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“He Became Single For Christmas”: 40 Of The Worst Xmas Gifts These People Have Ever Received
Interview With Author
Ho, ho, ho, pandas, what did Santa leave for you under the Christmas tree this year? Was it the present that you wanted? Or maybe it was Krampus who visited you and left you with a big pile of disappointment?
In that case, don't be too sad knowing you're in good company. These people from the r/AskReddit community have found some duds under the Christmas Tree too. The user SwirlyStarrs asked netizens to share what's the worst gift they received and the answers ranged from cringy to downright offensive. Perhaps Krampus possesses some people to gift empty boxes and library books that are soon to be due?
We were lucky enough to be able to chat with the person who posted this question on r/AskReddit. SwirlyStarrs agreed to have a brief chat with Bored Panda and tell us more about her reasons for posting this question.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My ex got me, a 6’3” guy, a women’s medium white hoodie. I was so mad about it. She has a habit of getting others gifts that are really for her. I wore the s**t out of that hoodie. Time to mow the grass, time for the white hoodie. Need to fix the car, yep time for the white hoodie. She was so mad. Glad she’s an ex.
Shoe 1 year ago
One of my 5th grade students, who came from an impoverished family, once gave a me a little cheap spray bottle of cologne that he'd stolen from a local pharmacy. I was oddly touched. By the way, another student informed me of the larceny part.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago (edited)
This is the only legit reason to steal. (And of course hunger). Not really, but you know. It‘s understandable
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RELATED:
#2
We were pretty poor growing up and my dad got injured on the job. It was the first Xmas since the injury settlement and my parents were having a new two story house built with a chunk of the money. I was twelve at the time and all I wanted and asked for was a guitar. I knew guitars were exspensive so I asked it to be my only gift. Christmas morning my little brother and sister start opening gifts, nice toys, games ect. My first gift was a single wash cloth. Second gift was a single towel. Next was a shower curtin... My mom had used Christmas to redecorate the bathroom for the new home and wrapped each item and just put my name on it. After the third wash cloth I stopped opening gifts and asked if they got me a guitar. They said "no because you'll just get bored of it". I asked if I could exchange the bathroom stuff to buy myself some games of something. I was called ungrateful and hard to shop for. I ended up using my college money to buy a guitar a few months later and my parents refuse to buy me any more gifts for birthdays or xmas because of the inccident so they just give me a card or cash. This was 30 years ago and they still refuse to buy me gifts. I now teach guitar to kids for free and have made a lot of friends playing in bands.
Any 1 year ago (edited)
Wow. Just wow. All those people gifting gifts for their own gain. That's just.... s**t. Maybe it's better you get a card or money and can buy your own things. Write them a song about how s****y they gift.
Trey Frog 1 year ago
The only gift I’ve ever given “for myself” was sex underwear. And even that is pushing it, depending on the circumstances.
Load More Replies... Margaret Shannon 1 year ago
It's the thought that counts, which is why this “gift” was so cruel.
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
geez, what s**t parents. Even if they didn't get you the guitar, they could have at least still got you something for yourself, rather than themselves. Honestly, this is enough for me to want to be no contact if I were in that situation.
Bobby 1 year ago (edited)
You can get a decent enough guitar to learn on for 200 or less at any p awn shop I've ever been to. 30 years ago was probably even less. These parents just suck
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
This reminds me of the time my mother drained my college savings account that I'd been adding to for years. Didn't even bother to tell me. Found out in the middle of the bank when I refused to accept the balance they quoted.
Mario Strada 1 year ago
As a parent (and a lifelong guitar player, but that's beside the point) I find this revolting.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago
Wow… this is… wow. Why? Why give the other kids games and stuff and only one gets basically nothing? If you don‘t want to get a guitar for whatever reason, talk to the kid and get him something else! But NOT something that isn‘t really for him!
Janet Floyd 1 year ago
This is what I don't understand either! If thos is the whole story, literally, he didn't get anything?!? If he were the only child and didn't get anything, still bad, but his siblings really got actual toys and he got nothing? I really wish there was a way to hear more about this from him
Load More Replies... #3
One particularly tough year, many years ago, I was battling cancer, (all good now) hubby worked part time to look after me and the kids so money was super tight.
Hubby and I decided not to do gifts for each other, every thing we saved for Christmas went to the kids and to the meal, there wasn’t much of ‘everything’ to be honest, but we made it work. Kids were young, young kids don’t need much to feel special, so we had that in our favour.
A few weeks before Christmas, We went to a charity dinner for people doing it tough and were all given Christmas gifts. Most people unwrapped it then and there, but we took the gifts home to put under the tree as there wasn’t much of anything under our tree. We waited for Christmas Day, saying it’ll be extra special to wait. It made it look at lot more festive to have more gifts under the tree.
I was delighted to have something wrapped under the tree for us parents, I felt sad that I couldn’t gift hubby anything so this was the next best thing given the circumstances. We didn’t expect much but the mystery and excitement of what they could be added a little Christmas magic for us.
The gift for hubby and I from the charity was our only gifts that year. The day finally came, it was time to unwrap!!!! Hubby got a men’s toiletry set. I got a little pamper set …. Wellllll the packaging said it was filled with bath salts and lotions - but it was empty, yup an empty box.
Someone had either donated it to charity empty, or a volunteer took the products out. Either way, the charity didn’t check to see if the stuff they wrapped actually were ok.
I was so absolutely devastated but faked delight for the kids about the pretty box it came in. I didn’t expect much, but that was nasty! What a way to kick a family when they’re down!!!
Panda Kicki 1 year ago
I hope you informed the charity about it. We yave collection of gifts to poor kids here and the number of dirty/broken/incomplete gifts has caused a rule that you leave it unwrapped so we can check they are ok. If a charity worker stole it I hope they get a special place in hell.
María Hermida 1 year ago (edited)
Why wait? I hope such a disgusting person goes bankrupt and homeless, and experiments first hand what having nothing and depending on strangers' charity is like. The "other life" may or may not exist, so I hope they get what they deserve as soon as possible.
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Allen Packard 1 year ago
I help a local charity fill food boxes for the elderly and homebound twice a month. We have "volunteers" that come in and take food for themselves. We had to start patting people down after our shift was over. The people we caught all could easily afford food but just wanted the free stuff.
Pyla 1 year ago
I worked at a community action center (help ppl w/housing/electric/some legal/food) Every week Safeway would donate their bakery items. Everything from cakes to breads. This guy in his 60’s would drive up in his late model caddie and take 3-4 cakes. Creep.
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 1 year ago
On the topic of charitable giving, I feel for charity shops that are nothing but a place to dump trash for some cretins instead of actual usable goods. It would never occur to me to donate my trash - torn and/or stained clothing, broken appliances/furniture - to a charity shop.
Gayle Owens 1 year ago
My son 8 who was in hospital got a gift from Santa , a Harry Potter game . Someone donated it with half the bits missing. Why do that . How mean. He didnt understand why Santa would do that.
Courtney Christelle 1 year ago
I would’ve mentioned it to the charity. Who knows how many other people this happened to.
María Hermida 1 year ago
Sometimes the bottles are made of thick glass and are heavy.
Load More Replies...The Reddit user SwirlyStarrs tells Bored Panda why she asked other people about their worst Christmas presents. "To be honest, I was inspired by having trouble getting a gift for my grandma. She's so difficult," the Redditor says.
The amount of answers involving horses surprised the author of the post. She even left a comment under one of the posts: "A surprising amount of these stories include horses/ponies." SwirlyStarrs tells Bored Panda that she was somewhat shocked by how many answers there were about horses.
#4
I was the adopted kid so I always lowkey got the bad end of the stick but Christmas 9 years ago was the worst.
My grandparents were loaded, my parents, not so much. My parents told me they couldn’t afford to keep me on a phone plan and come to find out it was because they were on my grandparents phone plan. I really wanted an iPhone 6 so I would finally have a reliable phone when I was working, driving ect, and I was willing to pay my part of the monthly bill, I just needed someone to buy it for me because at 16 I couldn’t get it on my own.
So Christmas comes around and I got a small box wrapped up and it was an iPhone6 box and I was so excited I started screaming and hugging my grandparents, so I ripped it open and inside was a note that said “never judge a book by it’s cover”. I didn’t cry that day but I cried for weeks following. My grandpa recorded it and posted it on Facebook and still, 9 years later, shares it every Christmas for people to laugh at. I don’t remember anything else I got for that Christmas but I do remember my cousins getting a lot of really great stuff from their list that year. It still upsets me, but that’s ok.
Any 1 year ago
It's mean and not ok. It was terrible what they did. But the icing on the cake is they showing it again and again to laugh at. Really now ... some family is just cruel. :/
Mike F 1 year ago
That's not mean, that's evil. Those vile bastards knew EXACTLY what they were doing and I sincerely hope that they require some old-age help and OP responds in kind. Show them brochures of 5 star facilities then drops them off at 2 DIFFERENT charity homes.
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Intriguedpanda 1 year ago
I can't believe the cruelty of some people. I'm sorry that happened to you.
Lauren Caswell 1 year ago
Fork that. And fork money for probably being why the parents didn't stop this. And fork the parents for adopting without intent to protect and uplift. All around wtaf.
Court 1 year ago
Maybe next year for Christmas you can give them the gift of “NC”. I couldn’t imagine allowing a family member to treat a child that way. People are sick.
Sue Bradley 1 year ago
As someone with an adopted child this breaks my heart, so sorry you were treated like this:(
María Hermida 1 year ago
Just a very stupid question. Why adopt a kid if you are going to treat him/her like a piece of s**t? No kid should be treated with cruelty, but you could argue your biological kids "just appeared". Very sick, I know... but people are like that sometimes. However, adopting is not an easy (or cheap) process. Why do you adopt if you are not ready to love that kid?
Margaret Shannon 1 year ago
I agree with you. Unfortunately, there are still people who think blood is thicker than water. It's a pity, and completely opposed to the message of the Christ Child. Who, I recall, was raised lovingly by an adoptive father!
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#5
Someone in the extended family repeatedly gave me alcohol and shot glasses when it was well known I’d quit drinking. They did it maliciously thinking I’d fall off the wagon. What they didn’t understand was that I quit drinking because it was giving me anaphylaxis. If I started drinking again, it’s not like I’d relapse; I’d die. That s**t gets worse each time.
Alexandra 1 year ago
It doesn't matter why you don't drink: you don't drink, so you don't give a person who doesn't drink things to do with drinking. Your extended family is daft.
Šimon Špaček 1 year ago
Exactly. It is fine to offer a drink, it is also fine to refuse that drink. Let's imagine it with something else. "Hey, I have those cheese crackers" "I don't want a cheese cracker". I don't think that anyone will be forcing someone to have a cracker. I genuinely think that when somebody wants you to drink some alcohol, it is a very good indicator that this alcohol is not very good. Nobody will try to convince you to have a shot of 12 years old single malt or 18 years old rum. If you don't want it, good, more for me. If you want a shot, good, we can share. Also, giving alcohol related gifts to someone allergic to alcohol is like giving a beautiful cheese knife to lactose intolerant person.
