The season of giving is upon us, Pandas! It can be a lot of fun not just for the recipients, but also the givers themselves. It’s nice to feel appreciated and to show appreciation in turn. However, let’s not be naïve. Not all gifts are made equal. Far from it!
In a thread created by content creator and story writer u/dylan1111111112, the r/AskReddit online community vented about the very worst gifts they’d ever received. If you think you’ve ever been disappointed by something you’ve unwrapped, then this might give you some perspective. Scroll down to see what you should never ever get someone as a present.
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It was such a random thing. I was around 7/8 I think I really wanted a doodle bear for my bday. My ‘aunt’, whom I share a bday with asked me a bunch of time leading up to my bday what I wanted. I finally told her I was hoping for this bear mostly bc she kept asking, prior I’d always keep it polite ‘oh ty whatever you get I’m sure I will love’ ‘you don’t have to get me anything’ yadda yadda bc that how my folks raised us. So my bday is in the summer so we’d normally have a pretty big bbq. Mostly everyone gives money and my siblings and I never really expected things from ppl other than our parents, but I noticed my aunt came in with a gift bag so I was low key excited. I got a new bike, super exciting, and I go to open her gift and it is a castle statue, like those ones you would get at the dollar store in the 90’s. I couldn’t hide my reaction…confusion. I politely sd thank you and moved on. As they day went on my aunt asked me where I was going to put the statue? She told me it deserved to be showcased. Went on about how she loves it and knew it was something I would want.
Her kid’s bday was a few weeks after they had a party, my sibling went to dollar store bought another castle and told my parents she got the gift already. When my aunt saw the castle her daughter got her face was priceless. My sibling told her ‘you told us how much youh loved the one you got for metemgee so much we thought we’d get daughter one also’
An expensive and lovely gift basket full of gourmet foods, none of which I could eat because of life threatening food allergies. The person who gave it knew about the allergies.
A gift basket of cucumber-melon bath goods from my ex-MIL. I'm severely allergic to cucumbers and certain types of melons. She knew about my allergies.
Giving someone a gift isn’t just a nice thing to do—it has a tangible positive effect on the givers, too. The American Psychological Association points out that gift-giving activates key reward pathways in our brains. Especially if the recipient is someone who we’re close to!
To put it bluntly: when you spend money on people other than yourself, you boost your own overall happiness. Broadly speaking, the more generous and kind we are toward others, the better we feel. Ironically, there are very selfish reasons to be altruistic.
I was in a Secret Santa gift exchange at work. We did 4 days of little, inexpensive gifts. I received NOTHING but an insincere apology on the last day from the person who was *supposed* to be my Secret Santa. It kinda sucked because it was my first Christmas away from home and my family punished me for not coming home for the holiday by ignoring my existence for a few days. Not a gift, not a card, not a phone call.
Happy ending, the next year my Secret Santa was AMAZING and gave me the most thoughtful little gifts, cleverly hidden for me to find on the job. Laura, you're one of the best coworkers I have ever ever had.
In a ast job secret Santa we had a $20 budget. I was a library technician in a school. I received $2.50 swimmers ear plugs and a $1.00 card that said "Shh, it's a library." My co library workers received a nice bottle of wine, and a decent size potted fruit tree. Both worth much more, probably twice, the budget.
For my 16th birthday, my grandmother gave me a rain bonnet, the kind that is folded like an accordion to the size of a quarter and you buy from a fishbowl on the counter at the drugstore. They are clear plastic and have one snap under the chin. You used to see old ladies with wash and set hairstyles wear them, if they got caught in the rain. It still had the 25-cent price tag on it.
Ten days later, my cousin also turned 16, and granny gave her a new car.
My divorce papers came in the mail on my birthday, does that count?
“Oftentimes, people refer to it as the ‘warm glow,’ this intrinsic delight in doing something for someone else. But part of the uniqueness of the reward activation around gift-giving compared to something like receiving an award or winning money is that because it is social, it also activates pathways in the brain that release oxytocin, which is a neuropeptide that signals trust, safety, and connection. It’s often referred to as the ‘cuddle hormone,’” Emiliana Simon-Thomas, PhD, science director at the Greater Good Science Center, explains.
According to her, giving and receiving a gift have more or less the same powerful effect, so long as both people care about each other.
The time I realised my ex MIL hated me. She told me all the things the family wanted for Xmas and I spent about a hundred dollars on everyone individually. I woke up Xmas morning to see all the presents already opened and breakfast was eaten. One present was under the tree for me; a dog mug. I'm a cat person
Also i was involved in the family/with her son for 5 years at that point. I was out by may
One Christmas, as my wife and I visited her dad and step-mom, I was amazed at the gifts bestowed upon her younger half sisters by her folks: new MacBooks and iPhones were among the presents under the tree. As we were leaving, they handed us a gift, which we opened when we got home. What treasure awaited us? A decorative tin from Costco containing flavored popcorn — which had expired two years prior.
Expired flavoured popcorn must be a common bad gift, because I have also received this
Not to me, but a coworker was gifted a colon cleanse kit.
However, this doesn’t mean that gift-giving is stress-free. Many people are worried about getting the ‘perfect’ gift for their loved ones. Meanwhile, others hope that their presents are going to leave a positive impression. All of this anxiety can dampen the winter holiday mood.
Ideally, we’d all match the presents to other people’s personalities, passions, and current needs. But after a while, it can be tough to come up with something considerate and creative. In these moments, it can help to take a step back and reframe the pressure you’re placing on your shoulders.
I had a Grandma who was obsessed with dieting & consistently attempted to give me advice & try to get me to diet as an overweight teen. One birthday I got a threadbare XXXL shirt from her she picked up at a thrift store & coupons for what was known then as "diet" bread. I was maybe a Large in shirts at the time and was very insulted. I remember unwrapping the box she mailed to me with family around and my father, her son, saying something along the lines of "Christ Mom, why do you act like this with my kids?!" out loud.
