I don't generally support obligatory gift-giving, but it really depends on your friendships. A lot of people love to host guests and spoil them, some are not financially capable of doing so and some are not emotionally capable of doing so, like introverts and neurodivergent folks.
As long as you weren't a leech and paid for your own expenses while visiting, like they weren't having to make you breakfast, lunch and dinner and pay for all your outings, and there was no special occasion you were celebrating, I see no reason to bring a gift. We don't live in a time where you can throw money at people every time they have you over for a dinner, that's just not economically viable for a lot of people, which is why the hospitality industry has taken such a big hit over the last few years. It's awesome that your mother had spare $50s to hand out every time she went to visit her friends, but that's not this generation.
Time is also a gift to a lot of people, because friendships are often hard to maintain and getting together for these mini-vacation type meet ups occasionally is sometimes the only time you'll get to see certain friends in a year. I have a friend who works 3 jobs atm and we talk on the phone and see each other maybe once every 4 months. Again, economic viability is important.
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Ticketsplease (4024)
a year ago
Well we always split costs or paid for ourselves, so I wasn't costing them anything really. Maybe cost them some fuel.
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Wint3rFir3 (7398)
a year ago
As long as that was your mutual agreement and they were fine with it, then I see no issue. But if you think it was the kind of thing they'd sit around bitching about behind your back once you were gone, maybe foot the bill for fuel next time or throw them a $20 for fuel if it's feasible.
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