Gifts make the (Croatian) world go around!

Of course, nothing is ever for free. Benefits of belonging to an extended family bring along obligations. You should help as you were helped. Ultimately, each family member knows of a particular pressure point so that the system’s anomalies can be tended to. For them, the system works. For their close friends and friends of close friends, it works too, but is usually supported by gifting.
If your friend did you a favor and you can’t reciprocate, you buy a gift. The end-result of gift-exchanges can too often resemble corruption. How else would you call someone giving a home made ham and 4 gallons of wine to a doctor for removing their wife’s gull-bladder?