That would be the last Holiday she would be "alive" to them - Sorry she is dead and living with Satan. cut my mil off when she got mad at me and punished my kid by ignoring him on the holidays - she died alone in a hospital (none of her 5 kids were with her)- my husband passed holding my hand and our Son's
My boyfriend once got gifted scrabble from EVERYONE for his birthday. As in, celebrated his birthday with his parents, scrabble, went to visit his cousins, scrabble, went to visit his grandparents, scrabble, he got seven copies of scrabble for his birthday, and no, it was not a funny prank or something, literally just the entire family got him scrabble without checking what other people were getting him. The kicker? He hates scrabble.
The gift I gave them last year.
Yes, the quality of the gift itself isn’t something to ignore. However, it’s all the effort that you put in, as well as the act of giving, that is more important. It’s not the amount of money that you spend, it’s your kindness and thoughtfulness that has to shine through.
So if you feel like your imagination has been completely wrung out of any remaining creative juices, why not keep things simple? Talk to your loved ones, explain the situation, and ask what they’d like for Xmas this year.
My uncle Tommy gave me soap and a razor as a Christmas present when I was 13. Not the best message from my weird uncle to a young girl starting puberty.
An already-scratched off lottery ticket…that lost.
Alternatively, sit down and think about what they love the most in life. Maybe they’ve recently picked up a new hobby that they’re always gushing about. Or maybe you remember them complaining about how they can’t find any decent scented candles anywhere. Your gift doesn’t have to be ‘perfect,’ so long as you do your best to show how much you care for the other person. Don’t just buy something at the gas station because you’re desperate!
Meanwhile, if your budget is too tight to splurge on anything big, consider making something using your skills. Though some might find it slightly cheesy, we think that poems, songs, and arts-and-crafts projects can be a ton of fun when done with a lot of cheer and plenty of smiles.
When I was in my late 20s, I received a r*pe alarm key ring from my mother in law at Christmas. For context, I’m a 6-foot tall, fairly muscular bloke. We laugh about it now. She saw “personal alarm” and remembered my wife saying how bad I was at getting up in the mornings; it never occurred to her it wasn’t an alarm *clock* of some description!
My now ex sister in law gave me a clear makeup bag. She made sure to tell me that it was free with her purchase, and that she had thrown it away, but fished it out of the trash to give to me.
For a secret Santa I received two free promotional tickets to the science museum that had already expired.
My step-dads dad and much younger wife always give us used presents at Christmas.
One year I got a tube of body wash (already a cop out), only to find some crusted product on the squeezy hole.
Another year (13 at the time) I got a pair of Aldi women’s lacy underwear with the size scribbled out (they were XL). The woman came over to me after present time and said ‘I got them for myself but they were too big, I just blacked that out so you didn’t feel embarrassed’
Fkn kuntz I’d rather not get anything than have to say thank you for that
My mother has given me the same cheap boxed crystal chess set 3 times for Christmas over the last 12 years.
I have no idea why but apparently she keeps buying them every time target or macys puts them out on display at Christmas.
I accidentally gave my bro in law the same novelty bar of soap twice, but at least that's something you would eventually use up and need to replace.
a beautiful angora sweater that was 4 sizes too small and I couldnt exchange it. he wouldnt tell me where he got it.
I remember this one as a kid. I vaguely remember being a little kid over at my grandmother's house, and we had a random conversation one day about out how I liked the squishy toilet seats better than the hard toilet seats because they aren't as cold at night. Well, that year, for my birthday, I excitedly unwrapped the present she gave to me, only to discover...a squishy toilet seat. My grandmother gave me a toilet seat for my birthday. I get the logic but.....really, Nana?
I don't get why this is a bad gift. She knew it was something you liked and is something very useful. Even if you already have a squishy toilet seat, those thing rip and need frequent replacement ETA: completely missed that this was a kid. My bad
My mom forgot my birthday one year & bought me a pond light from the thrift shop. it immediately started to smoke & almost caused a house fir. We don't have a pond.
The first year my husband came to Christmas with me on my dad’s side, my daughter and I each got a gift card and they gave him a ziplock with 2 pics of me as a child. He was like WTAF.
45 years ago my husband gave me an ironing board cover for my 1st anniversary.
In all fairness, I had mentioned that I wanted one. I guess I should be grateful he listened to me.
PS we’re still married and this gifts got better!
Hey you did say you needed it. If you want something as a gift from a guy tell them because otherwise we will miss the hints at what you want and buy the last thing we heard you said you need.
Dad's wife bankrupted two businesses where all she sold was Christmas c**p, year round, in a very small town in the middle of nowhere.
After the last bankruptcy, she sent us an absolutely hideous nutcracker which is partially broken. Excess stock from her store that didn't sell. We have at least made it a joke in our chosen family where we sneak it into someone's bag on Christmas, and they sneak it back into our house at some point.
A plastic tub of assorted cheap candy like Tootsie Rolls and peppermints from Walmart and a little teddy bear in a paper sack that emblazoned across the front of the sack was, “Get Well Soon”. This was a Valentines Day gift to me from a very cr*ppy high school boyfriend who had been cheating on me with another girl. I was 17 at the time and he was 19. I didn’t find out until a year or so after I dumped him that the girl he had cheated on me with was 12. TWELVE. And he had gotten her pregnant. Her parents had him arrested for statutory rape. Then they forced them to get married. Then they had three more damn kids! So, honestly, now that I think about it, I guess the s****y candy and nonsensical teddy bear wasn’t so bad after all.
My mom bought 2nd row concert tickets for the whole family for my 16th birthday, to a country singer they all liked and I despised (I don’t like country generally, and he was one of the worst to my ears). My mom knew I hated his music, but said the “gift” part was getting to spend time with my parents and brother before he went off to college. Sure….
I’ve got two.
When I was 11 my birthday gift was to move houses - across town, leaving the school I’d always been at and my only friends behind. No joke. The new house was ‘my gift’.
