Sinful Sunday: Do you keep the presents you get?

Most people get presents on their birthday, with Christmas and if you live in the Netherlands and the upper part of Belgium then you often get presents with Sinterklaas (on the 5th of December) as well. But what do you do with these presents? Do you cherish them till the end of your days or do they end up on some pile of stuff you never look at again? What about the gifts you get in a game? Do you care more for those or even less?

It's the thought that counts?

That's what I always learned from everyone that gave me a present and no that doesn't mean that I got terrible presents, but it's not all about getting the super cool expensive stuff. You should keep in mind that not everyone can afford that and the fact that someone gave you something is already more than enough. At least that's how I see it, because if you only care about what you get and this has to be quite amazing then you're in for a lot of disappointments! I got actually a lot of stuff just because my parents were travelling or because I did something good, these gifts were usually not the type that makes you jump for joy but I kept almost all of them. I kept that many of them that I actually had to make some choices what to keep and what to give away to friends when I had to move last year. So maybe I hold onto things a bit too long but I care more about the sentimental value than the actual value of an item. For example a keychain I got from my mother, a dancing coke can from the USA from my sister and a wooden snake from Indonesia from my uncle. These items aren't that special when you look at them, but it's really the story behind them that make them special to me. Perhaps you have also a lot of items like that and others might not understand why you hold on to them but you know and that's what counts the most!

Do you keep everything you get, even in games?

Well not everything, but I do keep a lot of things. Yes that means also the things I get in games. Why? I think it's kind of rude to give away a gift or throw it away, even if it's something I probably won't need or want. As I mentioned before it's the thought that counts, so it might seem like junk to some people but there is often a story behind every item I have. That doesn't mean I keep everything out in the open, certain things are in a box or put away somewhere else because I just don't have room for that item. But throwing it away seems wrong, unless it's something that is broken or something I can make someone else happy with. For example I got a statue once and as much as I value getting it the fact is that I didn't like the look of the statue but someone else did like it so I eventually gave it to that person. Was that wrong of me? Maybe, but the fact is that I made someone happy with a gift that would probably gather dust in some box in my place. So it's probably better to make good use of that gift. In games I'm pretty much the same as in real life when it comes to gifts and rewards, you'll see me carry around a lot of stuff I don't really need but when a npc tells me that this is something important or been in their family for a long time I always feel guilty selling it so I end up keeping it in my house (in the game) or carry it with me if that's possible. For example I carried around the two wedding rings in Fallout 4, maybe some would sell them as soon as possible but for me it was a memory of my character spending time with his wife. It just feels wrong to get rid of them, besides it's not like it would be so difficult to carry that around with you. Try to carry a rocket launcher or the portable nuke launcher around in the game, now that will be a bigger challenge!

I wish you a merry Christmas and hopefully you have a great time with family and friends!