Bad gifts

[redsfandan]

With the holidays here I just thought I'd see if anyone has any bad gift stories.

[SunDeck]

Nothing major, except that I get a call every November from my mom, asking me what I want, and despite explicit instructions on brands, sizes, colors, etc. she consistently goes out and buys something that is altogether uglier, crappier, and usually in the clearance bin at Big Lots.

For instance, if I ask for this:
http://www.sentrysafetysupply.com/images/sentry-prod-images/J140BLK%5B1%5D.jpg

I will get this:

http://thmb.inkfrog.com/thumbn/zorra666/jacket_blackski_%286%29.JPG=450

And yes, it's probably a ladies' coat. Doesn't matter.
I love my mom, and at this point I'd probably be a little disappointed if she actually got me something I asked for.

[nate]

With the holidays here I just thought I'd see if anyone has any bad gift stories.

Receiving or giving?

:cool:

[redsfandan]

Either. And let's include the wacky gifts too.

[Razor Shines]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QLupoNDN2RE/SsQbMVQUWgI/AAAAAAAACic/awHjop_Ri2I/s320/100_0042.JPG

One year my brother got Mcdonald's Dollars from our Aunt. And not just sent through the mail so he would open them on Christmas morning in front of just our immediate family.

No, this was our entire family gift exchange. It was supposed to be a $20 gift, nothing too big. We do this thing where the gifts are opened one at a time out in front of the whole family. So he unwrapped twenty Mcdonald's Dollars in front of 50+ family members. He was 15 or 16, he didn't do a very good job of hiding his displeasure. That was a great Christmas.

[GIDP]

a model car display case

to this day I have never put together a model car.

[Scrap Irony]

I got my finger cut off working at a paper press, then, that got Iso-Toner gloves from my parents for Christmas.

Not a Christmas gift, but, for my 16th birthday, I got a Kentucky (I Heart Kentucky, in pink on a light blue background) T-shirt three sizes too small (children's L, not adult) from my grandmother.

Sigh.

[Chip R]

Nate gave me wind blast.

[HumnHilghtFreel]

Not me, but my fiance last year for christmas got a box of silverware from her grandmother. Normally this wouldn't be so bad... but this was a shoebox full of randomly put together used silverware not from any particular set.

[Yachtzee]

As a teen, I wanted a leather jacket. So one Christmas my mom went out and bought me a nice leather bomber jacket. . .from Lane Bryant. Just what a 135 lb. teenage boy wants for Christmas, a leather jacket from a store for plus-sized women.

[SunDeck]

I got my finger cut off working at a paper press, then, that got Iso-Toner gloves from my parents for Christmas.


Sigh.

Man, that is sublime. It may be the greatest gag gift ever.

I got an electric razor from my grandmother about two years before I had any whiskers. My brother said my embarrassment was a beautiful thing for him to watch.

[nate]

As a teen, I wanted a leather jacket. So one Christmas my mom went out and bought me a nice leather bomber jacket. . .from Lane Bryant. Just what a 135 lb. teenage boy wants for Christmas, a leather jacket from a store for plus-sized women.

But you could grow into it!

:cool:

[BRM]

I gave Ltlabner a gas can autographed by Eric Milton.

[Ltlabner]

My mother used to assemble an assortment of clearance items from BigLots. Stuff like cheeses, crackers, summer sausage, mustards, house hold items, etc. She'd toss in some things like pickled mushrooms, or garlic infused oil and if you moved that year (for example) there might be some tools or something in it. It was just a big "grab bag" of stuff. She'd put hours into it and was so proud to give it to us.

The first problem is that my parents are smokers so the entire package reeked of smoke. The paper, the gifts, everything. Totally nasty. We'd have to leave the thing in the garage for a week before we could stand to do anything with it.

Secondly, because the items were usually Big-Lots cast offs they were things you wouldn't want to eat anyway. One time I checked the date on some nacho cheese dip and it was well past the expired stage.

Lastly, Mom was so proud and enjoyed it so much that it was entirely 100% uncomfortable because she'd make a huge production about going into the other room to get "the box" and presenting it to you. You'd have to sit there and pretend you cared as you rummaged around looking for the next crappiest thing. Each item was individually wrapped to prolong the misery.

It's a tradition that I'm glad has died out.

[Ltlabner]

I gave Ltlabner a gas can autographed by Eric Milton.

Nate gave me some Willy Tavaras autographed P.J.s

The love is amazing.

[edabbs44]

At work one year we had a secret santa and were told to spend between $20 and $25. It ended up that someone I worked with and I got each other.

He got me a $20 gift card to J&R Music. I got him a $25 gift card to J&R Music.

[Ltlabner]

One year at an office gift exchange I gave someone a "coupon for a favor to be done later".

A) I don't know what I was thinking
B) I was on drugs that year
C) I'm just an A-Hole
D) All of the above

Looking back I'm horrified about it.

[Reds4Life]

I got one of those 5 pound boxes of potato chips once.

Seriously.

[Roy Tucker]

I got a Cooking For Two cook book at a family gift exchange. The trouble was, I'd gotten divorced the month before.

There was an uncomfortable silence at opening time.

[redhawkfish]

I apologize and hope it wasn't recently, but I laughed at this!


I got a Cooking For Two cook book at a family gift exchange. The trouble was, I'd gotten divorced the month before.

There was an uncomfortable silence at opening time.

