-up at department stores, set up specifically for returns. After the holiday season, consumers will find a day to gather all the unopened gifts they’ve received from Aunt Jane or Uncle Paul and return them for store credits—or if they're lucky, money back. Maybe sometimes Aunt June and Uncle Paul will give their approval for returning their gifts, but who really has the gall to ask? There is a stigma that : comes with returning gifts, and : rightly so. Purchasing presents : can often bea stressful chore. : Shopping malls become a : battlefield, so much so that gift : receivers should feel grateful : that they got anything at all. : But no! The onus should be on : the giver to find the perfect gift : and not simply settle once their : feet are tired from doing the : third lap around Metrotown. If : you are going to buy someone : something, make sure it is : something they want, need, or : willat least have a chuckle at. Giving a gift with no : thought behind it can be more : insulting than not giving a : gift at all. Sometimes people : say, “It’s the thought that : counts.” Well, was there really : any thoughtat all? Sure you : might’ve thought about them, : but you didn’t consider their : personality, their wants and : desires, or even if they wanted : you to give thema gift at all— : because, hey, maybe they didn’t : think about you. Not all your : acquaintances will consider : you gift-worthy, and they might : simply omit you from their list : for shopping-sanity reasons. : So if you can’t confirm that the : person enjoys chocolate, save : the Ferrero Rocher for someone : else; if you can’t confirm that : the person enjoys reading, don’t : buy a book (a.k.a. homework); : and if you can’t confirm that the : person wants a tacky antique : figurine in their home, well : want it, I love tacky stuff. Gift giving is an art form; : skilled gift givers can read : someone, assess their rela- : tionship with that person, and : offer something of value. But : after the gift is exchanged, it : no longer belongs to the gift : giver; it belongs to the receiver, : and it’s theirs to do with as they : please. Should they choose to : return it, re-gift it, or allow it to : sit on the shelf until your next : visit—to show you how much : they care—that is up to them. Never condemn someone : for returning your gifts, : because giving a gift is all : about making someone : happy. Burdening them : with your lack of thought is : not what you intended, so : suck up your pride—it was : never really about you. DON’T STOP... BELIEVING!/!!/, tu, [Am] Ia Barbie girl? » Stop toying with body confidence § Sharon Miki _ Humour Editor 4 humour @theotherpress.ca €€ CM hould toy companies start making Plus- Sized Barbie dolls?” A group called Plus Size Modeling posed that question on their Facebook page last month, and the query—which was accompanied by an artist’s rendering of what Barbie might look like if she carried some extra pounds—has ignited some heavy debate over the role an iconic toy like the Barbie doll has in shaping the body confidence of young children. Would having a bigger Barbie make overweight girls feel more comfortable with themselves because they could (literally) play with a plus-sized role : model? Or would having a big- : ger Barbie encourage obesity in : children who might otherwise : have been pillars of leanness? : In my opinion, neither, because : Barbie is—like a Furby or Mr. Potato Head— just a toy. Whether you personally find the plus-sized Barbie : visually appealing or not, how : ahuman-like toy is made to : look shouldn’t—and I believe, : doesn’t really—have any : significant impact on how girls : and women view their bodies. : For example, like many little : suburban girls, I grew up play- : ing with Barbie. Although most : of my doll-time involved giving : them haircuts or making them : perform extreme stunts off the : staircase, I was still engaging : inthe Mattel-based paradigm : of little girldom. However, I : also played with Transformers : and made Optimus Prime act : out elaborate romantic tales : with my Tamagotchi. Ifhow : my toys looked made sucha : big impact on how] grew up to : look and feel about my body, : shouldn't I now havea tiny : Barbie waist with big wax lips and arms that turn into guns? While I concede that : Barbie dolls do present a fairly unrealistic version of what an ; average woman might look like : (after all, if Barbie were scaled : toan average human height, : her measurements would be : an incredibly disproportionate : 36-inch bust, 18-inch waist, : and 33-inch hips), I also think : that it’s a waste of time to : worry about marketing dolls to : accurately look like real people, : because no dolls accurately : look like real people. Even the : thinnest fashion models are > unlikely to fit in with Barbie’s : proportions. If this is how : this particular toy looks, that : doesn’t mean that it’sa slight : toall of the non-plastic girls : inthe world; it just means that : this isthe shape that Barbie is most comfortable in. As for those who are upset by the idea ofa plus-size Barbie : because they don’t find the doll : with Barbie’s features anda : double-chin attractive... well, : first ofall, no one is asking you : to date an artist’s rendering : ofa plastic doll. Also, get over : it: humans come in different : shapes and sizes. While I : don’t think that a doll needs to : accommodate every possible : body type in order for little : girls to grow up with good role : models and body confidence : (since this responsibility should : : really fall to their parents and : teachers), I also don’t think that : it’s necessary to be, like, mad : about a Barbie looking different : from how she normally does. : After all, if Barbie can bean : astronaut and a mermaid, she can certainly bea size 18. Should doll makers start making a plus-size Barbie a : laimage created for Plus Size : Modeling? As I’ve stated, I don’t think that there is any real : moral need to, and in the end : [think the answer will come : down to the money. Ifthere is : amarket big enough fora new, : plus-sized doll, I’m sure that : Mattel will fill it. Hell, they can : even call it “Barbie’s fun & fat : friend, Sharon.” But the classic : Barbie has been little girls’ : doll of choice for more than 50 : years, so won't cry if she keeps on giving them joy, even with : her fictionalized physique.