是时候振兴社会，防止无用的赠与了

是时候振兴社会，防止无用的赠与了

In 1911, a group of women banded together to rebel against the hypocrisy of giving gifts, when the only reason for giving those gifts was out of obligation or the hopes of getting something in return. They were known as Spugs, members of the The Society for the Prevention Useless Giving.

1911年，一群妇女联合起来反对送礼的虚伪，当时送礼的唯一原因是出于义务或希望得到回报。他们被称为Spugs，是预防无用捐赠协会的成员。

Eleanor Robson Belmont (left) and Anne Tracy Morgan founded the Spugs in 1911, but it gained serious momentum in 1912, when the group expanded to about 6,000 members. (Photos: Belmont by Bain [Public domain] and Morgan by Bain News Service, publisher [Public domain]/Both, Wikimedia Commons)

These women just may be my soul sisters. The giving of useless gifts drives me insane.

这些女人可能就是我的灵魂姐妹。送没用的礼物让我发疯。

The story of the Spugs is engaging, especially as told by Atlas Obscura. Founded in 1912 by actress Eleanor Robson Belmont and J.P. Morgan's daughter, Anne Morgan, the group grew to 6,000 members in one year. They spoke out against materialism, particularly at Christmas, and they also spoke out against the expected practice of giving expensive gifts in order to gain favor.

该协会的故事引人入胜，尤其是Atlas Obscura的故事。1912年，女演员埃莉诺·罗布森·贝尔蒙特和j·p·摩根的女儿安妮·摩根成立了这个组织，一年内就有6000名成员。他们公开反对物质主义，尤其是在圣诞节，他们也公开反对为了获得好感而送昂贵礼物的做法。

While the society's founders could well afford to buy Christmas gifts — useless or not — many of the group's members were working women with tight budgets who had to purchase gifts that weren't necessary.

尽管该协会的创始人完全有能力购买圣诞礼物——不管是否无用——但该组织的许多成员都是预算紧张的职业女性，她们不得不购买不必要的礼物。

A good idea

好主意

The society was short-lived, in part because the start of World War I in 1914 focused the members' attention on the larger cause of the war. But even before the war began, the group's purpose had morphed slightly, from the "prevention of useless giving" to the "promotion of useful giving," Slate notes. The name Spug still fit, but the focus was on making sure gifts served a purpose.

这个社会是短命的，部分原因是1914年第一次世界大战的爆发使成员们的注意力集中在更大的战争原因上。但在战争开始之前，该组织的宗旨就已经发生了轻微的变化，从“防止无用的捐赠”到“促进有用的捐赠”，斯雷特指出。“Spug”这个名字仍然合适，但它的重点是确保礼物能发挥作用。

Here are just a few instances when I think we should embrace our inner Spug:

以下是我认为我们应该拥抱内心的自信的几个例子:

Yes, giving a thoughtful gift to a person you care about is a good idea — but there are so many ways to get it wrong. (Photo: Liljam/Shutterstock)

Gag gifts. Not all gag gifts are useless, but many have absolutely no practical use and are created to be opened, laughed and throw in the trash after an acceptable period of time. A quick search for gag gifts finds items like utensils for diets — spoons with holes in them and cut-off knives — that are good for nothing but a laugh (and even that's questionable).

恶作剧的礼物。并不是所有恶作剧的礼物都是没用的，但很多礼物完全没有实际用途，经过一段可接受的时间后被打开、大笑并扔进垃圾桶。快速搜索一下恶作剧礼物，你会发现像节食用具这样的东西——勺子上有洞，切肉刀——这些东西除了笑什么都没有用处(甚至连笑也值得怀疑)。

The children's holiday shop at school. I have never seen a larger collection of plastic garbage for sale as I have at the children's holiday shop, a fundraiser my kids' elementary school held each year. Plastic jewelry for mom, tiny tools that don't function for dad, small bouncy balls for siblings — these holiday shops allow kids to buy gifts for everyone in the family for just a few dollars, but all the items are made cheaply, break easily and have no practical use. "But it's so nice to let the kids shop for their family all by themselves," people will say. I say it's nicer to teach kids that gift giving should be thoughtful and gifts should be useful.

学校里的儿童假日商店。我从来没有见过这么多的塑料垃圾在儿童假日商店出售，这是我孩子的小学每年都会举办的一次募捐活动。给妈妈的塑料首饰，给爸爸的小工具，给兄弟姐妹的弹跳球——这些假日商店允许孩子们花几美元给家里的每个人买礼物，但是所有的东西都很便宜，很容易坏，没有实际用途。“但让孩子们自己为家人购物真的很好，”人们会说。我认为教育孩子送礼应该是经过深思熟虑的，礼物应该是有用的，这样更好。

White elephant exchanges. The original point of a white elephant exchange was to give away something that was given to you that you didn't want, with the small hope that whatever you ended up with the exchange might actually be something useful. But these days, people purchase new items when participating in exchange, and they are often gag gifts. If you're going to give something useless, at least make it something you already possess.

白象交流。“白象交换”的最初目的是放弃一些你不想要的东西，并寄希望于不管你最后交换的是什么，它都可能是有用的。但如今，人们在参与交换时购买新物品，这些物品通常是恶作剧的礼物。如果你打算放弃一些没用的东西，至少让它成为你已经拥有的东西。

Goodie bags at birthday parties. I hated goodie bags when my kids were little. They were full of small plastic toys they didn't want to play and that ended up in the trash. I knew parents who believed they had to try to provide meaningful goodie bags that would be the same value as the expected gifts their child would get. It's OK for a child to walk into a birthday party with a gift in hand and walk out empty-handed.

生日派对上的糖果袋。当我的孩子还小的时候，我讨厌糖果袋。他们装满了不想玩的小塑料玩具，最后被扔进了垃圾箱。我认识一些家长，他们认为自己必须尽力提供有意义的糖果袋，这些糖果袋的价值应该与孩子预期得到的礼物价值相同。对于一个孩子来说，手里拿着礼物走进生日派对，然后空手而归是可以的。

Any time you give a gift. Gift giving is a wonderful practice, and with some thought put into it, useful things can be given. Useful does not necessarily mean practical or boring. Wall calendars are no longer practical since most people use the calendar on their phone or computer, but each year the boys and I give their grandparents photo wall calendars made from photos taken throughout the previous year. It satisfies the grandparents' desire to still have printed photos of the family while being a thoughtful and not budget-breaking gift. (I think the Spugs would approve.)

任何时候你送礼物。送礼是一种很好的实践，只要稍加思考，就能得到有用的东西。有用并不一定意味着实用或无聊。挂历已经不实用了，因为大多数人都是用手机或电脑上的日历，但每年我和孩子们都会给他们的祖父母送一张用上一年的照片制作的挂历。它满足了祖父母们的愿望，既能保留家人的照片，又能考虑周到，又不会打破预算。(我想土豆会同意的。)

Thinking like a Spug has an added bonus: it makes gift giving more environmentally friendly. When we're not buying, and then tossing, useless gifts made from non-biodegradable materials, we're conserving resources on the front end and keeping junk out of landfills on the back end.

像一个自以为是的人一样思考还有一个额外的好处:它使送礼更环保。当我们不买，然后扔掉由非生物降解材料制成的无用礼物时，我们在前端节约资源，在后端防止垃圾进入垃圾填埋场。