[SunDeck]

At work one year we had a secret santa and were told to spend between $20 and $25. It ended up that someone I worked with and I got each other.

He got me a $20 gift card to J&R Music. I got him a $25 gift card to J&R Music.
That dude owes you $5.

[GIDP]

at work one year we had a secret santa and were told to spend between $20 and $25. It ended up that someone i worked with and i got each other.

He got me a $20 gift card to j&r music. I got him a $25 gift card to j&r music.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[Roy Tucker]

I apologize and hope it wasn't recently, but I laughed at this!


No problem, it was 33 years ago.

My aunt was mortified because she didn't know. I laughed then too but I was in the middle of a 6 month Jack Daniels bender so I laughed a lot that day between shots.

[Dom Heffner]

My step-sister at the time liked Mountain Dew and Marlboro Light cigarettes.

So I picked some up at the gas station, wrapped 'em up, and put them under the tree.

Probably not the best reaction I've ever gotten on a gift....

[flyer85]

Probably not the best reaction I've ever gotten on a gift....
It's the thought that counts :D

[RichRed]

http://thiseclecticlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/bacon-strip-bandages.jpg

[Razor Shines]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sportsprose/badgifts.jpeg

[15fan]

My grandmother had a big hangup about everything being equal for her 3 kids (to heck with their spouses) and her 6 grandkids at Christmas. Amount spent, number of presents per person, etc.

The best (worst?) was when she bought clothes. The 4 grand daughters would all get, let's say, a sweater. Each girl would get the same sweater in a different color...and the same size.

One of my sisters is 5' 10", the other is 5'5", and my two female cousins are in the 5'1" - 5'2" range.

Oh, and the tags were always cut off the clothes so there was no way that you could exchange the clothes for something that might actually fit.

During the 1980s, my grandmother probably flushed about $25,000 on clothes that none of us could wear.

Then there was the year that an aunt paid to FedEx a gift to my entire family & have it delivered on Christmas Day. We opened the envelope, and it was a bag full of those plastic covers that you put in outlets to keep toddlers from sticking their fingers in.

My youngest sister was 9 at the time.

[reds44]

Last year for Christmas I got my girlfriend (now ex girlfriend) an ipod and a Felix Jones jersey (she's a big Cowboys fan).

In return, I got a digital picture frame (with pictures of us included) and a book (I hate reading).

I always wonder why we didn't work out.

[dougdirt]

I was 18 and for a family gift exchange my uncle thought it would be a good idea to get me a 'Doug Funny' plush toy. A few years earlier, when I was 16, a different uncle got me Power Ranger toys.

[redsfandan]

So did noone receive any bad, or weird, gifts for xmass this year? Hard to believe.

[dougdirt]

So did noone receive any bad, or weird, gifts for xmass this year? Hard to believe.

I didn't this year, but my brother did get a dual gift from his gf and my mom. Fortunately its a gift where he can actually use both eventually.

[KoryMac5]

When I was little I had some stuffed animals that I always kept by my bed in case I got scared at night. My mother kept all of these stuffed toys and wrapped them up and gave them to me for X-mas one year. So Basically she regifted my gifts back to me.

She also gave me a Football for Dummies and Baseball for Dummies books. Could be because I root for the Reds and the Bengals.

[KoryMac5]

I almost forgot my mother knitted my wife a pink baby bonnett for Christmas 2 years ago. We are not expecting and don't want children right now. The look of horror on my wife's face as she realized that all the stories I told about my mom were true.

[Redhook]

A $50 gift card only worth $25. Ha! Found out when I got up to the register.

[Redsfan320]

She also gave me a Football for Dummies and Baseball for Dummies books.

I own the later of these books, authored in part my Joe Morgan. I've poured over it many a time for advice and knowledge, and it has never failed me. Great book. :thumbup:

320

[LoganBuck]

We have a $25 Secret Santa among my siblings and spouses. My new brother in law got me last year, and my sister got me this year. Last year they gave me a saltine box filled with spices from Walmart. A little disappointing but not without some utility. This year I got an extension cord.

[camisadelgolf]

My ex-girlfriend gave me a box of condoms. :eek:

[Razor Shines]

A $50 gift card only worth $25. Ha! Found out when I got up to the register.

So that begs the question: Do you tell the person that it was only $25? I think this would be a fantastic episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

[Ltlabner]

Last year some dummy got me Willy Tavaras as a gift.

Worst.Gift.Ever.

[BRM]

Last year some dummy got me Willy Tavaras as a gift.

Worst.Gift.Ever.

Hey, it's a gift that will keep on giving in 2010!

[PedroBourbon]

My mother in law got me a framed Pete Rose "rookie card." It came complete with stats through 1977 on the back.

[Redhook]

So that begs the question: Do you tell the person that it was only $25? I think this would be a fantastic episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

That would be a fantastic episode. :thumbup:

Here's another one. I just found out today that my brother-in-law got a $2.99 bag of trail mix and a bottle of bug spray from his father-in-law for his Christmas gifts. Nothing more, nothing less. Classic.

[Kingspoint]

I never liked clothes as a kid for a gift.

My kids loved clothes when they were kids as gifts.

Must have that being used to wearing salt-and-pepper pants and a blue sweater 5 days a week. What was the point of getting any clothes? I might have gotten to change the shade of white on my collar?

Actually, in 3rd grade, the rules got more lenient and we could wear the shirt of our choice, so we did have a say on the color of our collars. Whoo Hoo!!!