On the night of December 24, children across the nation remain wide-eyed in bed, waiting for sun to reveal the arrival of Christmas morning.

“I remember running down the stairs on Christmas morning when I was younger,” Leah Christopher, ’10, said, “only wanting see what is in my stocking and to open my presents; but when I got older I wanted to pick out my gifts.”

According to an online article originally published by The Daily Record of Baltimore on Nov. 29, 2004, by Robyn Lamb, “Gift cards no longer considered impersonal choice for gifts,” gift card sales this year are expected to climb from $100 million to about $75 billion. Currently, most large retailers sell their own store branded cards, even for gasoline or long-distance phone calls.

“It’s a good way to give a gift, and it’s simiple,” Richard Garcia, ’08, said. “You just put the money on the card and you’re done. The only other thing to do is give it to the person.”

Although gift cards allow the recipient to pick a gift of their choice, a card to an undesireable store seems useless and is often wasted.

Plastic Jungle, created by Tina Henson, is an online marketplace which buys, trades and sells pre-owned gift cards. The site charges a flat fee of $3.99 per 90 day listing, for purchasing any card of any value.

“Once I got a $50 gift card to Old Navy,” Chris Tharpe, ’08, said. “I ended up giving the card away because I wasn’t interested in Old Navy at all. I wish I could have traded it for another.”

Despite growth of gift card popularity, many believe it is an impersonal and convenient gift choice.

“I would rather get the person an actual gift to unwrap,” Christopher said. “Gifts cards seem impersonal; it shows you don’t really know the person and don’t want to put time into picking out a gift. Besides, it?s just a waste of their time to go and buy the gift.”

In another twist to gift cards, it is now a possibility to put any amount of money on a debit card, which can be used at any store.

“As I got older I thought about the kind of things I wanted,” Jaclyn Blackwell, ’07, said, “and I decided I just wanted a couple of really nice gifts. It just makes sense that when your older you get nice, useful, things like a car or money.”

These improvements to gift cards, although convenient, seems to deny the simple enjoyment of unwrapping gifts as a child.

“Gift cards kind of deprives a person of unwrapping a well-thought out gift,” Kailee Maxey, ’09, said. “It’s taking the easy way out. You should try harder to get what people want.”

With the Christmas season just ahead, The Feather editors are interested in its readers’ thoughts on gift cards, their popularity and reactions to receiving them as gifts. Please send the paper your letters to the editor or just respond to the Nov. 22 poll posted in the right menu bar.