Second, when I turned 15 my mother got me Bob the Builder bedsheets. I was a 15 year old girl. I had never even seen Bob the Builder.
OP's family were struggling financially... and OP never even realized it. Moving across town, likely to a house with a much cheaper rent, or cost, and schools that don't cost as much tax wise for the kid to go to. Bob the Builder bedsheets because they're on sale, and cheap. I bet OP has other stories like this, where looking back it should be painfully obvious that the family were doing everything they could to save money, and not let the OP realize it.
My sister got my grandfather’s glass eye and what was even better he cut a hole in it and put a string through it so she could wear it as a necklace.
I'm a dude, and I received a magazine with Paris Hilton half-naked in it along with a tube of Vagisil. I think it was supposed to be a m*sturbation joke. but it was a really weird gift to get as a teen during Christmas in front of my family.
A fur hat, for me. A vegan. An expansive spa day when I was heavily pregnant (no sauna, no hot steam, basically just the pool) Thanks hubby, you really know me.
I can totally picture him going, “yeah, but you’re not eating the hat, are you? What’s the problem?” 😅
My brother once gave me a half-drunk monster and a gas station gift card with like $.20 on it. We were in our twenties.
My father (old abusive drunk) promised me a car, and some tools for my workshop if I become a hunter... Took me 3 years, but I did it for him. Never heard any congratulations or anything, it took him another 2 or 3 years, to realise that he should do something for me, so he insisted on going to a hunting trip with him and his (over twice my age, I knew no one there before the trip) friends.
I was skeptical about the whole trip with my father, but it turned out, the friends "carried" it, and for first 4 days we had fun without my father intervention.
On the fifth day there were my birthday... The first thing that dude (my "dad) did, was to get 3 bottles of vodka in the morning, said something about having some party, in the evening.
Less than one hour later, he was chugging one bottle alone, without any afterdrink, and calling me little useless s**t, and how regrets impregnating my Mother.... I was 26 years, and crying like a child. He never said "sorry" or anything about it actually.
I never had a rifle in hands since then, he made me HATE hunting (also pushed me into several deppression and few S attempts, but i don't know, if this counts as a gifts)
years ago, I mentioned that I wanted to see the disney movie fantasia, so christmas comes around and I get an unmarked VHS tape and they (some aunt or uncle, I don't remember) tell me it's fantasia. so I put it in a player, and I can tell it should have been fantasia, but they tried to copy from one VHS to another and the copy protection ruined the picture. I felt like such an afterthought. they didn't even check the copy to see if it was good before they gave it to me.
My niece and nephew gave me a dirty fork a few years back. I still have it in my office being held by my stormtrooper.
A CD of his favorite country western songs. I loath country music.
My mother gifted me her favorite movie on DvD, being full aware that I hated that movie, so she just kept the DvD for herself.
My late father gave my husband and myself walking canes. We're both able-bodied.
My ex gifted me a short film script for my 19th birthday about him being interrogated by the police after I had been r*ped and killing my fictional r*pist. (I’ve never been assaulted in real life btw). After I read it, he said “I wrote it for you to show you I’d do anything for you, I’d k*ll for you.” It was pretty disturbing and overall the worst gift I’ve ever received.
A cup that was stolen from The Spaghetti Factory and a package of Halloween napkins.
A used hairbrush from my aunt-that she told me she picked up at a garage sale.
When people add extra info like this to their terrible gift, is that to rub it in, or to somehow justify it in their minds? I don’t get it.
A half a pack of granny panties (xxl) from a boyfriend's step mom. His poor sister got the other half-yes those were a pack of his step mom's undies. I thought it was funny (for me) but incredibly cruel to BF's sister.
A live turtle for my wife 1,500 miles from our home. Needed birth cert, vet checkup, and a TSA approved lock and carrier. Funny how none of this was available on Christmas Day. Thankfully we found a reputable shop that was open the next day and willing to take the little guy off our hands.
Neeeever give someone a pet for Christmas unless it's by prior agreement.
My ex boyfriend gave me a sexy Santa Claus lingerie set for Christmas. Of course in the presence of my family 🙃 I was mortified and that was even before I saw my parents’ faces lol
Unless the girlfriend asks for lingerie, he's buying it for his own enjoyment.
Not me but a dear friend had a boyfriend of 6ish months. She’d recently celebrated his birthday with a nice home cooked meal, flowers, a creative date night, and a jersey for his favorite team. A month later was her 30th birthday. No dinner, no flowers, all she received was… a box of k cups from Wal Mart $9.97 on rollback.
When I was about 13, my grandma gave me a card for Valentine’s Day that had a paper doily in it. The card had a note that told me to “enjoy the doily”.
I don’t expect a gift or anything for Valentine’s Day, and I recognize the card was a nice gesture. It’s the comment telling me to “enjoy the doily” that I won’t ever forget. What would a 13 year old boy do with that? I was really more confused than anything. Still am.
I am 41 now, this has stuck with me for a while.
Got measuring cups after dating someone for 6 years. One set of plastic measuring cups.
My wife got me measuring cups last Christmas. It's exactly what I wanted! And no, I'm not kidding. We've been married a LONG time...
MIL gave me visibly used clothes, some with stains or pilling, books with someone else’s writing in it, puzzle with missing pieces, and expired candy. All for garage sales or dumpster diving. She refuses to buy new. And no they aren’t hurting for money at all. Does the same with my kids. It’s so annoying and weird.
Like I will gladly accept some cool finds on a random day. But saving this junk for a birthday or Christmas gift? Makes me feel real special, thanks.
One Christmas, my mother in law bought me a small Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo plushie. We used to place it on top of our Christmas tree each year in lue of a star.
I later learned that this gift was meant as an insult as years later she was p**s drunk at a family party and let it be known that she only bought it for me because "I upset you, so I bought you a Hankey"
Fot context on how she "upset me" was that we tried to establish some boundaries and asked her to stop binge drinking in front of our preteen kids as she would start digging at us and the kids would always say Grandma was acting weird or different that day/night.