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Zedrapazia 1 year ago
Seriously, empty the entire bottle over their head if they try to f*****g kill you just for being malicious
Pepe Redac 1 year ago
Many years ago I learned one lesson: at least the person really like a type of drink, never, never give alcohol as a gift because you don't know what can trigger that
Awkward lady 1 year ago
I would be upfront with them, tell them this, and then forget about them.
Trey Frog 1 year ago
Never give a malicious relative ammunition. Just ignore them, and make sure one person keeps an eye on their social media and refutes any lies.
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Erla Zwingle 1 year ago
People who are uneasy about someone who doesn't drink are guaranteed to have a problem with alcohol themselves. I speak from experience. "Oh come on, it's just one drunk!" My reply, "Why is it so important to you that I drink?"... That usually stops them.
Celtic Pirate Queen 1 year ago
That's f*cked up. My youngest sister didn't drink coffee (at the time, she's crazy about it now, but that's not the point). She told my Dad repeatedly that she was not a coffee drinker, yet every year she'd get some bags of gourmet coffee and a new mug - which she always gave to me. I asked him why he continued to disrespect her like that and his response was, "When she finally sobers up, coffee will be her new best friend". (He was an AA Nazi).
#6
First Christmas with my dad, his new wife, and her kids. They opened designer handbags, DVD box sets (this was almost 20 years ago), electronics, etc.
I got: a bottle of Herbal Essences shampoo. No matching conditioner.
My sister got: A Hanes 5 pack of granny panties.
My stepmother is…not a nice lady.
Trey Frog 1 year ago
Stepmother and dad are equally horrible people. This reads like new wife brought all the money to the table.
María Hermida 1 year ago (edited)
Dad is worse than stepmother. After all, the girls are nothing for her, but they are still dad's daughters even if he divorced their mother. Stepmother is a total a*****e, but it's dad who should put his foot down and demand respect for his daughters.
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Tamra 1 year ago
Sorry, but dad doesn't sound so great either, if he can't be bothered to make sure his own kids have a decent gift for Christmas.
The Sassy Wife 1 year ago
If I didn't know any better, I'd say my own sister wrote this. This is almost identical to one of our Christmases. The only item missing from this story is the super awesome fireproof nightgown I was gifted with my way too big undies.
Soleil SanMao 1 year ago
You got that right. No way he is saying anything to new wifey.
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Just-4-2day 1 year ago
This is on the dad, not the step-mother. Dad should be buying gifts for his children as he is the one who (supposedly) knows what his children want / need. Don't blame the step-mom, put the blame where it belongs, on the dad.
JessieJ&LilyLovebug 1 year ago (edited)
Nope. Both are equally to blame. She is a snake and he is clueless and insultingly inattentive to his own children. My step-dad was more my dad than my biological father for most of my life. My mother made it clear from the beginning that I came first, and he agreed that is as it should be. I have no tolerance or sympathy for parents who marry people like this woman. It is unacceptable.
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- 1 year ago
Similar with neighbours when I was a kid. A widower with a son married a woman with a daughter. Each bought for their bio kid instead of pooling gift money. Result: the girl's room was beautifully decorated by her and generous artist mother; the boy's room was bare because his father was a cheapskate.
Some people feel a lot of pressure during the Christmas season because they feel they have to get the right gift for everyone. The Redditor says that ideally, giving gifts shouldn't be this way.
"I don’t think gifting in and of itself should be a lot of pressure, but it just is sometimes," she admits. "I think it's worth it if the person likes the gift that you spent so much time on." SwirlyStarrs also says she believes she's a good gift-giver. "I love getting people gifts, and I feel like I’m decent at it."
#7
A gift certificate from the spa hotel he was at on Christmas Eve with another woman. I found out because he took me there for breakfast Christmas morning and surprised me saying he had rented us a room so we could enjoy the hot mineral water . When we got to the room it wasn't made up yet so I went to the front desk to let them know. That was when I was informed that they didn't service rooms that were carried over for another day. Yeah, the same room and the same bed he had f****d that wh*re in just hours before. Sick a*****e.
María Hermida 1 year ago
Did the other woman know he was married? She may not have known he was cheating. He was a cheater, but she wasn't a whore. I understand you are furious, but it's HIS fault, not hers.
Andrea L 1 year ago
Staying at a hotel for one night on Christmas Eve and leaving before breakfast? She’s an idiot if she’s not a whore.
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#8
My husband is a guitar player. He gives me music equipment that I don't know the purpose of. Of course it's for him. So since I'm an avid gardener I give him gardening tools for Christmas.
Mario Strada 1 year ago
I am a guitar player. I would never, ever gift my wife even a guitar pick. How awful. For the record, this year I bought her a sturdy workbench for her art studio. It's a beauty and it will make her work so much easier than the rinky dinky repurposed Dollar store "furniture" she is using.
LauraDragonWench 1 year ago (edited)
You are a treasure! Sincerely, an eternally single woman. 😂
Load More Replies... Any 1 year ago
That sounds miserable. Why even bother with presents? Just decide, that you both will get yourself what you want and don't give presents.
Trey Frog 1 year ago
Sounds like that’s exactly what they do. How hostile the charade of exchanging gifts is is the key, and it’s not entirely clear here.
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Upstaged75 1 year ago
Again, WHY do people stay with jerks like this? I'd rather be alone until the end of time than have to share a life with someone so inconsiderate and selfish!
Celtic Pirate Queen 1 year ago
This is just petty passive aggressiveness. Sit down and have a conversation. My husband is a guitarist and I am a book nut. We agreed many years ago that we would give each other "token" gifts for Christmas - I'd get one of the books I really wanted and he'd get - underwear. BECAUSE as soon as the January sales hit, we buy what we really want.
#9
Nothing. One year, we were pretty poor due to my mother's insane spending habits. But she managed to scrounge up enough cash to get my little sisters and little brother a few things. I however, had nothing under the tree. And nothing in the stocking. My mom just acted like it wasn't a big deal, and I should be happy I still had a roof over my head. I was 12. At the family dinner later my mother had a new one ripped in to her by my grandmother when I was asked what I got. So maybe I did get a little something...
The Sassy Wife 1 year ago
Exactly what I'm sitting here thinking as I read them. Such thoughtless cruelty.
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María Hermida 1 year ago
I got nothing this year, and last year, and the previous year... That's the way it is. I used to get presents for other people, but this year I decided not to. I don't want to "be paid" with another present, but I would like to feel I'm taken into account. I guess you can't change people, or, as we say in Spanish, ask the elm to bear pears. It's not sad anymore. It's just "empty".
Danish Susanne 1 year ago
I felt quite satisfied to read, that you are not giving anything this year.
Load More Replies... Let's face it, when it comes to Christmas presents, we've all received a stinker or two. I, personally, never know how to react without offending the giver. True, in some cases the gift might be so offensive and cruel that you might want the culprit to get some of their own medicine. But what about cases when the person didn't mean to offend and just missed the mark?
#10
My ex husband got me Pyrex portable dishes. Seemed fine. Until the day after Christmas when I went to the bank and discovered those were the free gift when you opened a checking account. Turns out he opened a secret account, too! Wasn’t that sly…
María Hermida 1 year ago
I never know if people who do this kind of things think they are far more intelligent than the rest of us, or the think the rest of us are imbeciles. This is such a stupid thing to do! The good thing is he gave you a very useful piece of information. That was the (unintentional) present.
Jude Laskowski 1 year ago
Glad you discovered the account so your divorce lawyer can add that to your settlement.
Caitlin M. Maguire 1 year ago
First sentence: "My ex husband got me Pyrex portable dishes."
Load More Replies... #11
My ex husband was 15 and went for his first Christmas with his s****y father, new stepmother, and her two sons. His dad says, (speaking to the three boys), “Come out to the garage for your big Christmas present!” And there were TWO off-road motorcycles. One for each of HER boys but nothing for him. This pattern repeated throughout the years. I hated his father from day one and if he’s still alive I hope he’s dying slowly of painful cancer.
Gardener of Weeden 1 year ago
I am willing to be down voted - The person dying of cancer is NOT the one who really suffers. It is the person/ people who love the one who is dying. Watching my Husband die was worse than a painful death for me.
BookFanatic 1 year ago
Agreed. I've watched way too many loved ones die of cancer. Wouldn't wish that on anyone's family.
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Ubedhheij 1 year ago
Better to let him rot in hell than dying of cancer. As Gardener of Weeden said people who watch suffer as well.
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DC 1 year ago
Pedant, we're not inside enough to know if this is a justified wish. There are people of that kind, constantly make you feel less and less by comparison to some of those oh-so-great stepsiblings, who likely earned the love of their old ones by snitching and shoving themselves.
Pedantic Panda 1 year ago
Having watched someone meet this end, it is horrible. And it's not just the patient who suffers. I also know some very horrible people and still would not wish this on then or their family.
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Helen Thompson 1 year ago
yep same with my sperm donor great gifts for his 2nd child with new wife and nothing for me or his Granddaughter, gone NC for almost 5 years best thing I have EVER done
#12
My husband is an incredible human and talented at many things - but he gave me a truly hilarious gift once! For our very first Christmas together, 2004, we were young and broke (22, in grad school). He was so excited to give me my gift and he presented it proudly in front of my family. He got me a mini sampler of perfumes, a book, and a box of high-end chocolates. These are all great gifts on their own, but ironically, 1.) I’m allergic to most perfumes/colognes, 2.) he had already given me the exact same book a few months earlier for my birthday, and 3.) I’m lactose intolerant.
I was honestly touched by the thought, but the irony was too much - my sister burst out laughing. It’s still a joke in our family, but we were all so charmed by the fact that he’d gone to multiple stores and was so proud. Poor, sweet guy. We’re happily married now…but he definitely knows to avoid chocolate and perfume!
María Hermida 1 year ago
These were good presents from a thoughtful person, only totally unsuitable for you. I'm sure he was mortified, poor thing!
CrazyKnitter 1 year ago
This is cute because the intent was there AND the understanding of the intent.
Margaret Shannon 1 year ago
This is a good example of the bad gift motivated by the right intentions. Unlike so many on this list.
Mario Strada 1 year ago
Compare to the absolute evilness of other posts, this is at least kind of sweet. Everybody loves an innocent dufus.
Sami-Jo Ross 1 year ago
This doesn't belong in this list because this is genuinely wholesome. He tried!
Ubedhheij 1 year ago
But it is still a nice break from the other a******s in these stories.
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Stymied Egan 1 year ago
My mothers neighbors were so helpful. My sister lived only 45 minutes away but I'm across the country. If there was an immediate problem mom would call her neighbor. I was so grateful that they were always willing to help. One day I decided to send them a thank you basket. I picked a wine and cheese etc. basket and had it sent to them. Not very long after that I was visiting and staying at moms house (she was in assisted living by this time). I accidentally locked myself out. The guys had a spare key so I knocked on their door. Turns out it was their regular get together with some of their AA friends. I was so embarrassed. They were very sweet, knew it was the thought behind the gift, but still of all the things I could have sent.
Sonja 1 year ago
This is actually very sweet. Both OP, who took it graciously and saw the gesture for what it meant to be, and the Hubby who tried so hard and just missed the goal. And it's nice to hear he took this as a learning experience and showed it wasn't malice by giving better gifts later.
Diane Gottsman, an etiquette expert and founder of the Protocol School of Texas told CNBC that adults should accept unwanted gifts with grace and class. She claims that we're not thanking the person for the item itself. "You’re thanking them for the effort. The gift is secondary. It's the thought and the effort and the love that counts."
