Exchanging Gift Cards

I'm not a Scrooge, I promise. I love gift cards as much as the next person, but I just can't get over the silliness of exchanging gift cards at Christmas. What is the point of giving my brother in law a $50 gift card to Harkins and then opening his gift to me: a $50 gift card to Target? Why are we going through the motions of pretending we are 'gifting' one another? It's different with actual gifts. I might get my sister a pair of earrings, and she might get me a pair, but at least thought went into the purchase and there is a surprise when opening the gift. How can one be surprised by a gift card when they asked the purchaser to get them one? I love the attempt of family members to ACT surprised! My response usually goes something like this, "Wowwwww...a GIFT CARD to TARGET!!" Admittedly, I still love receiving them, but deep down inside I yearn for the days when gifts were gifts and you bought them for the people you wanted to buy them for...not the people whose name you picked. One of my greatest joys this season was buying a small gift for someone who wasn't on my list because I found something that reminded me of them. That, to me, is a Christmas gift.