Gift ideas

My inbox is filled with ideas -- why not give your loved one something unique this year?
First of all, who gives a Lincoln Navigator or a Cadillac Escalade for Christmas? No one I know has $50,000 to toss on a Christmas present. Maybe I'm hanging out with the wrong crowd.
My favorite so far is this one from an ad agency: "Botox for the Holidays? Gift Card Story Idea..."
From the body of the press release:
"Unconventional gifts, such as physician-administered aesthetic treatments, are offered by physician offices and can easily be packaged in the form of gift cards. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $27.8 billion on gift cards during the 2006 holiday season. Due to their growing popularity, dermatologists and plastic surgeons have begun offering gift cards for a wide range of treatments, including BOTOX® Cosmetic (Botulinum Toxin Type A), JUVÉDERM™ dermal fillers, laser treatments and facials."
The cost is about "$3 to $5 per day" for a Botox treatment because it's only good for a few months.
Soooo, what they're saying here is that you can feed your loved one's vanity by paying for an injection of a deadly poison that temporarily paralyzes the muscles of the face and makes someone look less wrinkled.
Let's see ... what else could I do with $500? Ooh, I know! I could pay a couple of bills for my son since he hasn't been able to work for over a month because of these infections.
I could provide Chrtistmas for an entire family -- maybe two -- who can't make ends meet because Mom is working full time but only making $8 an hour.
I could buy a tank of home heating oil for a family who might go cold otherwise.
I could buy food for a month for a family of four.
And for the cost of an Escalade?
I could buy 10 decent used cars for people who are forced by the government to make the choice of living in poverty or losing their health care.
I could take five women who have abusive husbands or boyfriends and move them into safety, setting them up with an apartment deposit and furniture.
I could fund a year of child abuse prevention education in the community.
Ideas? I have a million of them; money, not so much.