"It's the thought that counts."
That's been the lifelong mantra when it comes to gift-giving.
And how often are people left wondering... "What thought?"
I know when someone has just pulled a random eight-year-old regift out of the back of the closet and threw some tin foil over it.
I wasn't born yesterday. And this is not how you celebrate my birth.
This nonsense of horrible gift-giving must end.
I'm not above gift shading and tired of stale fruit cake at Christmas and dusky calendars from the Dollar Tree.
Redditor Soul_Flyers wanted to hear about the gifts people have opened that left a bad impression, so they asked:
"What’s the worst gift you’ve ever received?"
A Pog?
"One year on my birthday I got $15 cash from my parents. They said it was so I could buy pogs. We then went to a store where my dad said the pogs were a good price. I went in and bought the only kind they had, and apparently, they were expensive. My parents then scolded me for 'spending all $15 on only this many?' My dad was the one who said the price was good at this store. I ended up feeling really guilty because I assumed we were hard up for money, and I wasted $15."
"My brother's birthday is exactly 2 months after mine. He had a party with a lot of friends over, and my dad bought him a $25 Nerf gun. This was over 20 years ago, but still hurts my feelings... lol."
- flowerdreamxo
I have questions...
"A book 'How to be a Good Jewish Mother.'"
"I am not Jewish, but I am a guy. It sits on my bookcase. Visitors see it and ask questions. I am not married, and I have no kids."
- Square_Ad8710
book GIFGiphy
Good Luck
"When I got married my Mom handed me $10.00 and said good luck. My parents were well off and paid for my 4 sister's weddings and my only brother’s boarding school."
- NANNYNEGLEY
"This sounds like my dad... He paid thousands for my sister's wedding and gave my oldest brother a pretty big gift for his wedding.
When it came to my big day, he showed up in a wrinkled shirt without so much as a card. A few years later, my other bro had a very low-key marriage celebration lunch where everyone was expected to pay their own way. My dad brought them a card stuffed with cash and then swooped in and paid for the whole meal. We have pretty limited contact now."
- low_lobola
Negative
"One year I got a gift card… with a negative balance on it. Somehow, it had already been spent before it reached me. Still not sure how that even happens, but yeah, nothing like being gifted debt."
- Angeelic_Shimmers
"Probably a scammer. People often around the holidays will take the gift cards, scratch them off, record the code, and then put counterfeit scratch-off material and put them back on the shelves. They have no balance when they do this, but once someone buys and loads the gift card, now they can access it with the code. By the time the gift is opened or used... It's gone."
- Idmaybef**kaplatypus
The Ex-MIL
"My ex-mother-in-law gave me a used broken tape dispenser for Christmas one year. My kids even remember this. Another year she gave me a very oversized deep purple sweater. Dragged my now ex-husband and made him wait in line to return/exchange it. Waited over an hour in line to find out it was a clearance item and only worth $1.75. Even he was a bit taken back at the time. Meanwhile, my sisters-in-law would get $100 gift cards, luxury items, and actual items off their lists we gave her for ideas. The woman is an awful human being because of her poor gifting of said items. Those are just minuscule examples of her poor demeanor."
- Jenhaaow546
KMart
"My brother-in-law is a pretentious and spoiled prick from a wealthy family. He was snobby so I didn't like him at all. He didn't like me either. So, one Christmas we accidentally got each other the same present. Ugly, crappy $2.00 clearance sweaters from KMart."
- EmmelineTx
Money Cash GIF by Sleeping Giant MediaGiphy
Worst/Best
"A rubber Hulk Hogan figurine (it looked like it was a Christmas ornament with the loop snipped off) glued to a very effeminate toy horse. An elderly friend of the family gave it to me and wouldn't stop mentioning how 'they are supposed to look like that; that's how it came from the store' even though I didn't voice any doubts. It's also kind of the best gift I ever got."
- rebelxrosee
Self-Help
"I once got a self-help book titled 'How to Be More Productive' from a family member. It was one of those awkward moments where I wasn’t sure if they were trying to help or send a passive-aggressive message."
