Work From Home Couple

My wife and I like to start our work-at-home days by listening to NPR on the radio. Usually, the station has the best news, at least in my opinion. It sure beats the idiocy of local news on the TV.

This morning, though, the station went off the rails a bit. It presented a harrowing story of people who get gift cards for the holidays and then — the horror! — fail to spend them before the businesses they’re attached to go out of business. They are then left holding worthless gift cards.

The news report included the commentary from a woman who accepted $1,500 in Sharper Image gift cards from her employer as a holiday business. Before she spent a cent, though, the Sharper Image went out of business. The poor cardholder is now out of luck.

OK. Is this really a big problem? How about this: If you get gift cards for the holidays, spend them. Don’t wait around. In today’s tough economy, there’s no telling how long that card of yours will be worth anything.

I’m sorry. It’s hard for me to have any sympathy for someone with a now-worthless gift card. First of all, it’s a gift, right? It’s not like these folks had to work to get these gift cards. More importantly, there are many, many U.S. residents who aren’t worried about gift cards. They’re worried about keeping their jobs or, even worse, finding a new one. That’s the real news.

A gift-card crisis? Who cares?

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