No worsts for me so far thankfully, but one of my friends once said he received a cold ball of spaghetti wadded up in foil for his birthday when he was 7 from a family member.
MIL got a painting of the lamb of God from her sister and they had the whole family’s names painted on the front, my name was painted on the a*****e.
Forget you are the bee’s knees or the cat’s pyjamas - you are the Lamb of God’s a*****e!
My sister used to always get constant phone calls, all day long, and she was never at home. This was way before everyone had cell phones, so getting ahold of someone was tougher. Anyway, I never really bothered to write down any information about who was calling or whatever, because I guess I just didn't feel like it was my job, and we didn't have pen and paper just lying around the house. Well, my sister generally did not give me birthday gifts, so imagine my surprise that year when she did. Excited, I opened the gift to discover...a telephone Iog book, so that I could keep a written record of everyone that called her.
I received a cheap plastic salad bowl with a lid…. There no food I hate more then salad 🥗 You don’t win friends with salad.
Always swap salad for alcohol because no good story starts with someone eating lettuce
A bolo tie. The second christmas with my girlfriend she gave me a bolo tie and nothing else. I NEVER really dress up, and when I do its pretty casual as I'm blue collar and dont have fancy clothes. And I'm definitely not some cowboy wanna be. Out of all the things she knows I like, I got a bolo tie.
When I was a kid, a shirt with a dot matrix picture of me screenprinted on it from Sears. Why?! (70s)
Aside from the turtle neck I was expected to be excited about at age 3, I’d have to go with the book on how to be racist. I’m still stunned at the audacity for either of these gifts. At least it wasn’t the same year.
A Juice Box Holder with a belt clip. As in, you put your juice box in it, on your belt.
A boyfriend that I had to guilt to come see me for my birthday stopped at a dollar store to get me a card and a little make up kit. I was 29 years old and i don't wear makeup. He didn't even bother to sign the card. I stayed in that relationship for another 10 months lol
My mom gave me tooth whitening paste last year in my stocking. Only gave it to me.
Sounds like mom's getting a mustache bleaching kit for Christmas this year.
My childhood karate dojo had a large Christmas party one year and everyone had a secret santa. My brother got a cool bo staff and I got...a used barbie camera (I'm a man).
I was definitely bummed out.
I just want to say that you can like Barbie if you are a man. I understand you dont, just saying
When I first got married many years ago to my first wife my aunt and uncle were invited. Their wedding gift to us is a brown vase that had a small crack in it that had obviously been picked up at someone's garage sale or something like that.
A t-shirt that said "fast food removal service" it was a secret Santa present from a coworker who didn't like me much.
Husband left 2 days before my birthday. It was a surprise.
My grandmother once mailed me a shoebox with a large bag of M&M’s and a dead Venus fly trap…. I had to ask her what is was it was since it was so wilted and decayed I couldn’t figure it out. I still laugh about that and it’s been over 2 decades now. I still miss her quirkiness.
For secret Santa at work, I wrote on my paper I didn't want candles. The first gift I opened from my secret Santa? Candle. Am I a joke to you?
My wife still claims i was cruel gifting my daughter canned unicorn meat. It even came with extra sparkles :(
My oldest granddaughter would have been traumatized by a gift like this when she was younger. She took things very literally. Hypothetical - but if I had said something like, "Wow! It's raining cats and dogs out there! They are really landing hard. I think it's breaking their legs." She would have been bawling for the hurt cats and dogs. I learned to be careful not to joke about such things because "obviously just a joke" was not obvious to her. She wasn't stupid - just took things quite literally.
A large box of beat up old shoes from a thrift store. Assorted sizes, none fitting. Birthday present from my well off mom
My mom did this c**p once, huge box (that smelled upon opening), different sizes of things I wqould never wear, I'm 5'8 and there was also a Petite Sized blouse. Wine bottle earrrings after attending rehab, etc. Fortunately, I called her out on all of it and explained that gifts from her weren't like gifts, just things she imagined me or a younger her wearing.
A Clinique makeup kit from my ex's second step mom. We all hated her. I don't wear makeup, at all. And it looked like one of those "free gift set" ones.
A long-ago boyfriend gave me a used handbag. It was an old-lady style. I'm pretty sure it came from his mother's discard pile.
A big cardboard box of Atari games from a friend when I was 14. I didn’t have an Atari. They were vintage even back then so no one had one.
A size XXL shirt from my b***h sister in law. I wore a M at the time but she said she “had to guess” my size.
For my graduation of high school I got a trip to California where I was proceeded to be enrolled into a religious camp for a week. only able to do one thing I wanted, rushed, when we stayed for another couple of days. And my dad and his girlfriend got Into a fight because he was cheating and tried to drag me and her daughter into it
I did a Secret Santa thing in the dorms my freshman year. I was gifted a poster that was very obviously just taken off the wall. It had thumbtack holes in the corners and everything. It wasn't even a cool poster either; it was some dumb Family Guy poster.
White gold earrings. They were from my ex-husband. We separated not long after. I did not, and never intended to get my ears pierced. Still don't have them pierced 18 or so years later.
for my 12th birthday my parents turned our garage into an art studio for my sister. i just recieved books:/ and thats fine! but i was a 12 year old with severe adhd and i couldnt read for longer than 5 minutes without being distracted or losing complete focus
Parents really should consider gifts specifically geared towards their children instead of "what do [child's age] like?" A friend asked me the other day for gift ideas for his 7yo son because he was stumped. I know his kid enjoys both his piano and jiu jitsu classes, so I sent him a link to gift ideas in those subjects. I'm getting my 10yo a microscope because she loves science and has been begging for one since we gave her a telescope a couple of years ago, and my 5yo is getting a kindergarten workbook (he's starting next fall) because he LOVES doing school work and has completed the preschool one he got for his birthday in September.
