A couple years back I was looking for a somewhat ‘unique’ gift to send to friends and acquaintances. I pride myself on being able to find interesting items online to send to others, and I considered this particular case a huge win. The item in question was a Gloomy Bear arm pillow. I bought 3, shortly after which both Vancouver stores that carried them sold out.
Gloomy Bear, for those of you not familiar is the product of a Japanese graphic designer named Mori Chack. I chose to overlook the fact that the claws have blood on them and rather expect that recipients would enjoy the uniqueness instead of dwell on the details 
Who got them and what were their reactions?
My accountant
Reaction: Laughter to the point of tears.
Long term assessment: No idea. I will be following up to pay him for this years’ services and plan to inquire into both his daughter, and his wife’s reactions.
Former co-worker & children
Reaction: Surprise and mild concern which I attribute to the fact that he has several children at home and promises to lead to a significant amount of chasing and unintended destruction.
Long term assessment: Not applicable. Within 3 hours of the parcel being opened the aforementioned children proceeded to race through the house destroying everything in their path as predicted. Unfortunately I had not considered the added confusion / aggression / destructive power resulting from the addition of two rather large dogs added to the mix. As a result in this case the limited edition Gloomy Bear arm pillow lasted roughly 4 happy, joy-filled hours.
My takeaway? If I ever see these things available in a store again I’m buying as many as I can reasonably afford because kids LOVE them (and I don’t mind them either).
