One of the best parts of the holidays is seeing the joy on people's faces when they open the gift you gave them.
It feels especially good when they appreciate a gift that you thought out and put effort in. Some spend months, if not the whole year, studying and paying attention to their loved ones to ensure that they'll get them the perfect present for the holidays
The only down side of getting someone the perfect gift is having to wait for them to open it. Redditor u/mbowsy gave people the chance to blab about the gift they're most excited to give when they asked, "What awesome holiday gift did you get someone that you can't tell them about yet but want to brag about?"
20. They're going to flush this gift down the toilet, in the best way
"The gift is less awesome than the delivery. My housemate hates a dirty toilet bowl, but we're both loath to maintain it, and I saw an ad for the FluidMaster Flush'n'Sparkle that allegedly works better than the tank tabs.
I am just looking forward to being able to say 'Merry Christmas, there's a present from me in the toilet'."
19. I love the mystery that comes with this gift
"I wrapped a couple pieces of legos with instructions and a special note for everyday I'm gone this holiday break. My boyfriend gets to opens them and in the end he'll have a lego space station (he's a NASA/SpaceX geek). He is texting me once a day guessing what it is."
18. What a beautiful way to remember a loved one
"My uncle died a few years ago (multiple tumors he survived over the years) This year while visiting my aunt she gave me his old paint and everything he used, so I could use them (she doesn't paint). I made an acrylic painting for my aunt to gift her as a small remembrance of my uncle, who loved to paint, before he couldn't anymore"
17. My family received one of these, it's lovely
"My favorite old manager had a dog that got him through some really rough times. When the dog passed it was really rough for him and he still tears up talking about her. I got him one of the stuffed look a-likes that is created my hand using pictures that I provided. I'm so excited to give him a piece of her to live with forever."
16. I think he'll be thrilled
Giphy
"A long time ago my friend made up a melody on the piano and I wrote it into an actual song with sheet music. He'll either be thrilled or super offended, but I'm proud of it either way."
15. Charity is the best part of the holidays
"A switch lite for a first nations family I've never met.
I caught word that this 14 year old boy had his birthday was in November and he hasn't gotten a present in 2 years... well this Christmas hes getting a switch lite and 4 games."
14. This best friend won't be disappointed
"My best friend has been going through some personal things. She has tried to see Def Leopard as long as I can remember and never has managed it. I bought us tickets to go see them ( we attend a lot of concerts together). She was really upset when their tickets went on sale that she wouldn't be able to go."
13. I guess this gift receiver really loves them
"Custom Van shoes with my face on the front of them.
She's gonna freak."
12. A gift to make more gifts
"Last year for Christmas I wanted a sewing machine so I could learn how to quilt. My mom and two brothers got me a beautiful sewing machine together. This year they are all getting quilts done on the same machine they bought me."
11. Gift cards for tattoo parlors are one of my favorite gifts to get
"I got my BFF a gift certificate to get a tattoo! She's expressed wanting one fairly often in the past but has never actually gotten around to getting one, so I'm excited to give her the opportunity to finally get a tattoo!"
10. The most thoughtful stockings ever
"My fiancé's grandma makes these really labor intensive stockings whenever someone enters the family (birth/marriage), and she just finished mine after a year of working on it. No one in the nearly 40 years that she has been making these has ever made her one, so she's the only one in the family who doesn't have one. She has no clue that while she's been making mine, I've been making one for her for Christmas this year!"
9. Combining naughty cats and puzzles is perfect
"My nan loves doing jigsaw puzzles and my nan's cat loves ruining said puzzles by pulling them off the table and generally being a nuisance. I took a picture of her cat laying on a puzzle she was doing a little while ago and had a puzzle made of that picture!"
8. This beautiful surprise brought tears to my eyes
"I have a baby grand piano being delivered on the 23rd for my wife. She has wanted one since we have been married (7 years) and I have said 'someday' for a while. She has been taking lessons again (since childhood) for 1.5 years and is getting good.
I 'hid' funds for a couple months to pay for it and had to take a day off work to go look at one 100 miles away.
Also, she is picking up her Mom and brother from the airport the day of delivery so it'll be in our living room as a surprise when she gets back. She's going to a party tonight so I'm going to wrap some decoy presents and place them under the tree.
She's 7 months pregnant with our first child so I wanted to blow it out this year."
7. I think their grandpa will adore this
"My grandpa has dementia. Prior to that time, he was really into geneaology (it's something his own father was into as well). I got him a family tree sculpture that has small photo frames, and I've gone through old family photos and had the best ones professionally printed, and I've put them into this sculpture. It goes as far back as to the first photos that his father took with their first camera. So not only are there photos of the whole family, but you get to see how technology has improved over time too. He may not remember what he said five minutes ago, but he loves to talk about the past and I really hope he loves this gift."
