Let’s call gift cards what they are: a cop-out gift. Sometimes it’s a greatly appreciated cop-out, but a cop-out nonetheless. It screams, «I don’t know you and I have no idea what you like so therefore I’m making you make the decision.» In certain cases, that’s the exact right move. If every gift I’ve been given that I didn’t want was replaced by a gift card, I might be a rich person. But I’m also one of those special people who gets paralyzed by gift cards and waits months (maybe even years) to spend them because I want to spend them in the exact right way. It’s a psychological minefield for me. A first-world problem, yes, but a problem nonetheless. 

But sometimes a gift card can be a slap in the face, like in this recent Reddit story where a worker did not get what she deserved. Read on for details.