Yesterday I finally managed to articulate something that had been stewing in the back of my brain, but I never had actually put completely together: among my American friends and family members, $20 is a pretty reasonable sum for a present (Mothers' Day, birthdays, Christmas, etc.). However, among my Australian friends, $50 is a pretty reasonably sum for a present.
It's taken me ages to actually work this out -- and I've been continually perplexed at why I'm being asked to contribute more to a fund for a casual pal than I'd normally spend on my mom. But this is it! The "reasonable" figure is just a bit different.
Or maybe I'm just cheap? Oh no ...!
Friday, May 6, 2011
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3 comments:
Nah, you just live on the North shore of Sydney. This is not a cultural difference, it's a socio-economic one. I found the same thing when I was living there.
Oh, that does make me feel better! I did come to the conclusion while talking to a friend from Cronulla-ish, so it might be in a couple parts of Sydney as well, but that does make a lot of sense.
Garry's right - basically you just have expensive friends. E.g. in a work situation when passing around a collection for someone who's leaving, $2 is a not unreasonable sum (because most people have a few gold coins in their wallet and because no-one else should be watching how much you put in) and $5 is a considerable sum.
$20-$30 is a fairly normal price range for a present for someone in your family and $50 and over is what you might consider giving someone for a wedding, particularly if you are single.
We've had friends who married who asked us to pay for our meal at the reception in lieu of a wedding gift. Total for that was in the $50-$100 range for the two of us.
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