#13
I had an ex take me to the mall and dismally demand I “pick something because he didn’t feel like trying to guess what I’d like. We’d been together for seven years. I didn’t pick anything, and a few days later he became single for Christmas.
Stephanie A Mutti 1 year ago
I used to beg my ex to tell me what she wanted for holidays because if I didn't get her exactly what she wanted she'd be disappointed and let me know. Somehow I was supposed to intuit what she wanted. I'm not saying that's the situation here but it might have been.
Flora Porter 1 year ago
That's all a breakup takes sometimes: one person can't be arsed any more.
Michael Largey 1 year ago (edited)
He was very lucky that his favorite Christmas song didn't become "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth."
Bobby 1 year ago
I really failed this year at Christmas. Came up with a gift that I couldn't get done in time(started working on it for her birthday instead) but apparently exhausted my gift ideas. I just ended up getting a few things she said were cute when we were shopping for the kids
Sonja 1 year ago
It's the thought that counts. As long as she liked what she got you're fine. She'll understand when you give her her birthday gift. In a good relationship such things even out
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#14
A one person tent and lantern from my MIL, we were struggling to pay the bills back then and she said, in front of of everyone, "this is in case you guys get evicted". We had 3 kids at the time.
Lauren Caswell 1 year ago
Thank you MIL, it must have been hard to give up your whole home, just for us. Bless your heart.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
Be a shame if she died from a fall down her own stairs and you guys inherited her house so had a place to live in. A tragedy indeed.
#15
I dated a guy in college for almost six months who was really into civil war history. I bought an old Confederate dollar bill on eBay, went to Michael’s for some cheap fabric backing and a frame, framed it myself. Wrapped it and tied a ribbon around to make a bow.
He gave me a seashell from his family beach trip over the summer. From before we had met, so it wasn’t like “oh, I found this seashell and thought of you” - it was just something he already had knocking about in the back of his closet. Dude was from a wealthy family and he threw money around like it was nothing, but he couldn’t even be bothered to put the seashell in a gift bag.
I broke up with him the next day.
Kate 1 year ago
I mean, yeah, but that alone should've been a red flag. Oh, he wants Confederate memorabilia? Run.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 1 year ago
The seashell reminded her of the sea - and the other fish that were in it.
How to react face-to-face depends on your relationship with the giver. If it's not a family member, a simple "thank you" is enough, even if you don't plan on using the gift. If it's someone close to you, you might want to let them know politely.
If it's an item of clothing that doesn't fit, ask them if you can switch it for the right size. Gottsman says you wouldn't be out of line when asking someone you're relatively familiar with.
#16
An eviction notice from my parents before I was 18.
Flora Porter 1 year ago
Unless the OP was involved in crime, this is tragic. I don't know why some people have children.
Danish Susanne 1 year ago (edited)
Som of those people have children because they forgot/didn't bother with contraceptives or couldn't get an abortion
Load More Replies... Mario Strada 1 year ago
As a parent, it makes me want to hurl. One of the worst days of my life was when my daughter left our home. I am still a bit traumatized by that.
Jasmyn JAY 1 year ago
I don't want my children to ever leave. But I know they will have to some day. (They're only 4 & 7 though) I cry thinking of when that day will come.
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Soleil SanMao 1 year ago
There is definitely more to this story. I have a feeling this didn't come out of the blue. But sh*t got real when you received it, I know that. My godsister got kicked out after HS graduation. But I am here to tell you, she did everything she could to get kicked out. I stopped going to visit them because the drama/trauma was too much. And I was a kid. Every week she would announce that she couldn't wait to turn 18 and leave. Well, they granted her wish. And let me tell you, it was a scene. My god parents could do no more. They were physically, socially and financially exhausted.
#17
A taxidermy cat. I was like 9.
I had a grandma who was notorious for giving the worst possible gifts you can think of. So on Christmas Day I go to open the one from her and it’s literally a taxidermy cat. Now, me as a child, I specifically was horrified by taxidermy, I love animals and didn’t understand the whole reasoning behind it. Long story short I opened it up and immediately burst into tears, I was completely traumatized and my parents were so confused on why she would give me that.
Luke Branwen 1 year ago
Bonus points if it was one of those horrible taxidermies that look like something out of the Pet Sematary
crazydogmama 1 year ago
The photo posted sure as heck looks like Pet Semetary.
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Giulia Fortunati 1 year ago
When I was 5, I insisted to get a taxidermy pheasant. It stayed proudly in my partents house for over 40 years! I was so sad when my sister throw it out...
María Hermida 1 year ago
For some strange reason this story reminds me of a story by Roald Dhal about an "adorable" elderly landlady who loves taxidermy, and then my crazy brain came up with "why don't we taxidermy grandma? Wouldn't she look lovely?"
Danish Susanne 1 year ago
I may be wrong, but if grandma knew you love animals she may have actually thought you would like it.
MacintoshID 1 year ago
Sounds like something my grandmother would have gotten me for a gift. She hated me and even told me that.
Sonja 1 year ago
I'm not opposed to well made taxidermy but let's not forget, this was a child and granny literally gave her a dead cat. How could she think this was a good idea? My granny gave me a very realistic (and pretty) squirrel figurine made from clay and horse hair. Not leather. I later learned that a family member makes those things from her own animals fur. They're all still alive of course. I loved it but my parents even questioned that because they were afraid I could think it was a real, dead squirrel. This was a literal dead cat. How could anyone think it was okay?
#18
When I was about 10, all I wanted was a VCR. Asked for it all year. My hateful grandmother who raised me put a bedspread in a VCR box. I’m 47 now but I’ll never forget it
Luke Branwen 1 year ago
What even is the POINT of that? What kind of miserable, sociopathic freak do you have to be to actively enjoy causing happiness and then extinguishing it moments later?
Limey 1 year ago
I agree. What on earth? But it’s surprising how many stories like that are on this thread. Do people think it’s funny???
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Mario Strada 1 year ago
The point of humorous gifts is to put the VCR in the box for a bedspread, not the other way around. Ƒucking așșholes!
Kristin Carter 1 year ago
I have a similar story: This Christmas I wanted a Stanley right? So I get a box that has Stanley labels and I look inside and it’s 5 dresses…. That don’t fit FROM MY MOM
IndigoViolent 1 year ago
The only time this kind of thing is okay is when it's a box for a "disappointing" gift, and they open it and it's actually the cool thing they wanted. And only do that if you're actually there to tell them to look inside (I've heard too many stories of people trying to be clever only for the disappointed giftee to throw the thing out or give it away).
Gottsman also told CNBC that you should write a thank-you note to the person who gave you the gift. Doesn't matter if you think it's useless or bad – you should still thank them for thinking of you and putting in the effort.
After that, etiquette dictates that the item is yours to do with as you please. You can either donate it or re-gift it. Be careful not to hurt anyone's feelings with re-gifting, though. Gottsman has a saying for these instances: "I always say, regift in another city."
#19
Bottle of wine from a friend who knows 100% I don't drink alcohol, especially wine.
Alexandra 1 year ago
I hope he's not your friend anymore. This kind of friend is toxic in more than the alcohol way.
Trey Frog 1 year ago
Too many workplaces give out wine as holiday gifts. We’re not teetotalers, but we so rarely drink wine that we have no use for having it on hand. We don’t drink reds at all. About once every three years or so I’ll go buy a nice Riesling or Gewürztraminer, drink one glass, and then forget about it in the fridge for months.
Kate 1 year ago
Why do you open them? Those are the best re-gifts out there.
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April Pickett 1 year ago
Yay! Totally bad gift. I think your "friend" wanted you to give it back to them.
MotherofGuineaPigs 1 year ago
I think I have 4 bottles of wine somewhere in the house. I never (I think I had a beer 1 1/2 yeas ago) drink, don't want to mess with my meds.
#20
On Reddit Secret Santa I spent time and quite a bit of money selecting and sending something cool for my secret Santa. The person who got me sent a dirty sticker and a ripped piece of paper saying “sorry I forgot to get something and I don’t have money anyway so here’s a sticker don’t be mad”. Like cool dude - you could’ve backed out and I would’ve been assigned to someone else. I just thought it was kinda inconsiderate and mean.
Little Wonder 1 year ago
That IS mean. There are people who offer to step up if someone has to drop out. Although, my first Christmas exchange on Reddit, my original "santa" flaked and so did the replacement santa. On the other hand, I only did the exchanges because it's fun to shop for strangers so I wasn't too bothered.
Margaret Shannon 1 year ago
If you enjoy shopping for strangers, join an Angel tree or contact a shelter. You may never know how your gift was received but will at least have the pleasure of doing something good for someone in need.
Sara Anne 1 year ago
The angel tree was a life saver this year for me I wouldn't have been able to give much of a Christmas to my children without it! Y'all are literally angels!
Load More Replies... Regina Holt 1 year ago
If you don't have the money, just don't participate. Don't pull this c**p
Lady Gypsy Rain 1 year ago
Did a themed exchange w/ my chicken group for Christmas 1 year. I spent a month finding the coolest stuff for chickens and to pamper the people. Decorated the basket with gorgeous ribbons. It was definitely not cheap/inexpensive and cost a small fortune to mail. But I enjoy doing such things so enjoyed the result. Mind you, we were waiting for my ss disability to be approved so were living off my tiny pension. Hh of 4 but no one went without due to our rigid budget. The person that got me? Didn’t even bother. I received nothing and the organizer refused to confront the person about what happened. I was more concerned it never happen again to anyone else. I left that group shortly after that. Had they at least gone to the person and said it’s not ok to ever do that again, but, no. They organized another gift exchange for Easter. Without so much as a peep to that person.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago
Report such persons, so they can never do that again. This sounds as if that person just wanted a free gift.
Barry Fruitman 1 year ago
My Secret Santa once gifted me a bunch of CDs he had lying around the house and didn't want anymore. My gift was a remote control helicopter.
Stymied Egan 1 year ago
If you don't have the money why join? I opted out of several work activities because I couldn't afford the "asked" amount. They always would say "Just spend what you can", but how fair is that to the person that gets the half price gift?
MacintoshID 1 year ago
I had a secret Santa exchange a few years ago that wanted only specialty made gin, and in an expensive bottle, along with listing tea and a couple of nice books. I got her the tea and a book, which wasn't cheap. She complained to the host that I didn't get her the expensive gin even though you were only supposed to pay no more than $20. I looked up the gin she wanted and it $150 for a small gift set. That was the last secret Santa exchange I took part in.
#21
I was in debate my freshman year, it was a blended grade class. The teacher arranged an optional secret santa for the class. One of the seniors got my name. Exchange day comes around and I get a $20 gift card to Starbucks. Cool, he didn't know me that well so a gift card was fine. At the time I'd never had Starbucks so I was happy to try it. Went to get something and found out there was $2.73 left on the card... he literally just gave me his used gift card. D**k.
#22
I got perfume samples, the kind you find embedded in the pages of magazines, and two 99c cans of shaving cream. My stepmonster was irritated I wasn't more appreciative of her "practical" gifts. My stepsister got a horse.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
When I was a kid, I couldn't believe that the stepmothers in those nursery tales could really be that nasty.