I used to be bullied in high school, mostly because I had an eating disorder. So when we did secret Santa, one of the girls who bullied had my name and gave me mouldy bread with some pens stuck in it
A flute for Christmas and I didn't even know how to play I cried I got it as a gift at a Christmas party.
Fish and tackle box button covers. These dumb things that you are supposed to slide onto buttons for a button up shirt. I'd imagine they would have been too heavy and and just fallen off. I was about 8 years old and didn't fish.
One year for Christmas, my SO at the time gave me a 42 inch, black leather, studded belt. I was 5’0” and weighed 100 pounds. 😖🤬
When life hands you an oversized black studded belt, make black studded bracelets.
My mother gave me a stuffed octopus for my 28th birthday when I was practically homeless
My great grandmother got me fish magnets for Christmas, even though I had never shown any interest in fish. They were also of dollar store quality.
The next year I got a pack of socks from her. They were size 5-8, I wear size 13.
Was great-grandma senile? The year before my grandfather died, he had severe dementia and gave me a used Rolodex. This was only about 6 years ago, so not really something I would've even potentially used. I still have it because it was the last gift he ever gave me.
Trivial Pursuit, specifically because I said not to buy it when asked. Person who got it for me then goes play it and wonders why I'm not joining in.
The other one was a very kitsch decanter with shot glasses that came in a car and was a music box. It was made worst that every three seconds I had to hear how nice it was. The person who gave it basically cleared off a shelf to put it front and centre in my bedroom.
Car keys.
To a toy VW Bus.
My sister gave me a small food processor for Christmas last year. I didn't even need it, but when did decide to open it months later, it was covered in dust and didn't work. It was sealed so not sure what was up with that. I assume someone returned it to Amazon, and they packed it up and sold it as new. Either way, it was a s****y gift.
When I was 10 my Aunt sent me a horse shaped plastic shoe horn for Christmas.
I still have the shoehorn/lint brush my cousin gifted me when I was 8. At the time I was like, wth, but now I love it, though I have no idea how I've held on to it after losing nearly everything else.
For my 30th this year my parents wrapped up a bunch of things I’d left at their house from past christmases that I hadn’t wanted (cheap small cutting boards, a f*****g shower curtain, scrubbing brushes for carpet in my hardwood only home) and gifted it to me. They’d also that Christmas got me silver earrings when I only wear gold and an apron with my full name on after I’ve spent 20 years going by a nickname. Some laugh.
A cologne I didn't like
I don't even like cologne
It looked expensive, so I felt bad for never using it
An indicator that karma is real - I have both given and received Old Spice. LOL! Me as a kid to a step dad in the late 60s or early 70s and received it from a grandchild many years later. As a little kid I thought I was giving a nice gift and fortunately stepdad was polite about it. Last Saturday I saw it on the shelf in - I think it was Walmart - and thought, "wow, they are still pushing that stuff
A harambe sweater, "Cause I know you like memes."
Goddamn it mom.
It was my 22nd birthday and I was in the backseat while my boyfriend asked his sister if he could stop at Walmart to get me a birthday gift she responded “Dude, she’s in the car”. As pissed off as I was, I was going to get my birthday hair done later so I blocked it out. He texted me to close my eyes, puts something in the trunk. When we got to the house, I was surprised with fuzzy socks, a cup, 1 rose, and 4 cupcakes. I’m usually a grateful person but we had a traumatic family death and moved across the country together. He made GREAT money, but to get fuzzy socks, a cup, and one flower? It was over about a month after that 😵💫
My husband gave me a netti pot for Christmas once. And a $130 iron. And a Roku which was basically an “us” gift. All in the same Christmas.
I got him concert tickets for a band he really liked.
A set of dishes from my boyfriend when I was in my late teens. I was on my own so it made sense in that regard, but clearly it was something his mother picked up and zero effort had gone into the gift. I drove to his place and left it in his car.
A sake/raki drinking set. I never drink that. Obviously something picked up from the back of a closet right before leaving for my house
A used pencil wrapped in newspaper from a classmate when I was in preschool. Didn’t know how to react, still don’t.
A leather baseball hat, from my mom. I don't even wear hats often.
Not too bad, but not a good gift really. Doesn’t deserve to be on the worst gifts ever list, just a bad gift.
I was with a guy for 5 years who gifted me a choker for Christmas one year.
For one... I never wear chokers.
Two...the metals bits were gold colored and I only wear silver colored jewelry.
Three... The rest of it was a brown lace and it had a fairy charm on it. I wear black and neons. I don't think I've ever owned something brown in my wardrobe. Not even a pair of shoes. No brown eyeshadow. Literally nothing brown.
The choker itself wasn't hideous or anything, don't get me wrong. But I couldn't understand how he decided on THAT for me. It's as if no thought was out into it whatsoever. It felt like he didn't know anything about me. And that hurt. And it's the reason why it's still the worst gift someone has ever given me lol.
I'm the easiest person in the world to shop for. Anyone in my life will tell you that. And the man who claimed to love me bought me something I wouldn't wear in a million years. Just that. No other gift. He didn't even wrap it.
I sometimes wonder if he had just picked it up on the way to my house xmas eve
"the metals bits were gold colored and I only wear silver colored jewelry" man he dodged a bullet!
I was at a Christmas market with my ex-boyfriend admiring some necklaces, picked out a really nice one for myself, then he told me he would get it for me as a Christmas present but he didn't like the one I picked and made me pick another one and then asked me to pay for it and told me he'd pay me back later.
This just happened yesterday. My husband and I are fixing up the house we bought a few months ago. We just had 2 light fixtures installed. He pointed up at one of them and say that it was my Christmas gift this year. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but that kinda stung, lol. Btw, I got him a bench press with weights.
Return it. Tell him the other light installation is his.