6. A best gift for the biggest fan of "The Office"
Giphy
"My brother loves the office but is upset that its leaving hulu. So I got the complete series for him and got it signed by Steve Carrell"
5. Their love was written in the stars
"I bought my parents a star chart of the night they were married. They were 17 and told they could never make it and over 35 years later they still love each other so much and I wanted to commemorate that day for them"
4. I'm so excited for this lucky mom
"My moms coming from the west coast to visit me in Vermont for the first time. What she doesn't know is that I'm meeting her at the airport and we're going to Ireland, which is her bucket list destination."
3. This will be no ordinary book
"My dad is obsessed with Stephen King, and every year I buy him a book but this year he basically has all of them. So I sat down and wrote him a horror novel myself (I'm a writer) but he has no idea and I sent it off and got it printed with a hard cover and everything. I'm so excited"
2. Technology is amazing
"My father was in WWII Bomber Command, flying in a Lancaster. He was a rear gunner.
We have a photo of our father with his squadron on the tarmac (I assume at Fiskerton) under one of those mighty machines. The photo is terrible: dark, hardly able to make out any of the figures, let alone our father. Its value was in the nose art, which you can see - not clearly but you can make it out.
I took the photo to a restorer who has absolutely make this come alive. You can see all those young faces, gestures, uniforms, for the first time.
I've had copies printed and framed and giving one each to my brother and sister (Dad unfortunately passed in 2014). I think my siblings are going to be pretty amazed to see his squadron for the first time."
1. This is an incredibly generous and life changing gift
"Lately, I have been planning to pay for my neighbor's son's college tuition. To put in words, they aren't financially well. The boy had been studying on scholarships and loans. The boy is a good kid but missed his scholarship due to some health issues, so he had to drop this year. I would be breaking this to him this Christmas. Can't wait to see his face. :)"
What gift are you most excited to give this year?
Street smarts aren't about fighting and hustling, it's about the day to day survival. Lessons sorely lacking in our school systems.
Looks
Looking I See You GIF by michael a. salterGiphy"If you're in an argument with somebody and they get in your face and then look away, there's a good chance they're about to try and knock your head off." ~ personpickerupper
"mark"
"I'm my experience the first 60 or so seconds of this clip from Atlanta are the most realistic media depiction I've seen of how a real life mugging goes down: https://youtu.be/u18_b2KjIvI. The distraction throw is something I've seen irl. Most muggings I've seen the mugger will hit you in the face with as little warning as possible to throw you off balance and make you compliant."
"The rules of the road are 'friendly conversation to enter their personal space, then an explosion of unexpected violence, then take their stuff.' If you've never been mugged you should know there's not usually people going around telling people 'I'm mugging you, give me all your stuff or get hurt.' They're going to hurt you first and then take all your stuff."
"If you are walking alone and someone says something to you you its a good idea to respond politely but do not stop walking. Allowing a stranger to control your actions with only a word is as good as painting 'mark' right on your forehead. If you stop you're vastly increasing the likelihood of getting mugged or worse. If they follow you, start running. Don't worry about your pride, run." ~ 5Volt
Eyes Open
"Keep an eye on their hands. This might sound obvious. But they start telegraphing their intentions way earlier than swinging an arm. Stretching their fingers or balling and unballing their hands are a not so subtle way of telling you they are planning to take a swing and not just talk crap."
"Edit: a couple of people pointed out that they do this behaviour regularly anyway. And yeah that's a thing, I've got a wicked case of PlayStation thumb from my youth and do it a bit too. Don't punch someone just cause you see them do this. It's really just an indicator that something might be up. Not something to act pre-emptively on." ~ Forward-Village1528
Music Problems...
"I was mugged when I was 18. I was stupid and walking around at like 3am with headphones blaring. All I remember is something hit me HARD in the back of the head and I went down. I was small too, about 100lbs. My headphones fell out and I felt these hands searching my torso, as well as someone on top of me."
"I immediately just started screaming at the top of my lungs and writhing and moving around as much as possible. We were in a residential area so someone would've heard me eventually, hopefully. I kept doing that and the person got up, and so did I. That is when I screamed at the guy and started to chase him down the street in flip flops... he ran."
"Probably not the smartest move. Scariest experience ever. I do not do that anymore and I never walk late unless I have too. I am always aware and never stop to talk to anyone either. I learned my lesson... he didn't manage to take anything though." ~ messyemotionalgirl
Money
Pay Day Money GIF by MOST EXPENSIVESTGiphy"Never talk money on public transportation, and never count money in a parking lot." ~ Sn0wpooka
All I'm hearing is truth. Never count money publicly! Why would you even trust the world that way?
