What the Folk!

Haha!

Whenever I see Snuggies...I think of two things;

1) Nappies - They're a brand of nappies here...
2) Heaven's Gate Cult...

I thought of another gift that wasn't so neat. When we were doing Nunsense in NYC and Christmastime rolled around, we all drew names from a hat and bought each other a gift worth $20.
Came the day to open presents, and others were opening lovely things - scarves, mittens, music, etc, and when it was time for me to open mine, I was so excited! Until I saw what I got - it was a cardboard tube about 4 feet tall, stuffed with lots of tubes of Binaca Breath Spray! It wasn't because of my breath. It had been a running gag backstage.
I should explain - when doing the show, I used to carry some Binaca Spray in my habit, to avoid getting dry mouth. It's the one thing that would keep my vocal chords from drying out. Just before going on, I'd give a spray, and on I'd go.

The worst thing about getting the present was everyone thought it was a riot, so I had to smile and pretend I thought it was so funny, but I was dying inside, because I was the only one to get a joke gift and I so wanted a nice one.

Oh, sad! Nancy, I would never give you $20 worth of breath spray and that is a promise.

Awwww, thanks jillbean.

Haha. Oh so they are. The cheaper version of Huggies.



Awww. Nancy, you're such a good sport. Joke gifts are never fun.

Wow. I think I would have just given a cold, blank stare to the giver and said "Really? This is my gift?" *Eyebrows up into hairline* "Hmph. Ok then. Thanks so very much for the thought that went into it...." and then completely avoided them.
That is just awful.
Now, a $19 gift and then a little can of Binaca added as a gag would've been funny but that......that was just horribly tacky and pretty mean.

Karma....

The hardest part was that he really was my best friend there, and I really think he thought it would be a great joke. (And useful, too ) But not when it was the only joke. I probably wouldn't have felt so bad if everyone else had funny stuff, but as I saw the parade of lovely things, I felt building up after I opened mine.

But that was then and this is now...who else??? We need bad gift stories!!!

Nancy, that's just awful. When I do Secret Santa, I consult with people that know that person, and also see what they are giving so what happened to you would never happen. That sucks.

Here's an ungracious gift giver story...
I remember there being one of those gift exchanges in Girl Scouts where you had to bring a wrapped present. They put them in a pile, then you took one, and then while the clock ran, you had to pass the gift to your right. The timer dinged, and I started to open my present, which was a great box of notecards with violets on them (I loved flowers) and it was snatched out of my hand.

One girl goes "this was supposed to go to her!" and she pointed at her best friend.
I said, "well if you were going to do that, why didn't you just give it to her?" And I called the scout leader, who made her give it back to me. I wasn't ever very popular, I was a bit of a tattletale and a loudmouth, before I woke up and smelled the coffee in junior high, but JEEZ. For once, I was right.

I think some adults are still bummed that they outlawed cockfighting, so they get into different organizations so that they can pit small childres against each other. At least that's my theory!

And I used up all the stationery, thank you!

And you probably savored every page, too!

Well I wouldn't say "never", they can be fun if you're not giving them to girls, haha.

I think that's mostly true.
My husband and I love to give each other funny presents that reflect each others' personalities, but are still useful. Like my Powerpuff Girls keychain. Or the bacon Band-Aids I got him.

I am thoroughly enjoying this thread! Most of these stories are so funny, but I feel bad about the sad ones. I've never received anything truly horrible. Still, one gift totally sticks out in my mind as being the most useless ever!

My whole family used to gather at my aunt's big beautiful house for Christmas. Since there were so many people, we would all just bring one universally acceptable gift, and have an exchange. I have an older cousin with 4 daughters (and a husband at that time) so there was a big chance that I would end up with a gift from their family. (which was not often a good thing...) Anyway, about 6 years ago, I picked out my exchange gift from the pile, and hoped for the best. I watched as everyone else opened things like stationary sets, handmade jewelry and crocheted items, bath products and makeup. And what did I get? A gift most likely chosen by my cousin's preteen daughter. It was a pair of hideous metal poinsettias, with hooks on the back so that you could hang them on your wall! I don't know why anyone would, because the were so tacky, and the paint was already chipping off. I tried my best to look pleased so that I wouldn't hurt anyone's feelings, but I most certainly wasn't. I fled to my boyfriend's parents house shortly afterward. My boyfriend's mother cheered me up by helping me see the humor in the situation, and suggested that I spray paint them a different color and re-gift them the following year, LOL! That would have been awesome, but they ended up buried somewhere in the dark recesses of my mom's garage. That's ok, because I never wanted to look at them again!

I think the re-gifting would have been totally acceptable in that case, DaMango.

I have a funny gift story. I was five and we always went to my Dad's folks' house for Christmas night to open presents from his side of the family. That's where I would get my gift from my Aunt Gerry and Uncle Al, my godparents.
This particular year, I ripped open the wrapping, opened the box, and there was a layer of white cotton. Not really liking this present, but not wanting them to feel bad, I said, "Oooh, look at the pretty cotton!" It was then my Uncle came over, peeled the layer of cotton off, and showed me my real present - a piece of Chippendale silver - they were starting a silver set for me! Needless to say, we all got a big laugh out of that one for many years to come.

OK, I'm thinking this year's Christmas gift is going to take the cake for years to come

OMG Em!!! That is absolutely horrifying! If that is your Christmas, someone deserves a punch in the face (and much worse, but I don't wanna lay it all out here). Horrible, just horrible! I am so sorry. I know you don't know me, but I wish there was something I could do.