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My "lovely", religiously zealous parents would cram a bunch of Jesus down our throat, make us go to every hyper boring candle lit service for weeks leading up to xmas. I, solo, as a child would unpack the shìtty plastic tree and decorate it cuz nobody else wanted to. Come xmas day, there would be big, heavy gifts for us kids to open...and to further the torment, only one person at a time could open a gift and my parents always went first...and my mother would hymn and haw, shaking the wrapped gift for easily 10 minutes per gift, simply to drag out the time and torment us kids cuz we weren't allowed to open our stuff until she was done. To top off our "celebration of our Lord's birthday ", we would finally be allowed to open the big heavy gifts....only to find things like bricks and rocks and rolls of toilet paper. ...if we DID get something we enjoyed (like the cheap, depressed looking Dollar Store Barbies), those were used as a weapon and would be thrown away while we weren't home
Omg so sorry that you had so much evil happening ,They are Not parents,This is why I ducking HATE Religious hypocrites fascists. Most are disgusting like them.
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One of my exes who loved me "just the way I was" gave me a gym membership because "You're getting kinda chunky". Thanks darling.
One year my wife's family sent her birthday present a month late. Her brother got his on time. Apparently they forgot my wife's date of birth. My wife is a twin.
I sent my best friend (who's currently at work in Japan) a Steam key for Baldur's Gate 3, and she responded by sending me a quite large and realistic naked anime figurine. I now know more about Dio Brando than I ever wanted to. Honestly, it's not a bad gift, I like the character, but where do you put something like that without everyone seeing it? xD
Sooooooo - wrong venue but I do not use any other Social Media - does anyone else get bummed out when BP starts a thread and it is called 100 Facts You Never Knew Before - and you scroll through, and scroll, have a little giggle, furrow your brows at some twit commenting something pants - scroll some more, find one you want to comment on- comment on it. Then BP edits the whole thread so you get a bunch of likes on your comment, but you can’t read any of them because the poster has changed the thread to “25 Facts You Never Knew!” - am I the only one that gets annoyed by this?
When I was 6 I bought w box of different colored nail polishes for my aunt. It was a big deal for me to pick out all the presents I was giving people that year and I was so proud of the gifts I gave!! Ten years later I hat that very same box back. The polish was all separated and were unusable. Still, it was better than the 3 year old daily planner she gave my mom. FYI my aunt was extremely well off, just stingy.
For me, it was crafting scissors. Like a long fabric roll of pockets with a different pair of crafting scissors that could cut different border designs (zigzag, wavy, etc.) Now, this isn't a TERRIBLE gift, but I was 10 and very confused because I did not ask for crafting tools at all, never showed an interest in crafting, and was caught off guard so much I know my thank you sounded fake as can be. I used the scissors once to make a project board for school.
My aunt and uncle walked in to my grandma's one year at Christmas wearing full length fur coats and carrying two enormous cartoon paper-wrapped boxes. First problem, there were THREE of us grandkids. Our male cousin opens the first box – a motor bike (one of those mini dirt bike types). So my cousin and I start whispering to each other, thinking maybe it's a Barbie Dream House or something similar for us to share at grandma's house (we were a TAD over dollhouse age, but still within the realm), so we tear into the wrapping and inside the box is a package of 6 Hostess Donettes and three Tootsie Rolls – for us to SHARE. Heard later that uncle went to prison for embezzling from the car dealership he worked at. Good.
Got the news my uncle fell and hurt himself and ended up bleeding out on the operating table the night before my birthday. This was a week after my bestfriend killed himself. This was 4 years ago and I still can't make it through my birthday without crying at some point. The whole month of August can p**s off for all I'm concerned.
About 30 years ago when I was in my 20s, my mom and little brother visited me. He was a total mama's boy. We were getting ready to go out and he asked to borrow some cologne. I told him that I didn't wear cologne so therefore I did not have any. My mother threw a fit and accused me of lying and saying if I don't want him to borrow it, just say so. My roommate chimed in that I didn't wear cologne and neither did he. My my mom said I put him up to say that. It was a bizarre exchange and I offered to let them search the bathroom. That Christmas my mother got me a really expensive bottle of cologne. It smelled horrible. I was telling a co-worker the story and he was a huge fan of the cologne so I gave it to him. My mom called and asked if I liked my gift. I said, "Well I don't wear cologne so I gave it to someone who does." She was PISSED. So basically, I didn't get a Christmas gift that year.
I have two. One wasn't really a gift, but once for our class Valentine exchange (4th or 5th) grade, I got a handwritten note, rather than a typical kid Valentine, from one of the popular girls. I was kind of pleased at first until I realized that she *ran out* of cards by the time she got to me. I was last on her list! Second: One year, when she was a little girl, my wife asked for a Cabbage Patch doll. Her dad instead gave her a *cabbage*. Not as a "gag gift" or anything like that. He really just gave her a cabbage. She still tried playing with it.
I remember my grandma used to try to buy us "age appropriate" sticker books. that meant that my at the time 8 year old brothers got pirate books while 10 year old me got a princess sticker book. those stickers would fall off all the time and half of them were missing since I ate them (I was weird).
My mom once gave me one of my sister's used bras for Christmas. Completely by accident. She had a little too much eggnog and it somehow ended up in her gift pile so she wrapped it without paying attention.
The only gift I ever got from my dad was some nail clippers because we (my siblings and I) always used his.
16th birthday, 50+ years ago. One of those Bissel type sweepers. We were not that poor
I'm adopted for reference. My older "sister" got the works, restaurant/parties, expensive gifts and cake with her friends and family. I never got any of that despite our birthdays being two days apart. My 'gift' was always the family holiday which we ALWAYS traveled on my birthday and my present was a book. I ended up getting kicked out at 16......I spent my 17th with a my new girlfriend who bought me my first birthday cake.....I cried, I explained how much it ment to me. We're still together 17 years later with two beautiful kids and a daft dog. Also I haven't spoken to my family since I was kicked out, my kids aren't missing out on their grandparents.
When I was ~32 years old, at a family Christmas gathering at my sister's house: My mother hands me a present. About the size and shape of a board game, which she knows I love. I unwrap it with everyone watching... and it's a bathroom scale. Mom says, "It looks like you could use one."