Monica G 3 hours ago
Snow white was, in fact, about the birth mother. But yes, step parents are often worse.
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#23
A set of used, mismatched, still dirty kitchen knives in the box for a nice set of knives from my MIL.
What do you even say to that?
Kate 1 year ago
"Oh no, you accidentally gave me your own set! Here, let's put it with your things so you don't forget to take it home!"
Jude Laskowski 1 year ago
Some old European superstition says that, if you give someone a knife, they have to give you a penny so it doesn't "cut" the friendship. This was according to my mother.
Load More Replies... DC 1 year ago
Thanks for the training material. I'm aspiring to become a sharpener one day, and they're all rich and spoil their families, even inlaws. Uh, like ... sharpening knives is worth it, but it's not really fun to do, but repeating a boring motion over and over and over and over and over ... 17° tip angle does best so far, but won't last for a year on a cheapo storebrand knife, so ... this comes up ... anyway ... gift her a crooked fork and a leaking glass next year?
Courtney Christelle 1 year ago
I’m grateful for the thought put into a gift, which you clearly didn’t.
Lady Gypsy Rain 1 year ago
Someone emptied the dishwasher before they were cleaned. Hope you haven’t been missing these. Here, take them back home please. Unless you want them for next year’s gift exchange returned in the exact pristine condition you gave me.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
Oh, just wait. This MIL will be sending any number of knives your way.
#24
Slim fast shakes from my mom when I was 14.
Caitlin M. Maguire 1 year ago
I took sips of them as a kid..I have used them now.
Load More Replies... Upstaged75 1 year ago
This is atrocious! Why have kids if you are only going to hate them and treat them like garbage? So many of these stories make me incredibly thankful for my awesome family!
#25
A fire notice from my job. They put that s**t in a gift box.
DC 1 year ago
Join unions, take the gift to their office and see how far that AH of a boss will shove it in his most beloved orifice. Sue the hell out of them, and heaven, too, and then sue them naked.
María Hermida 1 year ago
Remember different countries have different systems. Unions are mostly a European thing.
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Kazaretski 1 year ago
Imagine them being actually excited and happy about it. He who laughs last...
crazydogmama 1 year ago
I hope they at least gave you severance and unemployment benefits. Wow.
#26
A Christmas card that said "roses are red, violets are blue, youre a jew, so no Christmas for you." Grade 4 truly was a special time.
Alexandra 1 year ago
That's nasty. I wouldn't trust the person who wrote that further than I could throw him/er.
CrazyKnitter 1 year ago
My first grade teacher at a private school gave everyone nice Christmas gifts, I think that it was something like a stuffed bear holding candy, but I got nothing. When the first grader came home crying because she didn't understand why, my parents complained. Her excuse? Well, she doesn't celebrate Christmas.
BK BigFish 1 year ago
Christians are lovely people, especially around Christmastime, wouldn't you agree?
Flora Porter 1 year ago
Nowadays you could report it and have it taken seriously, as it should be, but probably not then.
Sonja 1 year ago (edited)
Jesus was a jew too. And the people he supposedly died for were jews. So any Christian who does this is definitely a bad Christian. Because Jesus would have given a gift even to a non believer. He healed the pagan women's kid too and admonished his apostles for questioning him on that. That's why I despise so many Christians. They don't know their own dogma and do so many things that are explicitly shunned in the bible and were the rules are very clear on while using obscure and ambiguous passages to excuse bad treatments of others for things they don't like. Edit in anticipation of the all religions are inherently bad crowd. I'm agnostic.
#27
A kitten. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my cat and I'm so happy I have her. But when my mom got her for me it was a poorly thought-out surprise. It was even a surprise to my grandparents, who I live with, and had no idea they'd be getting a cat in their house. She also didn't provide a litter tray or litter, or cat food. So my Christmas became a fetch quest of trying to get together everything the kitten needed, with all the shops closed.
Local Idiot 1 year ago
There’s a reason Pets at home don’t sell rabbits during the Easter season
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Dogcat vet (retired) 1 year ago
Only a gift if everyone is on board with the idea. What if her grandparents were deathly allergic to cats?
Lynn Morello 1 year ago
A box of kitty litter, a cat tray, food bowl and food would have been the go to gift, with the kitten following that,
Uncle Schmickle 1 year ago
Completely agree with this. It was fortunate that the OP loved her kitten and I'm sure would have looked after it. Otherwise this is how animals get dumped or surrendered to animal shelters.
#28
A blouse my MIL pulled out of her closet. I made her squirm by asking for the receipt so I could exchange it for a different size. She said she must’ve misplaced it. B***h.
Danish Susanne 1 year ago
Oh just a few spots that cannot be washed off would do it
Load More Replies... #29
Earrings from my boyfriend... when I didn't have pierced ears. And when I saw the box, I thought it was a ring and he was proposing. AND when I reminded him I didn't have pierced ears, he returned them and kept the money.
Zedrapazia 1 year ago
To be fair, people can be dumb like that. My fiance once guessed my eye color wrong whilst looking at my face, it was a pretty funny brain fart moment.
María Hermida 1 year ago
If it had been a mistake, he would have got a refund and bought another present. But he kept the money, so I think he just didn't care.
Load More Replies... Celtic Pirate Queen 1 year ago
An ex did that. We'd only been dating about 6 months and he gave me a fairly expensive Michael Kors purse (which was more about impressing my family than me), in a style & color I didn't like. I told him the truth after everyone had left. Kindly, I said "You know hon, this really isn't my style or color, would you mind if we went down to the mall and exchanged it?" He flipped the f*ck out. I was ungrateful, a greedy b*tch - all out of nowhere. Turns out he'd bought it for his OTHER GF, but she dumped him before he could give it to her. I kept it and returned it my damn self (after Christmas they are really cool about obviously new products in an original bag, no I didn't get cash but I got about $150 in store credit). He had the nerve to call me a few weeks later asking if he could have it back. I told him since he didn't want to return it, I'd donated it to Goodwill. Would have given anything to be a fly on the wall THAT day.
hearditontheX 1 year ago
Yes Ex please. We teach people how they can treat us. Make a teachable moment
#30
An empty box, apparently the look on my face as a kid was the present my family needed.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
And two decades later, those parents will wonder why she doesn't keep in contact with them anymore.
Disgruntled Pelican 1 year ago
My family did this to me when I was about 7. I'm from a very rural area and a city about an hour away got their first Krispy Kreme. As a kid, I LOVED donuts and my aunt and uncle and their adult kids thought it would be funny to buy a dozen donuts, eat them all and write the dates they were eaten, and give me the empty box...I guess they did give me a $5 gift card but I definitely cried.
Danish Susanne 1 year ago
Personally I don't think the age matters. People of any age can be hurt by such things
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 1 year ago
You misspelled the sixth word in your post. The correct spelling is s-a-d-i-s-m.
Load More Replies... #31
Got a crucifix one year from my grandmother. The same year I told my family I was atheist.
Local Idiot 1 year ago
I imagined a grandmother clutching her pearls in one hand and smacking me with a bible with the other saying that
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Lauren Caswell 1 year ago (edited)
Maybe she is an enthusiast for the lower case t. Give her a 'u' necklace next year ^-^
Alexandra 1 year ago
You could have recoiled in horror and hissed at it....
Load More Replies... Regina Holt 1 year ago
One year, someone who knew I was not religious got me a church-shaped chocolate. When he later asked if I liked it, I told him I melted it down into the shape of Satan. The next year, he got a chocolate in the shape of Satan.
Danish Susanne 1 year ago
But if the chocolate is good the shape is not important
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Sally Close 1 year ago
Just flip that thing upside down and wear it with pride!!!! Watch the horror looks on their faces!!!!!! Hahaha
Leesa DeAndrea 1 year ago
Sometimes people who care about you & who are religious have a hard time accepting you've given up on religion. They hope & pray you will repent and return and giving you reminders of what you have left behind is one way they have to show they love you & are worried about the state of your soul.
Celtic Pirate Queen 1 year ago
In all fairness, did you tell THE FAMILY or just your parents, who didn't mention it to Grandma?
Bobby 1 year ago
If a person truly believes that their religion is the only way to some sort of salvation I understand being distraught when a family member strays from that path. But it's their choice, not yours
DC 1 year ago (edited)
May very well be, but ... but, when it comes to convincing other people, or expect their belief (or even demand it), we should resort to provable, and preferably proven, facts, and facts alone. But then again, that workn't elsewhere, too. Anyway, I get the distraction this makes them experience, but that, they have thrown upon themselves when they accepted old fairy tales to be the most important piece of literature whatsoever - can't blame the ungrateful brat for their delusion.
Load More Replies... #32
Not me, but my cousins (sisters, aged about 5 and 8) got a small bottle of Johnson's Baby Powder. As a JOINT gift from their great-aunt. SMH. It just smacks of "She's old, Rusty, she and Uncle Louis don't have a lot of money so she takes things from around the house and wraps them up."
Celtic Pirate Queen 1 year ago
I would rather get a heartfelt card or letter than something like that.
Soleil SanMao 1 year ago
Older people tend to do that. As the family expands it becomes financially difficult to buy gifts for every family member. So they tend to go to the five-and-dime. My mother no longer had the physical strength to go to a mall and shop, so she bought stuff from the market. And no computer.
#33
A huge bag of disposable pink razors paired with thick off brand pads to open in front of my entire extended family.
Alexandra 1 year ago
Honestly, why would you think this is an appropriate gift? Don't people use their brain anymore?
Papa 1 year ago
Some don't have much to use, or it's atrophied from lack of use.
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#34
A gift card with nothing on it.
Trey Frog 1 year ago
Apparently there a huge problem with people stealing gift cards, redirecting the amount on them, and then replacing them on the rack at the store. But it somehow only works once somebody else buys and activates the card. I don’t entirely understand it, but the thread over on reddit is full of other instances.
Kate Chupein 1 year ago
If this happens to anyone and they believe the person giving the gift is usually a considerate, normal, person than please let the gift giver know. There have been a lot of stories on the news about gift cards being read by skimming machines then put back in the rack. I would want to know if I mistakenly gave any empty card to someone. And if the gift giver is a jerk this still gives the recipient a chance to shame them, "Oh, I've seen those news stories and I thought you would want to know the card you gave me was empty".
Sonja 1 year ago
Also read the damn instructions! I worked for the service line of an online warehouse. The amount of people calling and complaining that their gift cards didn't work were astonishing and in many cases, you have to activate it before it works. Especially when bought online, the gift code often has to be redeemed for the actual card so the cards can't be skimmed or stolen. Also if you buy a reloadable card it can take several days till the banks process the transfer. So many cards have the explicit instructions that you have to wait a certain time until they're active. At the online shop I was working for the process was 48 hours if paid with bank transfer and 24 hours for credit card.
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The Weird American 1 year ago
Happened to my son - when he was about 10, he got a GC to GameStop as a birthday gift. I swear the parents did it on purpose bc they were jerks. Anyway, he picked out the items at GameStop and when we realized there was nothing on the card, we covered it without our son knowing and had our son send a thank you note anyway.
crazydogmama 1 year ago
At least you confused them with the thank you note. :D
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Freya (she/they/he) 1 year ago
Once saw a twitter post where a guy received a Texas Roadhouse $25 gift card from an enemy of his, he spent $25 at the restaurant and there was only $1 on it.
