Retail consumers in Chile don’t have many rights to speak of, but one we do have is the right to get our purchases gift-wrapped in the store for free. Supermarkets, department stores and toystores have gift-wrapping counters year-round, and during the holidays so do the rest– drugstores, hardware stores, you name it. A store that doesn’t provide this service might just stay in the red on whatever the Chilean equivalent of Black Friday is.
As such, stores must take gift-wrapping seriously; they must dedicate space, labor and materials to the endeavor, with basically no value added. It’s just more overhead, like electricity or toilet paper. They can’t skimp too much, however. They should offer a choice of gender- and age-specific designs, and include a bow or other adornment. What they can do to provide this service efficiently is to go “high-tech” in one of two ways:
- High technique: In stores that use this method you will be impressed with the gift-wrapper’s skill. He will take a precut sheet of wrapping paper, then quickly and with judicious use of creases and Scotch tape produce a bag that is open at one end. He will then carefully insert your gift, and seal it with a few more careful folds and some more tape. Finally he will pull out something that looks like a bookmark or several pieces of ribbon stuck together, and magically, just by pulling on it, turn it into an impressive bow that he will tape to the gift.
- High technology: Some stores prefer to forego such time-consuming production, and buy pre-made bags that look like large multi-colored plastic envelopes. They have a self-adhesive flap for sealing the gift, and– here’s the kicker– the adhesive is protected not with a piece of wax paper, but instead, one of the aforementioned magic bows. What’ll they think of next?
With both methods you end up with a bagged gift rather than a wrapped gift, but this is absolutely acceptable in most social situations involving presents. Also, birthday boys and girls traditionally open their gifts immediately upon receiving them, so guests don’t usually add a note to theirs to say who it’s from. If the host doesn’t manage to open all presents as they arrive, though, the result is a big pile of unmarked colored bags– a good opportunity to let an uninspired gift get lost in the crowd.