Posted:
While we're on the subject of gift cards, whether they are for a mail carrier, a school bus driver, or whomever, let me pass along a couple of suggestions.
I have a neighbor who is a school bus driver and each Christmas and at the end of the school year some parents give him gift cards. Don't get Dunkin Donuts gift cards. There's nothing wrong with them, (and I have nothing against Dunkin Donuts) but everybody does it. The driver I know is a diabetic and the last thing he needed was $85 worth of Dunkin Donuts gift cards like he received one year! (He ended up giving them to his grandchildren). A $10 gift card to Dunkin Donuts seems like a nice enough gift, but when a half dozen or more people do the same thing, they add up fast. The same amount of money spent on a gift card to someplace like Best Buy can be used toward the purchase a simple item like a DVD or a CD, or, if there are a number of such cards that add up, they can be put toward the purchase of a bigger ticket item.
So, instead, try the following:
Gift cards or gift certificates for:
A local restaurant (put towards dinner, lunch, or breakfast)
Best Buy (put towards entertainment products, DVDs, CDs, camera supplies)
Barnes & Noble (books, DVDs, CDs)
Penneys (clothing, home furnishings, small appliances)
Home Depot (put towards home improvement items, tools)
Target or Wal-Mart (clothing, home furnishings, entertainment products, etc)
local supermarkets (food)
etc., etc.
Cards that can be redeemed either in a local store or online are a good chioce. I think the thing to remember is to get a card that can be used in a place that sells a variety of items at all price ranges to give the recipient the widest range of options for redeeming it.