MacintoshID 1 year ago
Gave a gift card with some money on it to the grandson of my late husband. The DIL called a couple days later wanting us to reload it since she used it to buy herself a new pair of shoes to wear to a party. We asked why did she need to use the grandson's gift since we sent her a nice gift card with as much on it, only to find out that she used that up already and it would be nice if we put more money on that one too. We hung up and got the grandson an online gift card and only sent it to him.
#35
A German, meat based cookbook from my now ex mother in law. She knew I had become vegetarian and disapproved. The thing was, I dropped it at Goodwill the following week and a couple weeks after that she asked if she could borrow it.
Sami-Jo Ross 1 year ago
In the most honey-sweet way possible. "Oh, you see, I don't eat meat, but it was such a nice cookbook and I'm sure someone else could use it, so I donated it!"
Load More Replies... DC 1 year ago (edited)
I hate people doing that. That's the same kind of person that constantly mocks you during dinner, purposefully making EVERYTHING containing meat, fat, whatever ingredient they have on hand that was made of a dead animal ... I've seen this, even overheard a girlfriends' mother tell her sister - the aunt, then - that they're just "one family gathering from having her back in sanity" by modifying every and any recipe to include ... meat, grease, bone cooking water, sausage water, ... especially the ones she loved! Apple pie? Oh honey, sorry, I just HAVE to use pig's grease in the dough, otherwise it's not the same, and do YOU want EVERYONE to suffer from YOUR choices? Yes, it's a knife's tip on a pie serving 20, but without it, it's RU-EEN-ED! - she said. They sucked. The present she got that year would sure qualify on this list, it was a subscription-type thing that entitled you to certain parts of a pig each week or so. "So she HAS to eat REAL food!". The debates they forced upon us ... a nasty mum, a drunk uncle and varying children telling jokes about vegetarians, start screaming whenever someone else was the butt of a joke, because they felt sympathy for the butt, or because "That just isn't funny!", and blatantly counter any attempt to have a real debate, about facts and stuff, with "Me no care, me wanna meat!". We parted shortly after, on good terms, and as far as I know, she opted to not know much of her family anymore. Which I'd consider a win.
crazydogmama 1 year ago
I hope she stayed far away from them. Family still has to earn the right to be included your life. It's not a freaking guarantee.
Load More Replies... Celtic Pirate Queen 1 year ago
I would have told her the truth, "You know I'm a vegetarian and chose to give me a meat based cookbook. That was incredibly unkind and insensitive. I donated it to Goodwill. Since it was so awful, they probably still have it".
Jude Laskowski 1 year ago
Tell her you love it so much that you can't let it out of your sight.
#36
A ziploc bag of muddy buddies, with fruit flies all over them.
A bag of tortilla chips, they were stale.
Another ziploc bag filled with nail polishes, all old and separating.
Those were all the same person.
A GF at the time was yelling at me about giving her a stupid and thoughtless gift, before tossing their gift at me and stomping away. They gave me a book. A beaten-up, used book. I know it was used because I was the original owner of the book, and had lent it to her months before.
Amy E 1 year ago
Simple bulb ornaments hand painted with the used nail polish would have so much more value.
Margaret Shannon 1 year ago
Truly! And you inspire me—one year I got gold and silver glitter nail polish. Haven’t used them much. Now I've got ideas…
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J C 1 year ago
Well books don't really lose value unless they are literally ripped or water damaged. And a really beat up one might mean they really liked the book and want to share it with you. Its more the way it was given, thrown at you. If the same book was wrapped with maybe a note on it about how they thought of you and that you would like it, maybe toss in a nice bookmarker and maybe a gift card for a coffee shop and then it would be a really thoughtful gift.
#37
That would be the pair of Christmas socks where they claimed "one sock was for Christmas, and one for my birthday" while laughing hysterically. My birthday is the 24th. A runner up to worst gift was a rubber band ball (i was 16) and it wasn't a gag gift.. tied in place with the book I gave my mom - 2 years later, regifted to me, as she said she didn't want it, and if I didn't either to just throw it away. It was a memory book. I canceled my birthday and only started recently doing holidays again for my kid.
HelluvaHedgehogAlien 1 year ago
I have a friend whose birthday was on Christmas. People would give her gifts and say ‘this is for Christmas and your birthday’ since she was a kid. Never had the luxury of two gifts a year. I always gave her more stuff.
BarkingSpider 1 year ago
My sister's birthday is the first week of January and my parents always gave her birthday presents at Christmas.
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Kate Chupein 1 year ago
My sister and my birthdays are very close to Christmas. When we were small we had separate birthday parties, when we went away to school and were only home at Christmas, my parents always gave us Christmas gifts wrapped in Christmas paper and birthday gifts wrapped in birthday paper to acknowledge both events. Reading these posts I has made me even more incredibly grateful then I have always been for my wonderful and caring parents.
Lady Gypsy Rain 1 year ago
My late husbands birthday was early December. All his life up until we met, his family was too poor to do anything for him for either his birthday or Christmas. Imagine his surprise our first Christmas when my parents gave him an iPod for Christmas after having gifted him some air brush equipment he had wanted to get to upgrade his setup for his birthday. He didn’t expect anything for either and cried both times. I also got him things (I can’t recall what anymore) but had a tight budget because that was the year I came out on disability and was still waiting for pension and ss to kick in. He was 42 years old before anyone in his life ever celebrated him.
rumple slunkskin 1 year ago
My mother's birthday is the week after Christmas and she grew up basically not getting a birthday. When my child was born a week before Christmas she told me I better make sure she always gets a birthday and Christmas, and she goes above and beyond to help with the expenses, and even though I'm broke af this time of year the kids are never disappointed or left wanting. We are so lucky to have her.
Agent of Karma 1 year ago
If I'm giving you a Christmas present and your birthday is Christmas eve or day, you are getting 2 presents.
Courtney Christelle 1 year ago
We don’t have any Birthmas people in my family but if we did, they’d get a celebration separate from Christmas.
Amanda Porter 1 year ago
I'm on Dec 21st, most the time I'm lucky to get a call wishing me happy birthday, when my brothers have always received great and thoughtful gifts. But me, if I'm lucky I get a birthmas gift.
MelFunction 1 year ago
My Dad's birthday was on the 27th, and his parents always gave him one gift for both days. And after hearing that, my mom ensured it never happened to him again. It didn't matter what he got for Xmas, he always got a separate gift for his birthday. Always!
Anna Drever 1 year ago
I hope OP didn’t give any further presents to their family. Awful, awful people.
#38
Not me, but my MIL gifted someone a library book that had to be returned in a week.
Little Wonder 1 year ago
Okay SO. I used to work in a library, and someone came to the door JUST as we closed on Christmas Eve and she was frantic, so I opened the door and she said she just had to pick up her holds (reservations). I said "Well we're technically closed, but if you're quick..." so she grabbed her holds, and said "Thanks so much, now I just have to get these wrapped for tomorrow" and yes indeed gentlefolk, she was going to give them as gifts and was NOT happy when I pointed out they were due back in three weeks.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago
I gather some people don‘t understsnd what a library is.
Load More Replies... María Hermida 1 year ago
If I were given a library book as a present I would never return it, so that the person is charged a fine, or has to buy a new copy of the book to replace it.
#39
My dad got me a snow shovel and even wrapped it and when I opened it up, he told me to go use it on the driveway.
BookFanatic 1 year ago
Heh. That reminds me of the time my BF bought me a broom, mop, and bucket. Because he'd noticed dust. He's lucky I didn't used the broom on his head.
#40
A half used bottle of bubble bath. Used I know because it had ran down the sides of the bottle and dried.
Gift-giving during the holidays often brings mixed experiences, and sometimes the intentions behind the presents matter more than the gifts themselves.
For those interested in exploring stories about surprising reactions to holiday gifts within families, this look into family gift dynamics offers a heartfelt perspective.
#41
A toothbrush. But here’s the rest of it- when we were kids (me, my 2 younger brothers) always got toothbrushes for a stocking stuffer. One year we opened ours and ran into the bathroom to change our old ones out. Cue my youngest brother & me reaching for the same toothbrush. We looked at each other with HORROR. We’d been unknowingly using the same toothbrush as the other for months.
#42
My entire life my parents have teased me for enjoying soggy cereal (I don't like things that are too crunchy and I prefer a texture closer to oatmeal). I don't mind the teasing; I think it's funny too and have made a lot of jokes about it myself. I just like my cereal soggy, end of story. Christmas morning, my brother opens up the novelty bowl which keeps the cereal and milk separate. I thought it was a neat invention, but I remarked jokingly that I would never use something like that, because as everybody knows I want my cereal to be soggy. My parents gave me a withering look like I'd deeply offended them, and my dad told me something along the lines of "Don't be rude". Little did I know they'd bought one for me as well, and I was VERY confused when I opened it. It was not a gag gift, and my parents were genuinely annoyed that I didn't like it but I couldn't pretend otherwise because I'd already blown my cover by commenting on my brother's bowl. The gift itself wasn't insulting or stupid, but the way my family suddenly collectively forgot something that they'd teased me about for 20 years was weirdly hurtful. I still don't get how that happened.
Regina Holt 1 year ago
and this, my friends is what you call "selective memory" . . . only remember what you want to remember
#43
I was five. My grandmother got me a solar powered/hand crank radio. I didn't have any interest in the radio. I had no interest in letting it charge in the sun. I had no interest in cranking it. Worst part is my cousin and I are two months apart in age. We always go the same gifts from our grandma and they were always so strange. Now we send each other strange Christmas gifts each year in her honor.
Bartlet for World Domination 1 year ago
Weird to blame their lack of interest on their grandma.
#44
I was a third grade teacher. One of the student’s moms had her own business selling sex toys at home parties. She gave me a vibrator, which I opened in front of the whole class, because the girl insisted I open her present. Mom wrote me a note that said it would keep me warm on cold winter nights.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
Many of us teachers had a rule - never open a student's present in front of the class. This incident illustrates just one of the many reasons.
Jul_Jul_C 1 year ago
Definitely good for relaxing your neck. And everything down below...
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#45
We went over to my grandma's to wrap presents. So we were wrapping gifts for our cousins and vice versa (she was old and bedridden. We were wrapping such cool things, poly pockets, Barbies, easy bake ovens! I was so excited to go over for Christmas to see what she got us. I opened a container of hand sanitizer… like a gallon sized container of hand sanitizer. And that was my only gift… I was 9.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
My mom's mom loved to spoil me. I was the only girl. At Christmas, I would get tons of gifts. My brother would get a relatively decent haul. My cousins would get a cheap shirt or socks. I was oblivious, and didn't realize it until we were nearly grown. It's no wonder my cousins hated me.
#46
My ex gave me a blank dollar store photo album with some of the pages labeled and told me my job was to fill the album with photos of us. So basically he gave me a homework assignment for Christmas.
#47
My dad got me a gun when i was really young. I just wanted a f****n barbie or something.
Jan Hyde 1 year ago
f****n barbie was the only barbie model rejected by the marketing team ;-)
wordsupfool 1 year ago
Give it time, Jan. Redlight Barbie may be just around the corner.