My aunt once got me a cd of awful Beatles covers. It was so bad that my parents (unintentionally) shamed her into getting me a better gift. Still not as bad as that time my grandfather almost threw away a gift my other aunt got me.
When i was 9 or 10 my aunt (dad's sister) gave me very sexy time underwear. My mom went through them and decided that I wouldn't be allowed to wear some of them. Dad told my aunt that they were inappropriate and she apologized to him saying she found them in the bargain bin at Woolworth (yes this was a looong time ago) and didn't pay attention to what she was buying. I got to keep some and one pair was hot pink and lace on the front. But I was like ok whatever, I never liked pink but I remember those.
One very well-off aunt and uncle got me a $15 iTunes card for my 18th birthday. I’m 32 now and haven’t received anything since. My sister hasn’t received anything since she was 16. I should specify that this aunt and uncle to this day talk about what great gift-givers they are and still bring up this gift as how well they know me (I was sitting beside my dad when they asked him on the phone if I used iTunes).
I also found out recently that my grandfather on the other side would gift my cousins bikes, game systems, dollhouses, etc. for Christmas and Birthdays. My sister and I once got a bag of chocolate-covered peanuts to share when I was five. I got called ungrateful when I refused to eat them or let my 3yo sister eat them.
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At the baby shower/diaper party for our second kid, one of my husband's friend of a friend gave us puppy pads instead of diapers. We have cats, not dogs. No idea what he was thinking. Still sitting in the cabinet unopened...
My birthday is Xmas day. Never got birthday presents or parties until my daughter was old enough to organize them herself when she was 15 and I was 45. Although one year when I was ten I got a cake.
My family came to an agreement at least 10 years ago, only gifts to kids under 18. When we get together everyone else contributes to food or whatever for the gathering. Decided to do that after never getting a response to "what do you want for Xmas" and ending up just buying gift cards. Best decision ever. I can buy what I want for myself, I don't need someone giving me something I don't want. There is enough random cr*p in my house already.
My old boss gave me a gift card for a restaurant I don't like, that was at the other end of town, roughly an hour drive away from where I used to live. It is for a chain, sit-down restaurant, but the gift card was only at that location. The restaurant has a triple whammy reason as to why I avoid it like the plague. 1: Overpriced, even by sit-down chain restaurant standards. 2: Bland flavours, usually needing extra season. 3: They served me raw chicken.
So you're cool with an aunt who gave her niece a used hospital gown? Or the husband who gave his wife a light fixture? You must be a s****y gift giver.
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I was at a Christmas market with my ex-boyfriend admiring some necklaces, picked out a really nice one for myself, then he told me he would get it for me as a Christmas present but he didn't like the one I picked and made me pick another one and then asked me to pay for it and told me he'd pay me back later.
This just happened yesterday. My husband and I are fixing up the house we bought a few months ago. We just had 2 light fixtures installed. He pointed up at one of them and say that it was my Christmas gift this year. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but that kinda stung, lol. Btw, I got him a bench press with weights.
Return it. Tell him the other light installation is his.
Load More Replies... My "lovely", religiously zealous parents would cram a bunch of Jesus down our throat, make us go to every hyper boring candle lit service for weeks leading up to xmas. I, solo, as a child would unpack the shìtty plastic tree and decorate it cuz nobody else wanted to. Come xmas day, there would be big, heavy gifts for us kids to open...and to further the torment, only one person at a time could open a gift and my parents always went first...and my mother would hymn and haw, shaking the wrapped gift for easily 10 minutes per gift, simply to drag out the time and torment us kids cuz we weren't allowed to open our stuff until she was done. To top off our "celebration of our Lord's birthday ", we would finally be allowed to open the big heavy gifts....only to find things like bricks and rocks and rolls of toilet paper. ...if we DID get something we enjoyed (like the cheap, depressed looking Dollar Store Barbies), those were used as a weapon and would be thrown away while we weren't home
Omg so sorry that you had so much evil happening ,They are Not parents,This is why I ducking HATE Religious hypocrites fascists. Most are disgusting like them.
Load More Replies... One of my exes who loved me "just the way I was" gave me a gym membership because "You're getting kinda chunky". Thanks darling.
One year my wife's family sent her birthday present a month late. Her brother got his on time. Apparently they forgot my wife's date of birth. My wife is a twin.
I sent my best friend (who's currently at work in Japan) a Steam key for Baldur's Gate 3, and she responded by sending me a quite large and realistic naked anime figurine. I now know more about Dio Brando than I ever wanted to. Honestly, it's not a bad gift, I like the character, but where do you put something like that without everyone seeing it? xD
Sooooooo - wrong venue but I do not use any other Social Media - does anyone else get bummed out when BP starts a thread and it is called 100 Facts You Never Knew Before - and you scroll through, and scroll, have a little giggle, furrow your brows at some twit commenting something pants - scroll some more, find one you want to comment on- comment on it. Then BP edits the whole thread so you get a bunch of likes on your comment, but you can’t read any of them because the poster has changed the thread to “25 Facts You Never Knew!” - am I the only one that gets annoyed by this?
When I was 6 I bought w box of different colored nail polishes for my aunt. It was a big deal for me to pick out all the presents I was giving people that year and I was so proud of the gifts I gave!! Ten years later I hat that very same box back. The polish was all separated and were unusable. Still, it was better than the 3 year old daily planner she gave my mom. FYI my aunt was extremely well off, just stingy.
For me, it was crafting scissors. Like a long fabric roll of pockets with a different pair of crafting scissors that could cut different border designs (zigzag, wavy, etc.) Now, this isn't a TERRIBLE gift, but I was 10 and very confused because I did not ask for crafting tools at all, never showed an interest in crafting, and was caught off guard so much I know my thank you sounded fake as can be. I used the scissors once to make a project board for school.