You Know
You Know GIFGiphy"Trust your gut. You see people acting normally your whole life. You know what it looks like. If you see something that makes you uncomfortable, there’s a reason, even if you don’t know what it is yet." ~ Grindler9
'there's no free lunch'
"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." ~ Galloping_Scallop
"I hate this saying and 'there's no free lunch.' it might be wise to distrust things that are being pushed on you as free (because why would they care about you using it if they don't get anything in return), but i feel like it's also abused by the very people trying to get something from you. they want you to use their 'free' thing over another thing that actually is free. like libre software vs proprietary freeware, or altruistic help vs a help service." ~ uuuuuuuhburger
Strides
"Act like you're in a hurry and less people will want to bother you." ~ Itsnotaboutthefiat
"Similarly, don't break your stride. If someone comes up to you, don't be rude or aggressive but don't stop walking. If they want to talk they will have to walk next to you. Its a hell of the lot harder to casually get in-front and in the face of someone who who wont stop moving. That said I give this advice as > 6 foot man with a naturally quick stride, so your experience may vary." ~ mad_cheese_hattwe
Scammers
"If you're walking around a big city and someone walks up to you and asks you your name or is anyway friendly, they're about to try to con you. I was just I'm NYC where the CD scam is prevalent (con artist asks you your name, they your name on their hip hop CD and when you accept the CD they intimidate you to pay for the CD). Just keep walking. Don't even smile at them." ~ TMdownton916
people
Jimmy Fallon Thumbs Up GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonGiphy"You don't owe anybody anything, including conversation. People who want to take advantage of you will usually start by initiating unsolicited conversation." ~ apatheticnihilist
Be smart. All kinds of smart. Street smart is essential.
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I'm from Astoria, Queens. We have a lot of celebrities that were birthed there, and we have great pizza. But, it's a major part of New York City so... that all sounds generic. But I'm still proud.
Simply the Best
winning the best GIFGiphy"It was voted the happiest place to live in the UK three years in a row. I can't think why." ~ CswBizzel
Cheesy
"Every year we have a wheel of cheese roll down an incredibly steep hill with a bunch of people running down to chase after it. Loads of spectators, plenty of people getting hurt and it's just generally funny as hell to watch. Google Gloucester cheese rolling. Being able to say you charged down Cooper's Hill and lived to tell the tale is enough to make hearts skip a beat here. Plus the cheese is pretty good." ~ schofield101
Ohio
"A couple of years ago there was this small Chinese restaurant that was really popular. It was found out that the owners killed the daughter and hid the body in the ceiling above the freezer." ~ JohnXinaIceCream
"Canton, Ohio? Just looked up the story and the mother who killed her daughter seems an astonishing combination of psychopathic and stupid." ~ Harsimaja
Storms
"Getting hit by a big tornado. Xenia, Ohio." ~ darthjay81
"LOL I thought 'Xenia???' immediately. Then perhaps you might know mine, being known for the Potato Festival? :b I can only imagine there are many potato festivals out there so it probably doesn't mean much to redditors that don't live in this area." ~ Freohr-Datia
Canals
Busy Mickey Mouse GIF by Team TumultGiphy"The defunct coal/iron mining industry, along with the canals that used to connect them, AND also related the mining industry also the oldest functioning steam powered beam engine/ pump to still be in its original place." ~ chease86
Well my list of places to visit is growing. And my list of places to avoid is as well. Let's continue...
Stench
Ew Reaction GIF by BounceGiphy"Smelling really bad because of a leather tanning factory - Smellington. Being really warm - Hellington. And wine." ~ itsmuffintimei
radioactive...
"The biggest radioactive (not nuclear, different things) accident in the world. The whole city was under risk of radiation poisoning and a there was a stigma against my city that lasted till the 2000s (it happened in the 80s) Basically, some scrappers got into some abandoned hospital equipment, among them an X-ray machine, they broke the big box open and inside found this magical powder that glowed, Cesium-137."
"They took it home to show their family and friends, gifted it to some people, one of them gave it to his daughter and she played with it like it was glitter, some of them ate it. They washed it off their hands like you would anything else so it went down into the water supply of the city. You have an idea how it went down from there."
"That daughter that played with it died and was buried in a special lot with a lead coffin. The city was almost put under quarantine, military was deployed to contain it, football stadiums were turned into shelters and quarantine areas, took a big effort to clear it off from our water supply(I haven't looked into the specifics of it and I sure hope I haven't been drinking Cesium most of my life)." ~ Mon_erdon
tongue-in-cheek...