Load More Replies... #48
I had asked my boyfriend of four years for a nice (not cheap, but certainly not expensive) digital camera (this was Christmas ‘07). I researched the kind I wanted, priced it out, told him all about it. On Christmas day, he hands me my gift and I excitedly open it to find….. a camcorder. He says, “so we can record concerts and stuff!” He spent more money on a camcorder that would never make it into a concert without getting taken by security, than the camera I had been talking to him about for a few months. We ended up breaking up 8 days later… not due to the camera/camcorder, but I realized he didn’t listen to me or take my opinion into account for the four years we had been together. I guess ultimately it was a great gift because it opened my eyes to a lot of s****y things he was doing.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
Sometimes people don't get the thing you are asking for, because they want you gift to be a surprise/more special. Maybe not in this case though.
#49
Peanut butter filled pretzels. I’m deathly allergic to peanuts.
Regina Holt 1 year ago
what the hell? I thought everyone had heard of nut allergies. I'd never give a gift with nuts in it, just because it might kill the recipient.
#50
I was told going into Christmas that we were broke and I shouldn’t expect much if anything. Which I was fine with tbh. We chose to celebrate at the grandparents so no gift openings at home apart from some chocolate in my stocking from dad. At the grandparents I open my gift first. New set of pajamas. I was 13 so they were nice but not something I was really excited about. Everyone else opens their modest gifts. Parents grandparents cousins aunts and uncles all had a few gifts each. Usually my grandparents hand out checks to everyone $100-200 each grand kid but this year they said there was no checks. Instead there was a big surprise. My mom hands my sister a card the final gift. Inside was a photo of my sisters new $6,000 Horse, which was big so we had to get a new $8,000 horse trailer and because the horse and trailer were so big a new $24,000 truck was needed.
Regina Holt 1 year ago
Why the hell would you talk about being broke, then go out and buy someone else a gift that crazy expensive????
#51
Ok I was 6 at the time. So it was Christmas and I did the usual, screaming "ITS CHRISTMAS WAKE UP EVERYONE!" then I went downstairs to check under the tree to see if Santa left me any presents. Underneath, there was a present wrapped in baby blue. It felt soft like cloth. I didn't think much of it and opened the box. Inside there was a baby sized baby blue Onesie that said "Baby boy" then there was a note for me. It said "Congratulations (My name) you are going to be a big sister!" That present still is a pain in my a*s to this day (Don't worry I also got a kitchen set)
DC 1 year ago
... and, did the brother turn out to be a gift, or a punishment? Is he just ... coal on two feet?
Margaret Shannon 1 year ago
Yeah, I got one of those too. Wasn’t I good enough on my own? You're trying to replace me? Parents, you’re having a baby for yourselves. Stop trying to put it on existing children.
Kori 1 year ago
I have a son who very very much wants to be a big brother. He‘s asked me for a sibling for years. Since his dad and I are divorced, it‘s definitely never gonna happen, so to him a sibling would definitely be a wish come true. You can‘t speak for everyone.
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#52
Socks when I was a kid. Now I want socks.
Donald 1 year ago
This might be the first year in over a decade I didn't get socks or underwear. I was supremely disappointed.
Load More Replies... Isabel Care 1 year ago
I got myself thigh high bed socks from snag. They do 2 sizes, the biggest fits lipedema legs. Soooo soft and snuggly
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
We used to get at least one entire outfit for Christmas every year. I have heard other kids complain about getting clothes for Christmas but I loved it. Usually I ended up wearing the outfit for Christmas Day.
Michael Largey 1 year ago (edited)
Time outs. Going to bed early. Not going outside. A good pair of socks. All my childhood punishments have become my goals.
#53
An omelette pan to “make my husband an omelette on Sunday mornings” from my mother-in-law for my first Xmas in their family. She died the year after and we divorced after 13 yrs because he cheated. Good riddance to all of those nut bars.
Regina Holt 1 year ago
I'd have told her that she can use it to teach her useless son how to use it.
#54
my grandma knew i loved cartoons and animation and my uncle, who loved family guy, knew i HATED family guy with a passion. so he told grandma since i was a adult and loved animation that she should get me some family guy PJs. I could not contain the loathing i felt opening them and seeing peter gryphon looking at me and my grandma waiting for me to cheer like i have been all night. Turns out my uncle did that to get 2 presents from grandma that year cause he knew i would hate it and not want them so he took them.
Luke Branwen 1 year ago
When I say I like adult animation, I mean stuff like Blue Eye Samurai, Pantheon or Arcane - definitely NOT the abomination that's Family Guy.
Donald 1 year ago
Seasons 4-12 are pretty damn good, it has really fallen off since Seth Macfarlane took a step back and let other people make the show.
Load More Replies... LauraDragonWench 1 year ago
Better to say, "you know, maybe I could come to like these" (to see the look on uncle's face) and then donate them the next town over specifically so uncle loses out on his 2nd gift.
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#55
I once got a notepad from my mum that she'd clearly nabbed from her cleaning job in an office. That was the only gift. She would normally spend thousands on my younger brother's (different Dad's). They'd have a pile of gifts waist high, spanning the entire living room. I got a notepad.
LargeMarge 1 year ago
I'd get her a bag of depends since she full of sh@@#t, nicely gift wrapped. With a big red bow on top for good measure.
#56
Nothing. Which is what I got from my now ex-husband for 2 decades.
#57
From my (now ex) husband. A Christmas card addressed to him with his name crossed out and mine wrote in and a massage envy gift card with scuff marks so it looked old and had $5 on it.
#58
K-cups, like the cheap gift set from Gordmans around the holidays….followed up by an acknowledgement that I don’t own a keurig.
DJR 1 year ago
K-cups are disposable, plastic, single-serve coffee pods that work in Keurig-brand coffee makers. Don't ask me what Gordman's is.
Load More Replies... LargeMarge 1 year ago
Attention people who are not from the US, K-Cups are Keurig Cups also known as coffee pods in Europe. Some countries in Europe do sell Keurig Coffee machines.
#59
My biological mother showed up christmas eve after no contact for two years and gave me pet mice. I already had a pet cat there were no supplies. I think she just did that to be petty and inconvenience the family.
#60
Age 7 crocheted coat hangers. my step grandma got all the grandkids normal gifts. Mine was a dozen metal coat hangers crocheted over. I still have one 30+ years later out of sheer spite. Now that’s a long term resentment.
Alysia Grey 1 year ago
Ooh, I’ve gotten those! My great-grandmother had done a shed-load before she died and my (unmedicated) bipolar mother has regifted them to me multiple times. Once while packaging them with a dress she’s borrowed, and the metal hangar poked several holes in the dress & ruined it. Loved great-grandma, hate those hangers. I leave some at my jobs before I quit, just to spread confusion. :)
Hiram's Friend 1 year ago
The mark of a good resentment is that you can keep it for years, drag it out occasionally, and finally have it stuffed and mounted on the wall.
#61
I got braces when I was 12 and my mom told me that was my xmas present that year. I think I got them early in the year too.. 😬
#62
AAA card. I’m epileptic and can’t drive.
Regina Holt 1 year ago
What the actual hell??? AAA is something that people buy for themselves, not for others. What if the recipient already has AAA?
#63
An Atari 2600. My dad had basically no involvement in my life but thought that getting a nice gift would make up for it. He got me an Atari 2600 for my birthday in July and had given it so little thought that he got me another one for Christmas because he forgot that he had already bought one for me. I know people who obviously had it worse but this was the moment I realized at 8 years old that my dad didn’t give a s**t about me.
Luke Branwen 1 year ago
Same situation here. My father bought me a laptop when I was like 12, but that was the only thing he has ever done for me (or my mom). We see each other like 1-2x per year and I prefer it that way since we are polar opposites and would probably hate each other if we shared a home.
#64
We did a “white elephant” gift exchange thing growing up, my family would do it every year instead of having to buy a ton of gifts for the family. So all the adults would buy one gift, and extras so the kids could each get one gift each as well.. I was 13/14 at the time, and I got Dr Pepper chapstick, and a big toy wooden pencil. It’s funny now, but back then seeing my Brothers and Sister get money, it was devastating.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
That's the thing about kris kringle/white elephant, not everyone places the same amount of value on things. Even with a spend limit you run the risk of getting something that is meaningless to you, while someone else gets something amazing.
Regina Holt 1 year ago
I HATE Dr. Pepper. I would have used that chapstick to write inappropiate message around the house
#65
Me- stepladder. Brother at 5 years old. He loved sweaters. Opened a box from aunt who was a great knitter. Very excited until he lifted sweater, found out it was a vest. “Where are my sleeves?” Poor kid cried hysterically.
#66
A receipt for my favourite perfume I my husbands pocket just before Christmas.. Unfortunately I didn’t get the perfume. Long long long story. Long long long marriage. Short story.
#67
A pack of all yellow highlighters which I was gifted because I “like art”. I was a little kid and my great aunt was well meaning, but losing her marbles.
#68
A purple, polyester pantsuit when I was 15. It looked like it was for a 50 year old woman. No offense to 50 year old women. This was in the mid-seventies.
#69
During my high school years... when I was in the formative moments of forging a political viewpoint... A TON of my relatives gave me a bunch of books written by a certain biased political commentator that definitely leans strongly towards one side of the political spectrum over the other. Not gonna name names, but... yeah, it was very obvious that they were just trying to influence my political ideology to match with theirs. And then as an adult... I went to the complete opposite end of the political spectrum.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
As Jeeves said "Sometimes it is well to know what tune the Devil is playing."
#70
I don't drink coffee. My (now ex) partner didn't drink coffee either. My (now ex) mother in law knew this. She knew this because every time she came over, she would complain that we didn’t offer her any coffee, and we would explain that since neither of us drink coffee, we didn't have coffee. Well, one Christmas she gave me ... ... a coffee maker.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
Isn't it generally considered polite to have a small amount of coffee on hand for guests, especially when they are regular visitors and ask for it each time? Or tea/hot chocolate even if you don't drink them?
Libstak 1 year ago
Yes, we don't drink tea at my home, only coffee but there are at least 6 varieties of tea in our pantry for guests.
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LauraDragonWench 1 year ago
I think this is less on the gifter and more on the giftee. It's just polite to have on hand the preferred beverage of a regular visitor. I don't have any visitors, but if I had someone over regularly who drank something I normally don't (say, hot chocolate or fruit juice) I'd do my best to have that for them so they'd feel welcomed. I mean, how hard is it to keep a jar of instant coffee around for the MIL?
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
My grandmother had several kitchen appliances (indoor grill, sandwich maker, stuff like that) that she never used. Not once. She refused to get rid of them, even to gift them to grandkids setting up their first apartments, because someone had given her those things. She wouldn't hurt their feelings by getting rid of the item they gifted her that she had no use for.
Load More Replies... DC 1 year ago
... crank out the dust-covered, whatever-infested thing that you never use and store under the deck, until coffeedrinkers visit. Go out, grab it, throw on the table and start. Cleaning? No, it's used so constantly, that cleaning is unnecessary, as it doesn't change how it looks next time...
#71
A broken ornament. No, I’m not even kidding. My grandpa’s wife (not my grandma) gave both me and my adult cousin blown glass ornaments, only mine was broken inside the bag. Now I wouldn’t’ve cared had my cousin gotten one and not me, we were adults so it didn’t matter. I opened it and she was like “I know it’s broken but you can fix it right?” It’s a blown glass ornament, no, I can’t fix it, and even if I wanted to I’d cut myself trying to. She knew it was broken and still gave it to me. Needless to say she’s not the brightest.
