You know, I’ve seen advice that you should buy gift certificates/cards to support businesses that are locked up by order of the governor.
To be honest, that’s a bit of a gamble, ainna? The gift card will only work if the business survives. Which is becoming less of a toss-up the longer this goes on.
This came to mind because I gave my beautiful wife a gift certificate for a local yoga studio for her birthday last year. Actually, I gave her two. I often give her gift certificates for an experience sort of thing–a spa or something–but when it comes to a gift certificate to the gun range or the yoga studio, I hope that she’ll invite me–but she immediately thinks of a friend she’d rather take, and then their schedules don’t align, so the gift cards remain in her desk drawer for years.
The yoga studio’s gift card has an expiration date of one year from the purchase, so basically a week or so before her birthday this year. In January, when her schedule was continuing to not align with her designated yoga friend, I mentioned that I would be happy to go with her, so we sort of made plans that we would block out some time for it.
Then the shutdown happened, and although the studio is offering Zoom classes, I’m not sure this is how we want to begin our classes. So the shutdown could conceivably run past the end date of the certificate, or it could run so late that we wouldn’t have time to use up the certificates (I bought two to emphasize she could bring someone else–I meant me), or the studio could shutter entirely in the next couple of months.
So support your local businesses by buying gift cards, but only gamble as much as you can lose.
Which explains my ulterior motive for ordering at least once a week from ABC Books. It’s not because I like to accumulate books willy-nilly at the thought that I might want to read that particular title someday. It’s because I generally have $100 or $150 in ABC Books gift cards on hand to give for birthday presents and whatnot. I need to prop them up as best I can or else I’ll have to think of some other default gift for my boys’ school mates or teachers.
