All Request Day Continues

To the fellow who emailed me with the question about what's the right cash amount to give a graduating high school senior, hmmm. That's another stumper for me. I think the Gilmore Girls on DVD is a much better idea. Or what about something interesting but unusual (for a high schooler) that she could do with a friend -- like tickets to a theater company or day passes to an aquarium, or even a gift certificate to a restaurant? Probably the teenagers out there are rolling their eyes and would want the cash or the DVD. I remember, though, the year my grandmother got me four tickets to a show at the symphony -- not really my thing, but three of my friends and I got all dolled up and went out to dinner beforehand and felt like sophisticates, and the evening stands out as a memory even though I don't remember the particulars of the show at all. And I don't hardly remember any of the checks I got, even though they always seemed to me to be the best gifts ever. A boat ride? A golf lesson? A rock climbing pass? What about a book like Bartlett's Familiar Quotations or a decent atlas -- everyone should have one of those. Or a kite -- a nice flying kite with a long and fluttery tail? Everyone needs a kite, but most people forget to buy one. I'm always inclined more toward gifts that someone will remember (even if it might be a miss) than ones that will be safely in the zone of the expected. But I'm generally lousy at selecting gifts, myself. Good luck.

Comments

[monica]

I would recommend between $25 and $50, depending on how close the giver is to the student. But I'd also suggest a boxed book set - my favorite high school graduation gift was both volumes of Art Spiegelman's Maus from a family friend that liked comics.

[Adam]

When I graduated from high school, my aunt gave me a wonderful, brilliantly colored wool blanket, just large enough to cover the top of a twin double-long mattress. It is the one gift I remember and have used every day since.

[MS]

the gift ideas you mention sound *great* to me! (my birthday is September 3....hint, hint) ;-)