When it comes to boring gifts, we all know the situation perfectly well. It’s your birthday, Christmas, or some other special occasion, and you’re eagerly tearing open the wrapping paper on a gift from a loved one, a coworker, or a person who happens to be in your social circle. And then...it’s a pair of socks. Or a tie. Or a set of plain office supplies consisting of that tiny little crocodile to remove misplaced staples and a double-sided eraser in the times of everything computers. Of course, you put on a smile and thank them graciously, but inside, you’re thinking, “Really? This is what you got me?”
Now, let’s reverse the situation - you’re in a position to get someone a gift. You choose a mug. And see the very same expression you recognize oh-so-well from your own experience and feel... Well, not so good about your choice. But here’s a cure - you can avoid these situations by learning from the real-life experiences of other people, namely those who shared their stories about receiving the most boring gifts ever on this enlightening Reddit thread.
And you wouldn’t believe (until you read it, that is) what kind of bad gifts these people have received! It only starts with socks, and with socks, you can at least use them, but if you get a VHS of Mariah Carey’s Glitter movie… You only get a trip to a trash recycling plant. And the list of these worst gifts ever goes on and on and on until a point where you cannot believe the human ingenuity in generating the most boring gift ideas.
Right-o, ready to read the stories about the most boring gifts ever that people shared on this awesome AskReddit thread? If so, you know what to do here!
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"I bought my girlfriend a plastic washing basket for her birthday. The kids broke one a couple of days before her birthday and she said “What am I supposed to do now” – well, it is someone's birthday coming up! “if you do that I will kill you” – so her birthday comes round and she walks downstairs to a badly wrapped washing basked, it was obvious what it was and she just looked at me “you are such a dick” when she took the wrapping paper off I had filled it with all sorts of things that she likes such as candles and flowers and stuff."
"My brother-in-law is a mechanic and about 15+ years ago he bought me jumper cables for Christmas. It was a very boring gift but it has saved my butt so many times and I've also been able to help other random people who are stranded too."
"My mom got me fish oil pills and a blood pressure machine for my birthday one year. I was turning 26."
callmepebbles replied: "Dude, 26 is the new 102. That could save your life."
"My grandma gets me a notebook and a pen every birthday/Christmas. She's 90 and it's the thought that counts so I'm never unhappy, but c'mon grandma, have you ever seen me use a notebook before?
As I mentioned before my grandma is quite old, so my mom usually gets an extra gift for her to give to me on top of the notebook. My grandma has had trouble picking out gifts for me and my sister since my grandpa/her husband passed away. The notebook is just her way of showing that even know it may only cost 2$, she is still willing to at least try to get me a gift that is solely from her. I don't know if she just consistently forgets that she gave me 10 notebooks already, or thinks I write star trek fan fiction, but either way, I love her for it, and it will be a very fond memory I have of her for the rest of my life."
Then fill that notebook with memories that the 2 of you have shared over the years and go and see her and share it with her - not difficult.
"When I was 8 I was given dishes. Collectible dishes."
Again, a gift I'd loved. I always enjoyed looking at my grandma's collectibles. Sometimes, when she wanted to spoil me, she'd let me dress up as a princess with her old dummer dresses and jewellery and serve me tea in her collectible cups. I inherited them. But that's not the way I wanted to get them. I'd been glad had she given me one while she was still alive. Especially at 8 years old. I loved my granny so much
"Thank you cards to send everyone who brought real gifts."
Grintor comments: "Ah, the gift that comes with a chore."
"I opened a gift from my uncle once, it was a 'Royal Wedding commemorative cup set'. Was weirded out, and just put it on my shelf.
5 years later I was back home visiting my parents when I saw it on my shelf and decided to open it. £50 and a new Xbox 360 game were inside. Sorry uncle."
Lol I once thought my mom got me a coffee maker... until a week later I opened it to find a new set of bath towels lol
"My dad got my mom a plunger for her birthday once. Needless to say, they're divorced now."
My dad once gave my mom a porcelain toilet bowl for her birthday. He loved her with every cell in his body; he was just c**p at birthdays.
My family has sort of stopped celebrating Christmas, as we did when we were little, but now that I and all my cousins are grown up we've started just doing one 'secret Santa with a limit of $50.
Last year, for some reason, my mother got me for secret Santa, and she gave me some sort of special windshield wiper for your car when it gets icy. The problem was (besides the fact that it was already a pretty shit gift) I don't have a car.
