Turtle Presents

Ned's post on Post Turtles reminded me of an old story a friend told me. His family had a gift giving tradition they called the 'turtle present'. A 'turtle present' is a gift you presented to someone else that you actually intend for yourself. It all started when my friend was young and had asked for a pet turtle and was told he couldn't get one. Rather than take no for an answer he rode his bike down to the local pet shop, bought a turtle with his own money and gave it to his mom as a present. The family thought it was such a funny ploy for a little kid to come up with they adopted the basic idea as a yearly tradition.

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