People Reveal The Worst Gifts They’ve Ever Received, And They Deserve An Emotional Refund
Giving and receiving gifts is a great way to show that you care about someone. It can also prove that you really know what they like and what they will use. There aren't a lot of nicer gestures than when someone says "I saw this and thought of you, so I just had to buy it for you!"
Holidays and birthdays amplify the joyful spirit of gift-giving, but some people are just horribly bad at the act. These people revealed the worst gifts they've received, and they are hilariously awful.
Reciprocity: What's That?
"My wife got me a trash can for Christmas. I got her an iPhone X."
Okay, so this guy could be the bigger person, tell his wife that her gift to him was a thoughtful gesture, and move forward. Alternatively, he could take her phone and throw it directly into his new trash can. The ball is in his court.
Amazon And Your Wife Collaborated On This Gift
"Wife and kids gave me some socks I had ordered from Amazon for myself. They intercepted the box when it was delivered and wrapped them up."
In the everlasting defense of this guy's wife and kids, at least they knew they were giving him a gift that he really wanted!
The Lack Of Loyalty... You Hate To See It
"Nothing. However, not only was it nothing — I later saw that the woman my husband was having an affair with had texted him while he was out shopping for my gift and told him that he better not buy me anything."
I would like to let the record show that this woman's boyfriend (hopefully ex now) is an absolute piece of trash.
This Is Why More Young Students Aren't Interested In STEM!
"I got a chemistry set for a birthday when I was a kid. I used it once, then it mysteriously disappeared and I never knew what happened to it.
A few months later (and a few weeks before Christmas) the police knocked on the door. Turns out my ex-step-father went full Breaking Bad with it and the police had been tracking his activities for months."
I Love Having Another Person's Monogrammed Items!
"From my sister-in-law: a nice pen with her initials engraved on it. I mean, I know you regift, Susan, but at least check that it wasn't personalized for you before you send it to someone else!"
There is a very strategic and complex art involved in regifting, and if you have not mastered it, then you shouldn't even try.
53 Cents? In This Economy?
"My aunt once sent me a birthday gift that was a Walmart gift card for $10. It was also mostly empty and had a balance of like 53 cents."
Okay, so just about all of us have had to do the embarrassing "not sure how much I have left on here" dance when paying with a gift card, but for that to happen on your first use? Brutal.
Just Looking Out For Your Love Life!
"For Valentine's Day, my boss got me an oral hygiene kit. It came with a tongue scraper and dental tools as well as a toothbrush. Message received."
As a boss, is it wildly inappropriate to get invested in your employees' love lives and send them less than subtle hints on a major holiday? Hint: the answer is yes!
Mmmm, I Love L&Ls
"Fake M&Ms from the dollar store. They were lentils on the inside. Yes, fake lentil M&M's. They came in a plastic tube."
I don't know what's worse: the fact that the giver thought that dollar store, no-name M&M's were a good gift or that the store actually thought it could get away with candy coating lentils.
All Younger Siblings Can Relate
"Not once, but twice in my life my parents bought me a brand new bike, had me open it incredibly excited on my birthday, had me take it out to the driveway and try it out... then explained to me that it was too big and told me that my older brother was getting the new bike and I was getting his old one. On my birthday.
They loved me, they were just clueless."
Someone Call HR!
"A co-worker of mine won a radio show contest where people were invited to describe the crappiest office gift they ever got. She was the secretary of an IT company and her boss gave her a cheap, plastic bowl for Christmas. The first time she put it in the microwave, it melted.
She won the contest and got a $100 gift card to Outback Steak House. Her boss insisted she take him since it was his crappy gift that caused her to win the contest."
I Mean, Bon Appetit!
"I once got a new aquarium heater that was defective and "cooked" the fish."
It would be awful enough to find out your pets were all boiled to death while you were just trying to improve their home. On the bright side, your fish can now be both friends and food.
Secret Santa Exchanges Are Absolute Gambles And This Guy Lost
"I'm 2008, the minimum for the Secret Santa was $50.I bought him a pair of leather gloves, an X-Men beanie (he was a comic book fan), and a bottle of cologne.
The person whose name I drew in the Secret Santa just so happened to be the one who had drawn my name. I got an unwrapped and clearly used dollar store flask with a cheap gumball machine sticker of a tiger stuck on it."
Someone Tell This Guy That He Sucks
"My incredibly wealthy uncle gave me a hideous pink fabric bag for my high school graduation. I tried to be polite about it, but he bragged about how he had purchased it from a blind street seller in India and had haggled the woman down from fifteen dollars to five.
He made a great big show of explaining that he had just yelled at the poor woman until, I assume, she gave him the bag so cheaply out of fear. The gift itself wasn't so bad, but it was a constant reminder of just how horrible some people in the world are and that sadly I have to be related to some of them."
There Is A Lot To Unpack Here
"My aunt sent me a coloring book and a package of crayons for my 19th birthday. The coloring book was half completed and the crayons were broken in half. I still have no idea what it meant."
This is such a weird gift and would be passive-aggressive if there was any indication of where the aggression was coming from. Be more clear with your message next time!
Never Get Your Hopes Up
"I got really excited one year when my uncle who was usually pretty terrible when it came to gifts handed me a wrapped present in the shape of a video game case.
It turned out that the gift was a metal puzzle that he got in a magazine that he didn't want."
It's-A-Me, Mario! JK, It's Disappointment!
"The year the Nintendo 64 came out, it was all my brothers and I wanted for Christmas. Fast-forward to Christmas morning and a Nintendo box is under the tree.
We saw the tag was from our grandparents who were very anti-video games. Maybe they came around, we thought. Maybe it's a Christmas miracle. We popped open the lid and sitting inside was... A typewriter. An electric typewriter.
Neither Happy Nor Hippie
"I got a tie-dye kit. Normally, that would be really cool—I love tie-dye. But this was different. There was no dye. No shirt. No rubber bands. Only empty bottles."
Do you want to know what's worse than getting no gift? Getting a gift that you're actually excited for only to realize later that it is, in fact, nothing.
A Huge Unexpected Responsibility? Great.
"I was about to make a cross-country move with my girlfriend, and her mother gave us a kitten without any discussion beforehand."
There are some things that make for great gifts when someone is preparing to move far away, including travel supplies and useful homewares. A small cat with no training? Not so much.
"For The Family" Is The Biggest Scam Of All Time
"My parents bought two camp chairs "for the family" and they proceeded to be the only people that got to use them."
We've all been there, where a parent has said that a gift is for everyone but then never let anyone else use it. One year, my parents got a Netflix account for all of us and I had to wait six months before they gave me the password.
P.S. I Know You're Lying
"My mother gave me a book for Christmas that I gave to her for her birthday a year before. She acted as though she purchased it for me. I wrote a note to her in it, so I know it was the copy I gave to her."
Next year, be petty and regift her a book she gave you in childhood.