#72
This is actually a fantastic gift, but I think with context you'll understand why it sucked. A skateboard. When I was about 12 years old, my dad (whom I saw a few times a year) bought me a skateboard after I had expressed mild interest. I think I had admired a certain skateboarder and said it looked fun. I don't remember ever saying I wanted to pursue it myself or asking for one. I am notorious in my family for having poor balance and coordination, and I have virtually no depth perception. He knew how to skateboard, but he lived almost 9 hours away and I saw him a few times a year because he worked and had 5 kids with his new wife where they lived, so he couldn't really give me lessons. No one else in my family could skate, we didn't live anywhere near a skatepark, and there was no one older than me in our neighborhood who could mentor me. I lived with my grandparents, one of whom worked full-time out of town and the other thought skateboarding was a horrible idea. So I just had this board that I couldn't really do anything with. I tried to teach myself, but with poor balance, coordination, and depth perception already, I never even managed to stay on the board without holding onto something. It was such an embarrassing gift because it was a reminder of how my dad wasn't in my life, knew little to nothing about my interests, and how crappy my brain and body worked together (I was undiagnosed autistic). editing to add: It really sucked even more when he later taught my stepbrother and little brothers (who lived with him) to skateboard and put my little sister in ballet classes like I always wanted but was "too uncoordinated" for.
Anne35383 1 year ago
This was a child's gift- a child's hurt- through no fault of there own. Only the realization that they would never have their own father involved in their life like he was in his new family.
Load More Replies... #73
A couple years ago my older sister got me some Summer's Eve feminine spray. I mentioned I had a yeast infection the week before. Um thanks said no one ever.
#74
I got a shirt from one of my aunt's. It was a short sleeve flannel shirt with a sweatshirt hood on it. She thought it was perfect for me because she thought that I wore ugly clothes.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
When my cousin was 15, everyone asked her what she wanted for Christmas. She said clothes. This made the adults uncomfortable, because they didn't want to get her something she wouldn't like. She told them to buy the ugliest thing they could find, and she'd love it. Smart kid. Most of them did exactly that, and she loved her new clothes.
#75
My cousin once gave me some aftershave. I have a full beard. And he realized this as I was opening the gift, ha ha. We had a good laugh.
#76
5th grade. 1981. We had a grab bag at school. You were supposed to spend .75 to $1. Teacher gave us time to play with our gifts for a while after we opened them. The other kids were playing with Matchbox cars, Chinese jump ropes and coloring books. I got a 50-cent McDonald’s coupon and a quarter.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
I had to look up what a Chinese jump rope is. Even by the 90s we just called them elastics, or maybe it was because it was a different country, but I've never heard them called that before.
LargeMarge 1 year ago
I live in the state, and I am about the same age as the poster, I never heard that name before as well. We just called them jump ropes.
Load More Replies... #77
From my mom. I got a bottle of Old Navy perfume. My sisters and my brothers girlfriend were given necklaces. Real gold necklaces. My gift still had the $10 price tag.
#78
I purchased my SIL some really dope harry potter themed office accesories for her first new job out of college. Shes's a diehard HP fan and they were super classy, not chidlish at all. Spent almost $100 on her Christmas present and several hours deciding. She got me one of those cheap $9 holiday bath gift sets from walmarts gift section. I have severe psoriasis and these kinda things give me a flare up because they are heavily scented with cheap ingredients. I thanked her and when I got home threw it in the trash. I now no longer bother buying presents for anyone except my absolute closest friends and my own immediate family. I honestly would have preferred to have gotten nothing under the premise of she didn't have money then a very no-thought gift that showed how little f***s she gave about me!
Jan Hyde 1 year ago
This is why I hate xmas, "I sent you a card but you didn't send me one", "I spend twice as much as you did on a gift" etc. If I see something I think you will like I'll get it, be it $5 or $500, or nothing at all rather than spend money on some c**p you won't like or don't need.
B Jones 1 year ago (edited)
I'd say it's more I'll take cheap gifts as long as they somehow show thought. Get me a candy bar I specific like or people know I collect playing cards you can find a unique set really and fairly cheap. But, especially family, buy me some random thing that has no relevance or like this one messes with a medical condition if be upset too
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#79
A washbag jam-packed full of small sample shampoos, conditioners and body washes that had clearly been hoarded from the givers’ hotel stays.
Jessica Rabbit 1 year ago
This reminds me of one year when my SIL gave me a pouch that came with free samples of makeup (the kind she received for buying said makeup) but no actual makeup or fullsized products that she spent money on. Oh, and an EXPIRED 50% discount card for a wine club...
#80
Collection of hotel toiletries ("But they're Louis Vuitton!" and a loaf of sourdough bread with a tin of tuna. All in the same year, from my husband's family. The only person who was happy that night was the cat. He likes tuna.
#81
Novelty ties. My SIL buys me one every 2nd year. In the 30 years I've known her, has she not noticed that I NEVER wear a tie??
#82
One year, my MIL got me a pair of nice jeans. They were nice and well made. The issue was that she got my BIL's wife 4 court side seats to an NBA game. She got my other BIL's girlfriend a weekend Spa trip for her and 2 friends. How can your MIL tell everyone she hates you without actually saying it out loud.
#83
Last year my MIL gave my partner and I multiple fancy gift bags, tissue paper and all, very obviously full of random clutter she had cleared from her spare room. Not like nice extra items to give away, truly just useless odds and ends. Made even more obvious because that month she had been talking a lot about how she was finally going through and decluttering, like it was a big conversational topic with her every time we met. On the bright side it kind of helped me get through to him that maybe she was a little weird and sometimes rude. Cracked his wall of only-son-mummy-denial lol. A year later his boundaries have gotten a lot healthier. So I suppose that’s a good gift.
#84
A very stinky hair iron quilted heat pad. Used. From the 80s. Smelled like actual pee and cheese. Someone forgot their secret Santa gift and the after school program dug around in storage to find me something ($10 was the gift price) and found the stinkiest thing in the world. I would have been happier not participating. Everyone got the coolest gifts, I got a piece of soggy stinky trash that had burn holes in it. It was damp. Literally wet from the bottom of the storage shed. It was an important lesson as a kid: 1) if you forget secret Santa gift, it’s ok, but you MUST step out and not participate. 2) I put all my excitement into giving gifts that I forget I’m getting one!
#85
One of my co workers was given a large bag of pistachios. He was my secret Santa and gave me a snack bag size of pistachios a week later at the company meeting.
#86
Worst was a present that never showed up. They told me “It’s on the way”. They being the people who were the givers. Never saw that present. But the worst present I received was a “special” homemade organic bar of soap. It lasted one showed and fell apart in the beginning of shower #2. From the same person.
BarkingSpider 1 year ago
I got one of those "one the way" presents once. It also never showed up, which was honestly fine because it was a personalized license plate that they came up with. So weird.
#87
Not me but this girl I knew was gifted birth control/spermicide stuff by her family.
Luke Branwen 1 year ago
This is... kinda considerate in some twisted way. Better than the kind of ultra-conservative family that expects their precious girl to stay chaste until she's ready to become a servant of her husband.
#88
My ex was the absolute worst gift-giver. One birthday I received a $60 milk frother—neither of us drink milk. ETA another birthday gift: a custom license plate with a fish on it. But the best-worst gift? A box covered in assorted Christmas wrapping paper scraps, and with one of the bulb ornaments from the tree taped on top. Inside was one lime green bath towel… and a Glock. I know people say “it’s the thought that counts,” but I think that assumes the thought count itself is greater than zero lmao
DC 1 year ago
... a Glock??? Really? No paperwork that's due before purchase, no ... just a fuggin Glock? To be used on the giver, I assume?
DJR 1 year ago
In most places in the US, you can give/sell someone a gun without any paperwork, as long as you originally bought it for yourself. If you bought it with the intent of giving/selling, then it's an illegal straw purchase.
Load More Replies... grotesqueer 1 year ago
It's indeed the thought that counts. And the thought behind this one is very disturbing.
#89
A half full bottle of Tabasco sauce.
DC 1 year ago
... don't try the Chipotle-Raspberry variant. It tastes interesting at first try, but sucks at 2nd, 3rd, 4th and whatever is to come. And, damned, get a new bottle at least! They're not that costly, and, tbh, the Chipotle one is the only one I really like. The standard, normal, red one is ok due to childhood memories ... the other ones - meh. Too weak, and no smoke flavour to make up for it...
#90
From my girlfriend’s grandparents (I was 17/18 at the time), they bought me… a toy magnet. Not even a decent strength magnet, but one of those ones that are 99% plastic in the shape of a horseshoe with the remaining 1% consisting of a tiny little bar magnet at each end. This thing didn’t even have enough magnetism to pick up a single paperclip.
#91
A borat mankini.
PeePeePooPoo 1 year ago
We got that for my boss for his previous birthday. He loved it even tried it on in front us, over his clothes tho. lol
#92
2007: first Christmas as an adult where I have a boyfriend. I got him some decent presents. I hand them to him, thinking he's gotten his for me hidden somewhere. He turns to me and says "Remember how I upgraded you laptop with better RAM?" "MERRY CHRISTMAS" - not something I cared about or needed in the slightest. 2006: new boyfriend. I tell him about my s****y Christmas present the year before and that I just want something to open. I should have been more specific. The night before Christmas he asked to borrow my wrapping paper and some boxes. I was kind of miffed that I had to supply my own boxes and wrapping paper, but at least he got me something. Or so I thought. Christmas morning comes around and he has a huge a*s box for me, which I proceed on open. A smaller box. Inside of the smaller box. And so on, until I got to a f*****g pill bottle. On the pill bottle was the following "IOU: $100 gift card to glamour shots."
Amanda Porter 1 year ago
At least you were complimentary. I was thinking boyfriend of 2007 found out she had another boyfriend.
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#93
As a teen, my dad didn't have much concept of technology and largely assumed that equal cost was equal value. One Christmas, he bought my brother an iPod and bought me iPod accessories of roughly the same cost. He spent the same amount on both of us and I didn't have the heart to tell him that my gifts, without an iPod to use them on, were entirely useless.
Amanda Porter 1 year ago
If this were my mom, she would have told me that since I do not have an iPad, I should give my gift to my brother. Or just said," hey BROTHER, your sister has your other gift for you that she tried to take."
Imagineer 1 year ago
I don't understand that even money thing. My sister would buy something for $50 for one kid, and then if she found the same thing for the other kid and it was on sale for $40, she would buy it and then spend $10 more on something for that person. So she spent the same, but one kid got two gifts. Dumb
#94
A gift exchange at work.. was given 2 cups from a Baileys gift box. No Baileys. Only the cups 😶💩
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
Maybe the Baileys would have brought the cost above the spend limit?
#95
was around 10 years old.... i got a plant, a **poinsettia**, i was left without a word.... asking myself why i was punished when everyone else got cool stuff they actually liked even if it was not pricey stuff. a PLANT ? i had never showed any interest in plants !? i still dont get it.
