Worst Gift Given/Received

I have never received a bad gift. If I ever gave one, I didn't know it to be such. That is how it should be.

The closest thing to a bad gift received was for my fortieth when Bear gave me a book titled "Sex after 40." It contained 100 blank pages.

I am always so shocked that someone cared enough about me to gift me that I love every gift I've ever received...

Did it really matter to you that you got such a horrible gift or were you happy that the person at least thought about you?


I don't care if a gift is horrible, if the person giving it sincerely believed it was something I would like, and/or were honest about what they were giving you.

However, it hurts to receive a gift where one is led to believe it is of great value, from someone who can afford it, only to find out later, in an embarrassing way, it was of little worth. The money part didn't hurt, it was the deception, like I wasn't worth the real thing.

Or....giving something as a gift that was in truth merely returning, making good on something that had been broken by the giver.

Or.....the giver packing a gift in such a way to insure it was broken on arrival.

I've been told, it's not the gift, but the thought that counts....my response is then why didn't they think about it?

About 20 years ago I was working long hours and didn't have much money. I didn't have time or money to do any shopping and wasn't willing to fight the last minute crowds to spend money on something junky just to be able to give a gift.

So I thought about it and came up with the idea of making a bag for the Scrabble tiles for my mom's Scrabble game since the plastic one that came with the game was falling apart.

I had no pattern and no idea what I was going to do, but in about two hours before heading to her house, I had cut up an old burgandy velvet skirt, lined it with satin and sewed it together in a sort of lopsided envelope with a velcro closure. I then embroidered a large cursive L (like Laverne DeFasio's L) on the flap, and plastered embroidered bumblebee decals all over it.

I was proud of what I had done in such little time and no cost, but was embarrassed to give it to her because it was so imperfect.

She loved it and still has it to this day, and I get to see it every time we play Scrabble together.

When you marry and become an inlaw, you often are not appreciated by new family members. It took about twenty years for me to feel I was as accepted as most of the others. In the early going, we drew names for gifts, which were distributed during the annual Christmas get together. The one that drew my name (I knew the person's identity in advance) gave me the flimsy disposable slippers one finds in a hospital going home package. The kind that fits so tight, they fall to pieces the first time you try to pull them on your feet. I suppose I should have thanked the giver profusely, but I opted instead to recieve my gift in silent appreciation.

oh yeah, inlaws....I remember the xmas my SIL gave me a yellow polyester dress (I've never worn yellow in my life) in a size 16......I wore a six 6 at the time.

That was the same year I got from another relative a black vinyl handbag, the kind you would see an 80 year old woman wear. I was 25.

It was also the year I figured out that the box of gifts I would get from relatives up North always came about a week after they would have received the box I sent up there with gifts for everyone. That had been going on for 5 years.

So, the next year I waited to send my box until after theirs arrived, just to see if it was coincedence. A box never arrived.

I believe a gift, regardless of its value, or if you personally think it's horrible, needs to be given with the intent of lighting up someone's eyes.

I also received once a teabag, that's right, one teabag, lipton I think. It came from this person I worked with, who disliked everyone there. It wasn't wrapped, just had a yellow post-it on it that said "merry christmas". Actually, that was more funny than anything. I laughed as I tossed it in the trash.

Heh heh well, you could always use it as a diary

Awww, Buttrflynet, that was sweet : ) I'd have loved it, too.

The only gifts I haven't liked are ones which obviously have had no thought put into them. Like Chai, I had a SIL who gave me an XL dark purple sweatshirt when I was 105 lbs and would have worn a Small or XS. Or another SIL who gave me a plastic bottle of generic bubble bath with a plastic flower in it. This was after a convo we had about how we both hated baths. Just thoughtless gifts.

I like gifts that are practical and that someone just knew I'd like. I don't always, but the thought is there. Like one of my sisters gave me a travel Boggle game - I like that game but wouldn't take it on a holiday. It was tailored to me, though, so I kept it.