- AmberRoseOFBarbie
"My ex gave me a book on good housekeeping for our five-year anniversary. She mentioned how her friends warned her against giving it to me. We didn’t live together. There is nothing wrong with the immaculately clean and tidy way I keep my house. My now-wife loves it."
- ArcadianPilot
I Cried
"One of those gimmicky acne lights that did absolutely nothing to help my acne. When I opened it I cried. I was probably thirteen."
- Equivalent_Fee4670
"When I was 13 my ex-step-grandmother gave me every single Avon acne product that they made. Each of them is individually wrapped and tied with a ribbon. So I got to sit there in front of my friends for what seemed like hours opening a million tiny boxes of acne treatments."
"I hate that b**ch. She was also apparently upset that I didn't invite her to my wedding. B**ch I haven't even spoken to you in over 15 years. You weren't even on the B list. Or C list. It did not even cross my mind as a 'Hmm maybe we should be diplomatic and invite this person too I guess???' kind of way."
- 2occupantsandababy
Promises, Promises
"The promise from my parents that they would pay for my driver's license when I turn 18. (16th birthday). Then one year later they promised that they would pay for half of my driver's license. And when I turned 18 they promised that they would help me with paying for my driver's license. When I finally got it at age 20, they paid for one of the 15 (or more, I can’t remember) lessons."
- RCKJD
Oh Poo...
"A Ziploc bag filled with cotton balls with the words 'ghost poos' written on the bag in Sharpie."
- Delicious_Web
"I'm sorry, but this is pretty funny!"
- eddyathome
Heart Love GIF by Omer StudiosGiphy
Hate
"My aunt hates me and my sister, she would give us gift cards to Pizza Hut. This was the s**t we didn't have a lot of money and could afford it as a family. We would go use these gift cards she would give us but they would be the change from her using it. So it would have like $3 on it or something. Fooled me once with that, I had to call my parents to come to pay for the pizza my dumb 10-year-old a** bought with the card thinking it was $50 like it said."
- 1d0m1n4t3
Lessons Learned
"It was the worst and best gift I ever received. I was very young, in grade four or five, and it was my birthday. I occasionally hung out with a girl around the block from me, and I had invited her. Even at a young age, I understood that her family was not well off. The gift she brought me was literally a box of tissue. Some of the kids laughed, of course, but I remember just being puzzled at first, maybe a joke by her."
"But then I clued into the notion that she had probably taken the tissue box from her house, wrapped it, and brought it to the party without her parent's knowledge. I remember actually being a little choked up realizing how very kind and very brave she must have been to show up at my party with her tissue box, knowing it could be ridiculed and that she liked me enough to do that. That day was a lesson."
- larrysdogspot
Just Eat It
"From my aunt. I was somewhere around 20 years old. She got me a cheese, meat, and crackers combo. The meat was a summer sausage but it had already been chewed on by her dog. It was mostly intact, just several bite marks all over it. I still ate the cheese and crackers."
- frogmuffins
Yard Sale Issues
"True story. I was storing some boxes of things I didn't want anymore in a shed at my boyfriend's house. I was going to put it all in a yard sale eventually. I went to his parent's house for their family Christmas later that year. Every person who opened a gift from him was items from my yard sale stuff. To say I was humiliated would be an understatement."
- Fast_Pain9951
You're Welcome
"For my birthday, My wife got me this ugly red and blue Tommy Hilfiger shirt two sizes too small. She turned around and wore it to bed that night."
- Potential-Judgment-9
animation fashion GIF by GapGiphy
I love that little sweater trick. I've done it with exes.
"Oh crap, I could've sworn this was your size. Whoops. Let me try it."
I know it's tacky.
How do you give partially eaten food as a gift?
And with a straight face?
People have some real nerve out in these shopping streets.
And don't play the hurt feelings card.
You knew what you were doing all along. And if the issue is time or patience, then just give me the cash.
You don't even have to put it in a card.
Venmo me. In real time.
Happy Holidays!!!
