Life + Culture

Nift: You Got Me Miffed

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Colorful circles in shades of red, green, orange and yellow, on a Nift Neighborhood gift card.

Have you heard of Nift? I hadn’t until this past fall when I received a Nift card as a gift.

When I went to the website to redeem my gift, I was very excited. According to the face of the card (see picture above) I would have $50.00 or more to spend. The “or more” should have put me on notice that something might be a bit off.

Anyway, Nift seems more business focused than consumer friendly. It’s a way of introducing local businesses to consumers. Which is actually a great idea.

But most of the suggested businesses weren’t that easy for me to get to in my normal day to day routine and I wasn’t that interested in the merchandise of many of them. However, there was one suggestion for a place that I had planned on going to anyway — Chill On Park. A new ice cream shop in Dorchester.

Within days of activating my card, I planned to meet a friend there. I arrived first, during their normal Saturday business hours and they were closed for some reason. Maybe Thanksgiving? I don’t know.

But my friend and I had to find another place to go, so we went to Dot2Dot Cafe, which was very close by and a place we had been to before and really enjoyed. I had planned to blog it, but never got around to it.

Anyway, back to my being miffed by Nift. You should note that Nift expires very quickly. I activated it around November 17, 2016 and the expiration date was December 22, 2016. It was only good for a little over a month. That seemed odd to me. And rather unfair.

It was my understanding that in Massachusetts, gift cards are good for at least seven years. This is true, according to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. I emailed Nift’s customer service about this and received the following response.

Thank you for reaching out! We are well versed in gift card law. If the gift expires any funds if paid are returned. If you have any questions about this, please refer to our Terms of Service.

I just extended the expiration date of your Nift to March 1st, 2017, so you can now use it at Chill On Park, in Dorchester. You can also find again your gift certificate here. After having used your gift, click on the “Redeem in Store” button. This lets Nift know that you’ve used your gift. We will then send you a new gift code, via email, including your residual value.

Please let me know if you have any other questions, and enjoy your gift!

Based on my understanding of their TOS, the business that purchased the Nift card is the customer, not me, and any money left on the card after the expiration goes back to the purchaser.

I didn’t get a chance to use Nift by March 1st either, so I sent another email and received another extension until March 30th.

You can probably see where this is going. I didn’t get a chance to go by March 30th either. When I sent another email, I was told that there were no more extensions.

Then I received an email stating that my “gift” had expired and would I please give some feedback. I told them that I didn’t have a chance to use it.

It seems to me that if you really want people to use a gift card, they should have more time to use it. It’s probably why Massachusetts state law allows at least seven years for gift certificates to be redeemed. Four months is hardly enough time. Especially when that time is the winter. Oh well.

For anyone considering buying Nift for their customers, buyer beware.

How I Made My American Quilt

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Folded patchwork quilt on top of bed spread.

Remember when I ran to make the train and fell on the tracks? That was my most recent lesson in learning to slow down and be patient.

Well, this post shows that sometimes I can be patient. The quilt pictured above is the result of nearly twelve years of patience!

For me, the key to patience is to forget about whatever I’m trying to be patient about and do other things. Time will pass and often things will work out as originally intended.

I’m grateful for blogging, because it helps me figure out the timing of when things happened. February 2008 was my first quilting post. But I had already started quilting before that.

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My quilting journey started in the summer of 2005. My mom and I went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and saw an exhibit called The Quilts of Gee’s Bend.

I have never been a fan of traditional quilts. Had never wanted a quilt. Not the ones that I had seen.

Then I saw the quilts made by the women of Gee’s Bend and realized that quilts can be so much more. My perspective of what defines a quilt changed.

Photo of back of quilt next to photo of quilt folded on top of cushioned stool.

They can be beautiful and boho. Modern and freestyle. Jazzy. Sexy. Solid colors. Different textures. Sewn by intuition without a pattern. Sewn by hand. Using pieces of fabric from old clothes alongside new fabric.

It was possible to quilt the way I cook and bake. Using the foods that I have on hand and improvising a new recipe. I could create a style of quilting that matched my personality. This exhibit gave me freedom and permission. I could do exactly what I wanted. With no limitation or rules.

I learned about quilts with hidden messages made by slaves. I learned that as an African American woman, quilting is my birthright. This exhibit was like breathing fresh air. I claimed myself.

Looking back I can see the journey. Finding myself anew. Bit by bit over time. I started blogging within a year of seeing this exhibit — and pushing my freelance writing. Trying to manifest my dreams. I started doing yoga and meditating.

As I’m writing this post, I am seeing even more. A relationship that I had been in (on and off for far too long) had a clear and definite ending. My heart was so broken. More than I care to admit. It’s taken a long time to mend. Maybe too long. The mending happened in ways that I did not expect. Within another relationship and while alone. I’ve learned many lessons. And I’ve quilted here and there along the way. Over many years.

In 2013, I blogged a picture of my quilt in progress. In 2014, I took part of the quilt and used it as the covering for a chair cushion.

I worked on it, then put it away and forgot about it. Then remembered it. Worked on it and put it away — and that pattern repeated. Focusing on other things and knowing that it would be finished eventually. When the timing was right. Going with the flow.

Quilt spread out on rug, patches of blue denim, along with other prints and textures.

At the end of 2015, I finished reading Marie Kondo‘s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I started tidying and finished tidying around April 2016. Well look at that, about a year ago.

Since then, I’ve been able to accomplish a lot and move forward with many things. Clearing out the old to make room for the new. So about a month ago, I started feeling like I needed to clear out more things and finish the quilt. I set a deadline for last Sunday and finished last Saturday night in the wee hours.

It’s done. What a journey!

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Updated 4/28/2020: Since I’ve been so inspired by the women of Gee’s Bend, I was happy, yet sad, to read about how the pandemic has impacted their community. The women have turned to making face masks instead of quilts.