The Gifts That Never End

Most cities or towns have some sort of merchandise line made specifically for tourists. Snow globes, sweatshirts, sweatpants, T-shirts, postcards, shells, bags or beach towels: you name it, they make it.

As many grandparents do, mine lived in Florida for the winter months every year while I was growing up... Bonita Springs, FL to be exact. I can't recall visiting, but I know that we took a trip down when I was three to see them over Christmas which was the only time I went.

However, each year, my grandmother felt that I needed to have new things from Bonita Springs. Most of the time it was the T-shirts that were several sizes too large: the bright blue ones with jumping dolphins; the yellow ones with old-lady hat designs; the plain white and gray ones with beach scenes and glittery shells; the pale pink ones with flowers; and all with BONITA SPRINGS, FLORIDA splashed across the front.

The horrifying part about these shirts is not that I have a few hiding in a corner... No, I have enough of them from over the years to open up my own store. Literally. Aside from all of the "normal" shirts that I simply didn't like wearing, one section of my closet was dedicated entirely to piles of Bonita Springs paraphernalia.

While some tourist-y gifts are acceptable, going overboard is really not acceptable! So know when to stop buying T-shirts with shells and city name blurbs because if we wanted them, we would ask for them!