Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione)

[alshainofthenorth]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" <lupinesque at y...> wrote:

> Like Heidi, I'd much rather have a book than perfume, but 
> perfume is definitely the more romantic gift.  I just don't happen 
> to wear it, so it's not a very successful gift.  Now, I *do* like 
> jewelry, flowers, lingerie, bath stuff, and fancy chocolates, all of 
> which go under the "intimate gifts" category, so that even though I 
> actually would prefer a good book to any of them 9 times out of 
> 10, I'd be ticked off if my husband *never* made the romantic 
> gesture of buying me any of the others.
> 
> 
> One thing's sure.  Giving a girl perfume in this culture (US) is a 
> Sign either that you view her romantically or that you're such an 
> idiot you don't even realize that perfume is a romantic gift.
> 
> Amy Z

Amy,
I think you're on to something there, what we think of as romantic
gifts tends to be strongly related to culture. I think I read
somewhere that women in Europe use more perfume than American women
(in the good ol' Ancien Règime tradition of covering up the dirt
instead of washing it off) and that is isn't that big a deal for us.
Dunno.

Whether it's romantic or not rather depends on the setting -- if it's
a boy giving it to a girl other than his relatives there might
definitely be romantic connotations. I'd say it depends on the scent
-- Calvin Klein's One isn't as obvious as Shalimar, for instance. 

Methought the "Ron, Hermione and the perfume" scene was rather cute.
Can't blame a boy for trying, Harry botched his first date with Cho
after all. (Ron should have stuck to lily-of-the-valley though.) 

Alshain,
who'd love to get perfume as a present but would insist on choosing it
herself