I'm actually still pretty pissed about that, simply because I put a lot of thought and effort into my secret Santa, and my own mother phoned it in with something she got at Canadian tire last minute."
"A bucket of grey paint."
HacksawJimDGN comments: "Mom, this isn't what I meant when I said I wanted 50 Shades of Grey!"
"Boyfriend got me a multimeter. I was thrilled with it but my mom said he gave me the most boring gift in the universe."
TheMarshallee replied: "Man, multimeters are hella expensive. I wouldn't mind getting another one."
"A soap dish. I received this for Xmas from my uncle when I was 13."
PunnyBanana replied: "The fact that you were 13 is what got me laughing. It's a boring gift for someone who just got a house for the first time. For a 13-year-old though? Absolutely absurd."
When I was eight, my auntie gave me a soap dish and soap. It was a spap dish in form of a shimmering, pearly white seashell made from porcelain and little soap pearls with shimmering mica in them smelling like roses. I absolutely loved the gift! I would wash my hands and play with the soap, imagining I was a mermaid-princess (again, I was eight). Sadly it broke when I moved out. But I truly loved that gift and cherished it. I'd still love it although I'm now 42.
"My grandfather once wrapped up a calendar from a local real estate agent's office. Had their name and ad on it and all. That was pretty bad."
The calendar would be handy. Everything else, (bar the computer) is just clutter. At least the calendar has purpose.
"When I was 15, I had the chance to go see Rush and Primus in Convert... 90-91 ish.
My mother told me that I could go for my 16th birthday, but that it would ruin ALL the plans she had for my big 16th birthday. So I packed my bags and went on that guilt trip... and did NOT go to the Rush concert.
Day of my birthday, we were walking through Costco, she gives me $35 and says that she was going to get me a briefcase, but decided to just give me the cash.
Still the biggest letdown...
Still have yet to see Rush live.. and I'm 41 now.."
"One Christmas, I don't know why but my parents got us office stamps.
I remember stamping random stuff in the bathroom and looking back it was hilariously depressing.
It was a really somber holiday but that night my parents caved and got me and my sisters a game cube."
Kaizival comments: "Best Christmas story I've ever read."
"I received an encyclopedia on fishing from my mum one Christmas when I was 17/18.
I haven't been fishing since I was about 9!"
"A photo of a can of beans. With no frame."
tyrasbankaccount comments: "I would love an Andy Warhol painting."
"A few years ago, I received a Secret Santa gift, and inside was just a tangarine."
Didn't that used to be a tradition? And maybe a lump of coal too? Gosh, I REALLY am old. I need to get down to some serious Benjamin Button action and get this baby back on track. Gonna go fire up the gramophone and pump out some high-kicking Spice Girls beats to rejuvenate my a*s. Spice Girls are still cool, yeah?
"For my 16th birthday, my aunt and her family gave me a cake stand/cover. Without any cake."
Back in my youth when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, young girls would get alot of these type of gifts for their "glory box", which was a head start in setting up their own homes/kitchens when they married, cos all girls were supposed to marry by18...or be left on the shelf.
"Towels. My aunt embroiders tea towels. I have over a hundred tea towels now, no joke. All with stupid pictures or sayings on them."
"Husband's grandma gave our toddler an air freshener for her birthday. One of those plastic, kinda cone-shaped ones that people leave on the backs of their toilets. It was mostly used and someone had at some point crocheted a weird rabbit doll thingy to go on it as decoration.
I guess that would be boring for an adult, but pretty exciting for a kid though. Also exciting in terms of trying to wrestle it away from a hysterical toddler before they eat the gel inside..."
"So this happened to a friend of mine in elementary school.
His grandma was rich, but notorious for being a terrible gift-giver. I remember my friend really really wanted the new Xbox or ps3 or whatever it was at the time, and he thought his grandma was going to get it for him for Christmas.
You can imagine his surprise when he received a laminator as his gift. I still joke with him about that damn gift to this day lol."
"My mother got me a flashlight for Christmas once.
It was the only thing I received, and it was a dollar store POS. Did not last long. I was 27 at the time."
"Deodorant, here you go, we think you might smell."
Jumpy142 replied: "I got deodorant as a Christmas gift from my workplace once, all of my coworkers got jewelry. To be honest, being the only male in a workplace probably made the gift choice hard for my (female) boss."
I always get the 'Shampoo, shower gel and deodorant Gift' from about seven or eight people. Is it just LAZY gift buying, or do I really stink?
"As kids, we always hated getting ornaments for Christmas. Not only are they a boring gift altogether, but you literally have to wait a year to be able to use it."