#96
Years ago my wife asked what I wanted for Christmas and I asked for a Kramer chefs knife and she agreed. Christmas rolls around and I got a $10 clock radio. F**k I was pissed off.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
Maybe people who get pissed off that easily shouldn't be given knives.
#97
My brother in law for 3 years in a row now gets me these like “desk toys”. They’re almost like fidget toys, things to pass the time while at work. And he doesn’t even get me like one or two, he gets me like a whole box full of them. I have no idea how or why this started. I always just say thank you and immediately put them in the box to donate.
Jenn Smith 1 year ago
Now this one sounds kinda fun...but I'm old ish. I'd love a box of desk toys 😆😇
#99
Nothing. When I was 7 I would read The Giving Tree every time I went to the store with my mom. She would come find me and see that I was reading it. That Christmas at our one present on Christmas Eve tradition I open mine to find the book. Not thinking straight! Or like a 7 year old I stated, ‘I didn’t want this.’ This made my dad angry. He took the book and “scolded” me. I was then told I wouldn’t be getting anything on Christmas Day. I did not.
#100
A John Wayne movie box set from my grandparents. They meant well, but I don’t think I ever even opened it.
#101
My little sister once gave me and brother used chapstick.
#102
Towards the bottom of my Christmas list I wrote "Nelly CD". My sister and I were big time snoopers and would find most of our gifts scattered throughout the house (other than the "big" ones, which to this day I'm not sure where/how my mom pulled off hiding them). Well, we happened to find a Nelly CD hidden in a laundry room cabinet, but it was a CD by pop singer Nelly Furtado instead of the intended CD by rapper Nelly. In the days leading up to Christmas I felt annoyed, and being a kid I couldn't hide my disappointment upon opening it on Christmas day either. My mom took ownership of the CD and it featured heavily into the family car music rotation and played during all of our family trips, with my sister and I mocking my mom's blunder and mocking all the songs (especially "I'm Like a Bird") all the while. Meanwhile, we both secretly liked the CD and Nelly Furtado really blew up a few years later.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
My mum used to store our big presents at my grandparent's place. One year we got a trampoline, with a set of clues written by Santa (on my grandad's typewriter, but I never said anything) that ended in the backyard where it was set up. It was pretty awesome that he put in the work to set it up on Christmas eve as well, without us knowing.
Sydney B. 1 year ago
My Mom and grandpa worked together to pull this off with a swing set one year, Pa-paw apparently had it hidden at their house and drove over in the middle of the night (almost an hour away!) to deliver the thing, it was amazing and had me almost believing in Santa even though that was the same year I figured out what was up. 😆
Load More Replies... LargeMarge 1 year ago
You didn't miss anything with Nelly CD, I should know, I'm from Saint Louis.
#103
BF gave me an angel painted on velvet. I hid it in the attic and went back to college. Parents found it years later when they sold the house and had no idea where it came from.
#104
Back when I was about 10 years old, my nana (grandma) got me a gift. God bless her soul but to me, when I look back I still think wtf. We are Mexican, so for Christmas she got me not a Power Ranger, but a ‘Para Ranger’ the Mexican equivalent. I threw that poncho wearing son of a b***h as far underneath my bed as I could.
#105
A freaking pony.... it bit me every time I got near it. It was just an a*****e with a saddle. I gave that pony away and sold the saddle for 50.00.
King Julian 1 year ago
You know on Christmas how every little girl asks for a pony and their mom says no? Well you were the exception and it bit you. so instead of saying training it and putting actual effort into it you decided you hated a free FREAKIN PONY.
Amanda Porter 1 year ago
I think I'd bite you too, after verifying whether you had rabies or not.
What do you think ?
Limey 1 year ago
My MIL has always been a stingy, miserable person. The Christmas after her mother went into a dementia unit, she wrapped as gifts for everyone items from her mother’s house (glass dishes, ornaments, stuff like that ). She didn’t provide any other gifts (they weren’t hard up for money) which might have made it a BIT more acceptable, but the worst part was the old lady was there. Already a little confused (she had just started with dementia) and not really understanding why she couldn’t “go home “, she was visibly perplexed at seeing people open presents that contained items she knew were her things, from her house. One of the many things for which I have never forgiven my MIL.
Sonja 1 year ago
This is heartbreaking. Dementia is cruel enough without people making it harder. I usually don't wish bad on people. But I can't stop hoping your MIL gets dementia too
Load More Replies...
Rocco MZ 1 year ago
My mom and my brother visited me in the early 2000s. She was his favorite, I was anything but. I could tell my mom the sky was blue and she'd tell me I was wrong. Fun life, right? Going out with my brother one night he asked to borrow cologne. I told him that I didn't have any because I hate cologne. My mother accused me of lying because I didn't want to share with him. I invited her to search my bathroom and my bedroom. That Christmas my gift was a really expensive bottle of cologne. Like wtf? I gave it away. People suck when they use gifts to be passive aggressive.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago (edited)
Didn‘t you realise ? You got that, so there would be some for your brother, if he ever visited again! Jokes aside, I‘m sorry you had such a bad Mom. Are you no contact now?
Load More Replies... BarkingSpider 1 year ago
My husband is a great gift giver, but one year one if my presents was tent stakes. I just laughed and my daughter and I still joke about it. It was really cute though. They were on my wish list, but I use my wish list for stuff I want to buy also, but wouldn't necessarily be good gifts. The worst thing was what my dad did this year though. He bought my nephews something really cool, put a ton of effort into an activity to do with them, and also added another $50 in cash. My daughter got about $20 worth of craft supplies that he texted me about 3 days before. Zero thought. They are all close in age, teenagers or close to. My daughter didn't say anything about it, but it made me really sad.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago
Boys vs girl? Maybe your Dad did not know what to do with a girl? You know your Dad. Might it have been that? If so, you could just talk to him and tell him what she would have liked
Load More Replies...
Chelsea Bates 1 year ago
My step family. They always gave all the kids literally a trash bag full of presents to each kid. There was like 10 kids. I got a baby toy. That's it. I wasn't "family"
brittany 1 year ago
my great aunt gifted my brother the family bible which had been in our family for generations and had a page for recording births and deaths. my gift was Christmas ornaments in a small gift bag that had a dead cockroach in the bottom of the bag. took everything in me not to scream.
Zaphod 1 year ago (edited)
The worst Christmas present that I ever GAVE was a used thrift store 3D floral swimming cap from the 50s. I gave it to an ex GF as an insult. I had moved out 10 days after my 18th birthday. My mom immediately asked a girl, that I only dated for 1 month because she cheated on me, to move into my old room. She lived there rent-free for 3 years and even had a baby. I had to see her way too often. My crazy mom was the reason that I moved out ASAP.
DragonofMordor 1 year ago
My cousin once gifted me a stack of lottery tickets he'd already scratched and didn't have any winnings.
Ban-One 1 year ago (edited)
I understand the disappointment as a kid or teen over a bad/wrong gift. Or about no gift at all. As a grown up though we stopped giving gifts to each other in the closest family. The money we save we use e.g. to invite each other for a good dinner out (or a nice home-cooked meal with some good wine) on a regular weekend. Making a normal day special. Or my wife last year surprised me with a city trip to Paris, from the saved money over the past few years. I on the other hand will see that we can have a nice vacation in Italy in spring 2024. We're not Grinches or the Kranks. We have a good meal on Xmas, watch a nice movie. Got some decorations. We just use the saved money for other nice things for each other. No wrong or bad gifts no more. No more stressful shopping. No disappointments.
Limey 1 year ago
My MIL has always been a stingy, miserable person. The Christmas after her mother went into a dementia unit, she wrapped as gifts for everyone items from her mother’s house (glass dishes, ornaments, stuff like that ). She didn’t provide any other gifts (they weren’t hard up for money) which might have made it a BIT more acceptable, but the worst part was the old lady was there. Already a little confused (she had just started with dementia) and not really understanding why she couldn’t “go home “, she was visibly perplexed at seeing people open presents that contained items she knew were her things, from her house. One of the many things for which I have never forgiven my MIL.
Sonja 1 year ago
This is heartbreaking. Dementia is cruel enough without people making it harder. I usually don't wish bad on people. But I can't stop hoping your MIL gets dementia too
Load More Replies... Rocco MZ 1 year ago
My mom and my brother visited me in the early 2000s. She was his favorite, I was anything but. I could tell my mom the sky was blue and she'd tell me I was wrong. Fun life, right? Going out with my brother one night he asked to borrow cologne. I told him that I didn't have any because I hate cologne. My mother accused me of lying because I didn't want to share with him. I invited her to search my bathroom and my bedroom. That Christmas my gift was a really expensive bottle of cologne. Like wtf? I gave it away. People suck when they use gifts to be passive aggressive.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago (edited)
Didn‘t you realise ? You got that, so there would be some for your brother, if he ever visited again! Jokes aside, I‘m sorry you had such a bad Mom. Are you no contact now?
Load More Replies... BarkingSpider 1 year ago
My husband is a great gift giver, but one year one if my presents was tent stakes. I just laughed and my daughter and I still joke about it. It was really cute though. They were on my wish list, but I use my wish list for stuff I want to buy also, but wouldn't necessarily be good gifts. The worst thing was what my dad did this year though. He bought my nephews something really cool, put a ton of effort into an activity to do with them, and also added another $50 in cash. My daughter got about $20 worth of craft supplies that he texted me about 3 days before. Zero thought. They are all close in age, teenagers or close to. My daughter didn't say anything about it, but it made me really sad.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago
Boys vs girl? Maybe your Dad did not know what to do with a girl? You know your Dad. Might it have been that? If so, you could just talk to him and tell him what she would have liked
Load More Replies... Chelsea Bates 1 year ago
My step family. They always gave all the kids literally a trash bag full of presents to each kid. There was like 10 kids. I got a baby toy. That's it. I wasn't "family"
brittany 1 year ago
my great aunt gifted my brother the family bible which had been in our family for generations and had a page for recording births and deaths. my gift was Christmas ornaments in a small gift bag that had a dead cockroach in the bottom of the bag. took everything in me not to scream.
Zaphod 1 year ago (edited)
The worst Christmas present that I ever GAVE was a used thrift store 3D floral swimming cap from the 50s. I gave it to an ex GF as an insult. I had moved out 10 days after my 18th birthday. My mom immediately asked a girl, that I only dated for 1 month because she cheated on me, to move into my old room. She lived there rent-free for 3 years and even had a baby. I had to see her way too often. My crazy mom was the reason that I moved out ASAP.
DragonofMordor 1 year ago
My cousin once gifted me a stack of lottery tickets he'd already scratched and didn't have any winnings.
Ban-One 1 year ago (edited)
I understand the disappointment as a kid or teen over a bad/wrong gift. Or about no gift at all. As a grown up though we stopped giving gifts to each other in the closest family. The money we save we use e.g. to invite each other for a good dinner out (or a nice home-cooked meal with some good wine) on a regular weekend. Making a normal day special. Or my wife last year surprised me with a city trip to Paris, from the saved money over the past few years. I on the other hand will see that we can have a nice vacation in Italy in spring 2024. We're not Grinches or the Kranks. We have a good meal on Xmas, watch a nice movie. Got some decorations. We just use the saved money for other nice things for each other. No wrong or bad gifts no more. No more stressful shopping. No disappointments.
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