Christmas time is here again. Why is this always a surprise to me? Here I am thinking I have plenty of time to send out my cards when in reality we are down to just 12 days before the big day.

Anyway, it is the time of year when people are thinking about what to give the loved ones in their lives.

And the acquaintances, and complete strangers.

Gift giving has gone over the top, and unfortunately it is now the norm to purchase gifts for people we simply don't know, just because they perform some function in our lives.

Nothing screams (to me, anyway), "I don't know you from Adam" more than a Starbucks gift card.

If you don't know me well enough to pick out something I might enjoy, please don't buy me anything at all. Please save your money to spend on people you do know, or better, give to someone who really needs it. I don't like overpriced crappy coffee, I don't often eat at fast food or chain restaurants and I won't start now because I have a gift card. I don't shop at many big box retailers.

I have some Nordstrom gift cards that were given to me perhaps five years ago by someone who probably thought Nordstrom was a really impressive place to shop. I used to think so too when I was in my 20s but I lost interest in Nordstrom many years ago. So, Nordstrom has had $50 in free money for a few years now, and may have it forever. What a great gift for Nordstrom, but a waste for the giver, and of no benefit to the receiver. $50 just isn't going to make me go out of my way to enter Nordstrom, or a mall.

Gift cards have flourished in recent years and they don't really benefit the public. They are great for the retailers though. How many gift cards go unredeemed because the recipient has no use for the product? Or as in the case of Starbucks, the recipient may actually dislike the product.

Many retailers start deducting value from unused gift cards. So the recipient who doesn't use the card fast enough faces a reduction in value. How is that a good value for the giver or the receiver? It is only good for the store.

Let's not forget that with gift cards, if the retailer goes belly up, the bankruptcy court will likely not allow them to honor the gift cards, so those gifts can become free money to the failing retailer and a complete waste to the giver and receiver.

What would happen if we all stepped back from the catch-all "solution" of gift cards and paid more attention to the recipients habits and feelings? If we don't know the recipient well enough to know some of their habits, perhaps we should stop giving meaningless gifts to strangers.