Modern birthday wishlists and daylight robbery

 If you are celebrating your birthday, you either have this general depression and dread, wishing the day passes away quietly and peacefully, or you are one of those people filled with expectation and anticipation. 

People who love birthdays take pictures in different outfits and post them on all social media accounts and of course curate a birthday wishlist.

The recent tradition is creating a birthday wishlist and posting it online or using a wishlist app.

Frequent appearances on that list are money, a trip to the Maldives, iPhone 13, clothes, and money, again. Is it begging or 'bambiala' as it is commonly called?

The idea behind a wishlist is to tell your friends what you want and what they should get you for your birthday.

Writing a wishlist helps to avoid the excuses we know too well like “I didn’t know what to get for you on your birthday”, “Seemed like you have everything already”. Now family and well-wishers are without excuse.

It also helps to be realistic and not start imagining the most expensive gifts that is way beyond their capacity - well it is a wish but are you trying to rob your friends without a gun?

But every wishlist creator must be a gifter too! That is the foundation of gift-giving.

Sheldon Cooper, a fictional character on the show The Big Bang Theory, says this about gift-giving, “I know you think you are being generous, but the foundation of gift-giving is reciprocity. You haven't given me a gift. You've given me an obligation.”

Last year, singer Davido called his friends to contribute money for his birthday and got N200 million in donations.

People were willing to send the money to him because of how kind-hearted or helpful he is, underlying that gift-giving is about reciprocity.

If you cannot buy a friend anything of value for their birthday and you are expecting the world on yours, that is daylight robbery.