Gifting my dad a leather shoe was never ideal

Greetings everyone 🙌

Every August happens to be my dad's birthday, and throughout my stay with the family in our hometown, I never witnessed a day declared for his birthday celebration. In fact, on his birthday, it doesn't feel like a special day; we go to the farm and sweat a lot. It's not his fault; the way they grew up in those days was very different from our modern life... coupled with the fact that it's all in the village.

Two years ago, August came, and I decided to make the day special for him. I hadn't been living with them for a couple of years, so that day, I planned to travel home. I thought of many things to buy for him as a gift, and along the way, my brother who lives with me came back from a journey and suggested that I take a shoe he bought but hadn't worn yet and gift it to him. I brought out the shoe, a very fine leather shoe wrapped in nylon.

"Wait, why have you not used this expensive shoe?" I asked my brother while I kept turning the shoe left and right, admiring its beauty.

"Bro, it may sound funny, but the truth is that after I bought it, I totally lost interest in using it. It's appearing too old-fashioned to me. Can't you see how it looks like an old man's shoe?"

His last statement made us burst into laughter. I understood my brother very well; there are really some leather shoes that look too old-fashioned and very hard for a modern person to wear. I was admiring the shoe, but immediately he pointed out how old-fashioned it looked, my eyes opened, and I began to see it that way too. Lol🤣

You know what? Using that as a gift will save me a lot of spending...

I wrapped it in the nylon and sought means to transport it home, and luckily, I found someone who was going to our village, and I gave it to her. I was supposed to travel home by myself that day, but something came up. So we only had a video call, with lots of laughs, and I also told him that someone was bringing a gift for him.

The next day when the gift got to him, he called and appreciated it.

After like four months, which was December, we all traveled home for Christmas celebration, and to my weirdest shock, I met the shoe still wrapped in the nylon.

"You haven't used this shoe, not even once?" I asked, surprised.

He laughed and gave me the reply that sounded like he had rehearsed it for years, "that shoe is too expensive for me to wear. After all, I don't dress big often. As you can see, I prefer easy-going palm wear."

"What do you mean you don't dress big? Don't you go to parties?" I queried because I know very well that my dad is one of the sons of his lineage who is currently at home, and every occasion coming to the family must get to his desk first, and he attends many.

"I like a very simple life; next time, buy me something simple," his soft, polite request silenced my queries.

I sighed because it's now looking like a waste of gifting.

What do I do next?
Who takes the shoe?

My younger siblings at home have the same size feet as us, but I didn't dare to tell them to take the shoe because they don't like anything leather because they don't like dresses that match up with leather shoes...they prefer sneakers.

The shoe is still at home today. I didn't want to collect it to give to someone else. If he doesn't get to wear it one day, then he's in the best position to gift it out to his friends.

This really changed my motive of gifting, especially on birthdays. I usually study the person to know the kind of things they use before buying a gift.

Thank you for reading.

_{This is my entry to KISS challenge in Minimalist community}

_{Images used are mine}

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