It’s the thought that counts. Right!

My boss is leaving us. As he has been a great boss, my colleagues and I want to give him something. Yeah, something. A present.

Here comes a problem; we can’t quite decide what kind of a present we should give him. We want something that is unique, locally made, not too expensive, useable, meaningful… to truly represent our gratitude to him. A Lao cotton shirt? (But we bought one for his last birthday; we have not seen him wearing it). A local painting? (But he’s leaving Laos; it’s too bulky to carry home). A wooden elephant? (The same as a painting). A post card with our signatures? The list goes on.

It’s hard, isn’t it, to choose the right present for other people?

Is it better to just buy something, anything, and give to a person? Or is it better not to buy anything at all because you can’t think of a suitable present/gift for the person? For the latter, you don’t tell the person that you can’t think of anything to give her or him. For the former, if the other person happens to like the present/gift, you are safe. If not, he or she would think you are cheapskate/thoughtless…OR should you just ask the person what he or she wants? But then again, you want to them to be surprised. People like surprises, don’t they?

That is why I sometimes ‘hint’ other people what I want for my birthday present so they won’t have a hard time to figure out what they should get me (although I seldom get a birthday present back in Laos, just in case anyone happens to care.)

Oh yeah, this is my wishing list for this year’s birthday:

1. Canon Digital Camera, 6 megapixel (at least);
2. MacBook Air;
3. Sony DSR-PD150 DVCAM