Rules for regifting unwanted items

I’m pretty sure my sister just regifted me some athletic wear, because she had earlier mentioned to me not liking some workout clothes she got. She must have forgotten she told me. I don’t care much for these clothes, either. What should I do?

Low road: Wrap them back up and give them to her for her birthday. (This could get fun.)

High road: Let’s give Sis the benefit of the doubt and see her as less of a trickster and more of a planet lover doing her part for our overwhelmed environment. Reduce, reuse, recycle — regift. The circle of life.

I see nothing wrong, and a lot right, with finding a happy home for all sorts of things we are given that don’t trip our light fantastic: clothing, accessories and jewelry, small appliances we might already own, gift cards to restaurants we’ll likely never frequent. The question is: How honest do we have to be?

In the regifting department, I’d tread gently. Regift only new items, in perfect condition — and original boxes — that tend to have universal appeal. With ev- erything else, regift at times of the year that are not as- sociated with gift-giving: no birthdays, anniversaries or Christmas. Simply offer up the goods with a sweet note: “This was given to me and I just know you’ll use it more/ appreciate it more/love it more than I will. Enjoy!” Receiving something fun for no reason feels good.

Giving for no reason feels even better. In this particular case, your best bet is to “re- gift” the athletic wear to a fa- vorite charity or thrift store, where someone will find it, grab it and think, “Score!”