"My mother got me an antistress ball last Christmas. So yeah..."
"I got a clothes hanger for Christmas when I was a kid.
I was obsessed with horses; it was shaped like a horse's head. I see the thought process there but in terms of boringness, I'd say a clothes hanger is up there.
(It was really pretty though, I kept it out as a wall decoration.)"
"Printer ink for someone who does not own a printer."
"A wall hanging that says 'Live Laugh Love'."
"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People book. I have received 3 copies in my life so far."
I'd definitely look into it. There must be something they're sensing about you.
"Ironing board cover."
theoptionexplicit replied: "Lots of covers are boring: spare toilet roll cover; mattress cover; the clear plastic covers for couches; typewriter covers; patio furniture covers."
"Not as bad as getting luggage tags when I was 14... We don't even travel."
"My younger brother, when he was 10, just took a book off my shelf and gave it to me for my birthday. He didn't even wrap it up or anything. My mom told me not to say anything because 'He's so proud of his gift!' What?"
EddieFrits comments: "At age 10? I would let that slide with a 5-year-old. Maybe."
We did accidentally give one child something they already owned for Christmas once. It was by no means the only thing they got, but it was quite funny when she opened it and said "This is mine anyway...". It was an ocarina that was still in its box and had ended up by the presents waiting to be wrapped, somehow. We wrapped it with the others and it ended up in her bag!
"Drink coasters."
user replied: "Joke's on you, now my wood tables are clean and unharmed. I RULE ALL THE TABLES."
"A bland sweater that doesn’t fit."
And, you have to say, "Thanks. It's just what I wanted. It's only a problem when the giver wants you to try it on straight away.
"A blender. My sister's boyfriend got her this when she was in college. I was 12 and even I laughed about it."
I think it's a useful gift! Especially at an age where people move away from homes for education and jobs
"Drill bit set. Literally for boring."
That's my idea of a good gift. But with tools, there is a second motive - "No excuses now. Fix those things you said you didn't have the porper tools for"
"A cheap paperback Bible. It was a wedding gift from my spectacularly clueless and religious aunt and uncle. I already had several hardback and leather-bound Bibles, and I was no longer religious.
The following Christmas they got me a bar of soap."
FacelessFellow comments: "You're a sinner and you're dirty?"
Mybrother gave me a bible, his study one with highlighted passages and notes in the margins. I was very new age meditation and party animal at the time, not really feeling my Catholic heritage, if you know,you know . Wish i had treasured it anyway because he passed away 10 years ago.
"Bath bomb. The way to show them you're obligated to spend money on a gift, but you literally couldn't give a s*it. Zero effort is required.
If you're coming here to say 'But I buy LUSH bath bombs all the time and they're great' - I obviously am not referring to these grossly overpriced products. I mean the £4 gift sets and raffle prizes that probably cause serious skin irritation and smell like washing-up liquid..."
xXfreecandyXx replied: "Even better when they don't actually have a bath only a shower."
I got a few of those as a teen, usually from people who just thought all teen girls liked that stuff. I had only taken showers since I was about 10 though as I found baths boring.
"I once got snow boots for Christmas. I had not indicated in any way I wanted or needed snow boots. I live in a country where it snows maybe two weeks per year and never in such quantities as to require special footwear. Nor do I travel to areas where snow is present in sufficient quantities."
I feel for you. That's like getting sun block lotion as a gift in Ireland. We get sun maybe twice a year. By twice , I mean 2 days.
"A pine-scented car air freshener to hang from your rear-view mirror."
Oh great - another one to add to the 10 that are still hanging on the rear view mirror.
"Chocolate and nothing else I guess."
"A bag of sand."
Cortoro replied: "Joke's on you! Come winter, that baby will get me out of a heap of trouble when there's a snow drift."
"Your name on a star in an unrecognized 'Star registry.'"
"My girlfriend got me a chip and salsa bowl that has a spot for chips and a spot for salsa. The worst part about it was that she talked it up for months telling me how much I was going to love it. I was literally speechless when I opened it.
See, I have a lot of hobbies -camping, gaming, working out, paintballing- and there are always a lot of things I could use. So, I was pretty stoked for whatever it was she was hyping up. But no, she got me something to eat out of. And no, it wasn't fancy or personalized, it was just some bowl she probably saw on Pinterest. I did go through a stage where I ate salsa and chips for about a month but it definitely didn't warrant its own gift among other things."
