Men and their challenged gift-giving ways

ROB York was no more than 11 years old when he realised how terrible his father was when it came to buying gifts for his mother. One Christmas, it was a camera. The next, a handbag. He got used to watching his father's awkwardness and his mother's disappointment.

Mr York vowed to do better. But each year, he finds himself trying to find exactly the right thing for friends and family, which, he said, has put a strain on him.

"The older I get, the more anxiety I feel about gift giving," said Mr York, a 48-year-old executive at a non-profit company in Brooklyn. "It's a huge amount of stress, and it will go on for several weeks, until about five or six days before Christmas. The more Christmases that pile on, there is more anxiety."