My aunt and uncle walked in to my grandma's one year at Christmas wearing full length fur coats and carrying two enormous cartoon paper-wrapped boxes. First problem, there were THREE of us grandkids. Our male cousin opens the first box – a motor bike (one of those mini dirt bike types). So my cousin and I start whispering to each other, thinking maybe it's a Barbie Dream House or something similar for us to share at grandma's house (we were a TAD over dollhouse age, but still within the realm), so we tear into the wrapping and inside the box is a package of 6 Hostess Donettes and three Tootsie Rolls – for us to SHARE. Heard later that uncle went to prison for embezzling from the car dealership he worked at. Good.
Got the news my uncle fell and hurt himself and ended up bleeding out on the operating table the night before my birthday. This was a week after my bestfriend killed himself. This was 4 years ago and I still can't make it through my birthday without crying at some point. The whole month of August can p**s off for all I'm concerned.
About 30 years ago when I was in my 20s, my mom and little brother visited me. He was a total mama's boy. We were getting ready to go out and he asked to borrow some cologne. I told him that I didn't wear cologne so therefore I did not have any. My mother threw a fit and accused me of lying and saying if I don't want him to borrow it, just say so. My roommate chimed in that I didn't wear cologne and neither did he. My my mom said I put him up to say that. It was a bizarre exchange and I offered to let them search the bathroom. That Christmas my mother got me a really expensive bottle of cologne. It smelled horrible. I was telling a co-worker the story and he was a huge fan of the cologne so I gave it to him. My mom called and asked if I liked my gift. I said, "Well I don't wear cologne so I gave it to someone who does." She was PISSED. So basically, I didn't get a Christmas gift that year.
I have two. One wasn't really a gift, but once for our class Valentine exchange (4th or 5th) grade, I got a handwritten note, rather than a typical kid Valentine, from one of the popular girls. I was kind of pleased at first until I realized that she *ran out* of cards by the time she got to me. I was last on her list! Second: One year, when she was a little girl, my wife asked for a Cabbage Patch doll. Her dad instead gave her a *cabbage*. Not as a "gag gift" or anything like that. He really just gave her a cabbage. She still tried playing with it.
I remember my grandma used to try to buy us "age appropriate" sticker books. that meant that my at the time 8 year old brothers got pirate books while 10 year old me got a princess sticker book. those stickers would fall off all the time and half of them were missing since I ate them (I was weird).
My mom once gave me one of my sister's used bras for Christmas. Completely by accident. She had a little too much eggnog and it somehow ended up in her gift pile so she wrapped it without paying attention.
The only gift I ever got from my dad was some nail clippers because we (my siblings and I) always used his.
16th birthday, 50+ years ago. One of those Bissel type sweepers. We were not that poor
I'm adopted for reference. My older "sister" got the works, restaurant/parties, expensive gifts and cake with her friends and family. I never got any of that despite our birthdays being two days apart. My 'gift' was always the family holiday which we ALWAYS traveled on my birthday and my present was a book. I ended up getting kicked out at 16......I spent my 17th with a my new girlfriend who bought me my first birthday cake.....I cried, I explained how much it ment to me. We're still together 17 years later with two beautiful kids and a daft dog. Also I haven't spoken to my family since I was kicked out, my kids aren't missing out on their grandparents.
When I was ~32 years old, at a family Christmas gathering at my sister's house: My mother hands me a present. About the size and shape of a board game, which she knows I love. I unwrap it with everyone watching... and it's a bathroom scale. Mom says, "It looks like you could use one."
My aunt once got me a cd of awful Beatles covers. It was so bad that my parents (unintentionally) shamed her into getting me a better gift. Still not as bad as that time my grandfather almost threw away a gift my other aunt got me.
When i was 9 or 10 my aunt (dad's sister) gave me very sexy time underwear. My mom went through them and decided that I wouldn't be allowed to wear some of them. Dad told my aunt that they were inappropriate and she apologized to him saying she found them in the bargain bin at Woolworth (yes this was a looong time ago) and didn't pay attention to what she was buying. I got to keep some and one pair was hot pink and lace on the front. But I was like ok whatever, I never liked pink but I remember those.
One very well-off aunt and uncle got me a $15 iTunes card for my 18th birthday. I’m 32 now and haven’t received anything since. My sister hasn’t received anything since she was 16. I should specify that this aunt and uncle to this day talk about what great gift-givers they are and still bring up this gift as how well they know me (I was sitting beside my dad when they asked him on the phone if I used iTunes).
I also found out recently that my grandfather on the other side would gift my cousins bikes, game systems, dollhouses, etc. for Christmas and Birthdays. My sister and I once got a bag of chocolate-covered peanuts to share when I was five. I got called ungrateful when I refused to eat them or let my 3yo sister eat them.
Load More Replies... At the baby shower/diaper party for our second kid, one of my husband's friend of a friend gave us puppy pads instead of diapers. We have cats, not dogs. No idea what he was thinking. Still sitting in the cabinet unopened...
My birthday is Xmas day. Never got birthday presents or parties until my daughter was old enough to organize them herself when she was 15 and I was 45. Although one year when I was ten I got a cake.
My family came to an agreement at least 10 years ago, only gifts to kids under 18. When we get together everyone else contributes to food or whatever for the gathering. Decided to do that after never getting a response to "what do you want for Xmas" and ending up just buying gift cards. Best decision ever. I can buy what I want for myself, I don't need someone giving me something I don't want. There is enough random cr*p in my house already.
My old boss gave me a gift card for a restaurant I don't like, that was at the other end of town, roughly an hour drive away from where I used to live. It is for a chain, sit-down restaurant, but the gift card was only at that location. The restaurant has a triple whammy reason as to why I avoid it like the plague. 1: Overpriced, even by sit-down chain restaurant standards. 2: Bland flavours, usually needing extra season. 3: They served me raw chicken.
So you're cool with an aunt who gave her niece a used hospital gown? Or the husband who gave his wife a light fixture? You must be a s****y gift giver.
Load More Replies...