It was a ploy. She was talking up her gift so much to you, with the intention that you would feel obliged to get her something really good. I wonder what you got her? Bet it wasn't a bowl.
"Showing up without a gift saying, 'I am the gift.'"
"A tie rack motor."
SR3116 comments: "For the man who has everything!"
"When I was 12 or 13 I received a bottle of aftershave for my birthday or Christmas."
Aftershave for young teens. And, we thought it was the cure for acne, (no matter the pain).
"Picture frame."
"Socks. My aunt got me a pair of red socks, with glitter and frills on them for Christmas last year. I'm 32."
Doesn't matter what age you are! You can't beat a nice pair of thick cosy socks.
"A pen... with my name on it."
A nice and fancy fountain pen with my name on it? I would've been delighted.
"I remember my uncle got me a pint of Haagen-Daaz ice cream for my 9th birthday...
Gee, thanks for not buying me toys or video games because you know nothing of your own nephew."
Well, maybe everytime you visited him, you asked for ice cream? So, at least he got you something he new you liked.
"Gift vouchers... It's the perfect way to say I don't care enough to even think about what you might want."
No, it's a way to say: I know that the risk is high to either buy something you won't like or otherwise already have so I rather give you a voucher so you can get something you'll really want. This comment is extremely entitled and ungrateful. If someone truly doesn't care they grab the next best thing and wrap it. The cheaper, the better, and you end up with a 30cm glass fish that looks as if someone drove over it and clashes with everything in your decor because nothing else you own is neon green
My bio father and stepmom once got my sister and me (about 15 and 13 at the time) snow globes of Paris and London, which was the only gift that Christmas. These were intended to be symbolic of an upcoming vacation to said cities, which would have been an incredible gift. Problem is, it never happened. Now I have snow globes representative of a trip that never happened. At least they are nice snow globes though.
My dad's MIL once gave me a shoulder bag for cloth pins for Christmas. I was 10-12 years old. Also, it was turquis whereas I always prefered green and black. When I showed my mum (a few days later) she was first silent, then wide-eyed and then she burst out laughing and we agreed to toss it out.
For my first birthday, my parents gifted me a towel set (obviously I was too young to remember, but they told me later). They still have and use that towel set, 42 years later
I'm neurodivergent and have misophonia (extreme sensitivity to sound, particularly high-pitched). Most people can't tell... I mask well, got through university, taught for a while, etc. My boyfriend knew. He constantly bought me expensive artisan wind chimes. I told him over and over that I could not handle the sound; I appreciated the thought, but it was not something I could use at all. Yet the next birthday/holiday/random day... more wind chimes. And then he'd act all hurt because I wasn't excited about them, and I'd have to spend all of Christmas day or my birthday trying to calm him down instead of spending time with my family. I kept them all in a box and finally gave them away, and he threw a fit at how ungrateful I was. And it wasn't like he didn't know what I wanted. I would give him a very specific list of things I actually needed (when in university, money's tight, so gifting time is great for getting things you need). But nope. More effing wind chimes.
My bio father and stepmom once got my sister and me (about 15 and 13 at the time) snow globes of Paris and London, which was the only gift that Christmas. These were intended to be symbolic of an upcoming vacation to said cities, which would have been an incredible gift. Problem is, it never happened. Now I have snow globes representative of a trip that never happened. At least they are nice snow globes though.
My dad's MIL once gave me a shoulder bag for cloth pins for Christmas. I was 10-12 years old. Also, it was turquis whereas I always prefered green and black. When I showed my mum (a few days later) she was first silent, then wide-eyed and then she burst out laughing and we agreed to toss it out.
For my first birthday, my parents gifted me a towel set (obviously I was too young to remember, but they told me later). They still have and use that towel set, 42 years later
I'm neurodivergent and have misophonia (extreme sensitivity to sound, particularly high-pitched). Most people can't tell... I mask well, got through university, taught for a while, etc. My boyfriend knew. He constantly bought me expensive artisan wind chimes. I told him over and over that I could not handle the sound; I appreciated the thought, but it was not something I could use at all. Yet the next birthday/holiday/random day... more wind chimes. And then he'd act all hurt because I wasn't excited about them, and I'd have to spend all of Christmas day or my birthday trying to calm him down instead of spending time with my family. I kept them all in a box and finally gave them away, and he threw a fit at how ungrateful I was. And it wasn't like he didn't know what I wanted. I would give him a very specific list of things I actually needed (when in university, money's tight, so gifting time is great for getting things you need). But nope. More effing wind chimes.
