Would you appreciate a $10 gift card at Starbucks?

seeker

Sun, Feb 22 2015, 8:26 pm

If they are not Jewish and would not have kashrus concerns then don't worry about "not everyone likes coffee" because Starbucks sells quite a lot of other things and $10 is enough to treat yourself to something. Nice gift.

I might look for a different idea though if they are Jewish and not frum, because there are many non kosher products at Starbucks, I don't know if this would constitute a lifnei iver situation...

Maybe a nice box of chocolates? You can get something gift worthy for $10 especially with Purim sales going on now. True not everyone is going to like chocolate but they can appreciate the gesture and re gift or share with family if needed.

amother

Sun, Feb 22 2015, 9:29 pm

seeker wrote:

OP here.

Thanks for your response! I'll have to see whether I should ask a Shaila about the point you brought up.

Regarding chocolate gift boxes - we do that randomly with those four sectioned gift plates or just good quality bars here and there (although definitely not to everybody!!!). I don't feel it's "choshuv" enough. And people bring chocolate platters all the time.

seeker

Sun, Feb 22 2015, 9:39 pm

Sad to think of a world where chocolate isn't choshuv :-/

Mayve make the GC to Bath and BodyWorks instead? No kosher issues, and maybe Starbucks isn't that choshuv either, some people go there every day. A bath/body type store says more "treat yourself to something you like."

IDEA: If this is in a rehab center maybe you can get something for the office/breakroom instead? Do they already have a Keurig? A nice comfy chair to relax on during their break? Something that would help make their care of the patients easier? Is there someone there you can ask for ideas? Instead of each person getting a tiny gift, they will all get something nice and meaningful. You can still write personal notes to whomever you want...

amother

Sun, Feb 22 2015, 9:41 pm

This is exactly what I gave my son's non-Jewish bus drivers and aides for x-mas, a $10 Starbucks gift card nicely wrapped with home made cookies. I think they really appreciated it.

greenfire

Sun, Feb 22 2015, 9:46 pm

boysrus wrote:

a book token is British English for a giftcard to a bookstore!

totally british sounding ... but thoughts of harry potter shopping in diagon alley came to mind

seeker

Sun, Feb 22 2015, 10:00 pm

Well, first of all the plain cup of coffee could be prepared on non-kosher equipment, but it usually isn't so that's not my point. The point is that a Starbucks gift card invites the holder to shop at Starbucks, which sells about a hundred things other than coffee, most of which are not kosher. Only the kosher-observant consumer is going to bother checking into this and buying only the coffee/kosher tea/water at Starbucks, hence giving such a card to someone who is Jewish but not kosher-observant is at the very least something one would need to AYLOR before doing.

seeker

Sun, Feb 22 2015, 10:52 pm

greenfire wrote:

wow you're getting technical ... then one cannot give any gift card ... who knows what one might buy anywhere

There's a difference between a GC to Target, Amazon, or someplace where you could buy anything, and a GC to an eatery where 90% of the eats are nonkosher.

Thanks for the hug, whoever you are.

I'm a big girl who takes care of my kashrus observance, but also appreciates others helping me when relevant, and also tries to look out for others when relevant. I'm not going to go mussar someone who isn't observant about how they should keep kosher, but I'm also not going to be the one to give them something that is not kosher.

dancingqueen

Sun, Feb 22 2015, 10:52 pm

seeker wrote:

I guess I hear that, but I was more referring to posters who said they had kashrut problems with Starbucks, and I was wondering if that even included plain coffee.

amother

Sun, Feb 22 2015, 11:05 pm

seeker wrote:

Sad to think of a world where chocolate isn't choshuv :-/.

Ok, so this is not the right time or place to give you the background on this......

But suffice it to say- chocolate giving is awesome, we do it lots at hospitals and there too to say a huge thank you. However, here it's a situation of individuals spending endless hours, endlessly loving my child, in many endless ways. I'd rather give something other than chocolate at this opportunity to gift people individually.

(What I didn't mean is that gifting people with chocolate is not a significant or special way to say thanks. I think it's great. I meant it what I said vis a vis my situation.)

amother

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 12:05 am

I would love it because I would hand it over to my dh and get undeserved credit for being a generous wife who gives him gifts for no reason. My DH loves Starbucks so for him this would be ideal. But B"H I make a decent living. If I had a low-paying job like a CNA or teacher's aide, I might resent being forced to waste $10 at Starbucks when I could have bought an entire dinner for that somewhere else. In general I don't like store-specific gift cards because I feel like I'm being held hostage to that store when I could probably get the same stuff elsewhere for less. My dss have literally hundreds of dollars worth of gift certificates to a certain Judaica store in a town that's a good 50 miles from where we live and that we never get to, but the school gives them out as prizes because a lot of the boys do live in that town. By now the gift certs have probably expired, too. Moichel toives.

Rutabaga

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 12:23 am

seeker wrote:

This.

Rather than spending $250-300 on paltry gift cards to a store that not everyone patronizes, why don't you spend it on something everyone can enjoy in the employee break room?

You can still write personalized thank you notes to each individual.

Disclaimer: I don't drink coffee, so I may be biased against the Starbucks gift card idea.

amother

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 12:27 am

Rutabaga wrote:

Totally great idea, (thanks Seeker!)

They do have a Keurig. I'll have to brainstorm.

Anyone with any other great ideas along these lines?

Raisin

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 6:56 am

I think most people would appreciate it. Ask a rav about the kashrus issues but since most people go to starbucks mostly for coffee (they may sell lots of other things but I am sure the vast majority of their profits come from coffee) I don't think you have to worry that they sell ham sandwiches.

Maybe a music system or great speakers for ipods/mp3 players would be nice?

Mama Bear

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 9:03 am

Dont overthink it. Just give it to them. Every little gift is appreciated. I dont think those ppl sit and analyze whether a gift is worth it or not. They appreciate everything.