I was invited to a surprise birthday party and I decided to bring a bottle of pink champagne. Maybe not a highly original present, I tend to buy bottles of pink champagne as a present more often, but on the other hand if the birthday boy doesn’t like pink champagne he can always give it to the neighbors.
(It might be weird to some to give pink champagne to a man, but that’s another matter.)
Having arrived in the bar where the surprise party was being held I noticed that, as far I could see, nobody was carrying a present.
Maybe it is not appropriate to bring presents when the party is a surprise.
Anyhow a present can be a burden. I remember birthday parties when I was a kid and the shame one could feel for the present your mother had bought you to give to the birthday boy or girl.
Also I remember a kid coming to my party, giving me his present while saying: “My mother told me, we don’t want to keep this anyhow.”