"Balloon-boy." ~ original_4degrees
"I'm not sure how to feel about it anymore. The Internet Historian did a couple videos about the whole thing and I initially thought it was tongue-in-cheek, but even if it was he brought up some interesting points that had me doubting the whole 'f**k his parents, horrible people that they are' thing." ~ daviepancakes
Hey Florida...
"The Gainesville Ripper, sadly." ~ ahoefordrphil
"Tom Petty is LIGHT YEARS more famous than that. Oh and a little band called Sister Hazel. Oh and a band called Less Than Jake. Oh and a guy named Don Felder or Bernie Leadon. Oh and Stephen Stills. Oh and maybe you’ve heard of Bo Diddley? Or a band called Against Me!? Or how’s about a little college called the University Of Florida?" ~ No_Aside_6730
Bashed
Tom Hanks Award GIF by American Film InstituteGiphy"The Black Panthers. Jonestown. Bash Brothers. Mc Hammer. TonyToni Tone. Jack London. Too $hort. Tom Hanks. Bruce Lee. Clint Eastwood. The Mai Tai." ~ KaiWren75
"Oakland... haven't thought of the Bash Brothers in years!" ~ Nobodyville
Well, get me to Oakland.
As Adele personifies... "Hometown Glory" is always something to strive to have. The good, the bad and ugly.
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"What is your most controversial cooking opinion?"
These are their beliefs, and they're sticking to it.
What's In The Pot
"Croc pot liners feel like you’re just asking for cancer."
– Sleeves_are_4_bitchz
"Crock pots don't even take long to clean and that's generally the only thing other than plates/utensils that'll need to be cleaned after you eat. You're only saving yourself a couple of minutes."
"My best friend has disposable everything and it f'king drives me bonkers."
– Alexstarfire
Anytime Cuisine
"There's no such thing as 'breakfast food.' You can eat a steak in the morning and fry an egg for dinner if you want, it's just food."
– alphareich
Preserving Flavor
"Burnt garlic is far too common. Some people (I’m hesitant to say most) toss garlic straight into a hot pan and then continue to cook onions, peppers, etc. Garlic needs less time than most other things and should be put in later so it doesn’t burn."
– jjrandy
Here's A Retro Comparison
"The cream cheese based crock pot dinners are the modern equivalent of Jell-O based dinners from the 50s."
– MadameBurner
A Colorful Debate
"Red onions should be called purple onions."
– Antisocial-Lightbulb
The following Redditors explained their specific likes and dislikes about commonly enjoyed foods.
In The Pasta
"I'd argue that my controversial opinion is only controversial in Italy where I come from... I like making chicken with pasta. I make it into a sauce similar to Bolognese but I'll put small chicken bits instead of the mince."
"My family call me a savage for eating such things together, but my boyfriend suggested me as an idea and it's now a dish I enjoy!"
– SweetJazz25
Conflicted
"You can dislike a food simply for its texture, nothing to do with its taste. I don’t mind the taste of baked beans but I hate how slimy they are and don’t even get me started on when they’re cold."
– eggsh**ter
All The Fixins
"Mile high burgers and hot dogs with so many toppings you can no longer taste the meat are awful, and a pain in the @ss to eat."
"I generally eat burgers and hot dogs because I like the flavor of the meat (I realize meat is a questionable term when it comes to hot dogs), and would like to actually taste them."
– irish2685
A Healthier Alternative
"Plain yogurt instead of sour cream on tacos. First time I had it I thought it would be gross, I could barely tell the difference and it’s much healthier."
– peperonipyza
Annoying Task
"If the dish does not otherwise require the use of hands, there should not be trails on your shrimp. I don't want to be fishing around in my damn pasta because you couldn't be bothered to remove the tails first."
– bkrimzen
Too Savory
"Most people/companies do not know how to do salted caramel. every salted caramel product I've had homemade or otherwise has been like mouth puckeringly salty."
"The point is to lightly salt it to bring out the more subtle flavours, not literally make salty caramel."
– RandomGuy5937
Who was the best cook in the family? Certainly not who you'd think, according to these Redditors.
A Stereotype
"Not all moms or grandmas are amazing cooks. Yes my mom has some good dishes she makes but nuking brussel sprouts in the microwave with orange marmalade is not one of them."
– 12inch_Juicy_Burrito
Still Grateful
"My mom is an okay cook. Did we eat a lot of hamburger helper? Yes. Did she make the same 7 meals in rotation? Yes. Canned veggies and mashed potatoes only? Yes."
"But she put food on the table and I can’t say she has ever made anything inedible."
– ElectricalRub9401
Plan B
"My mother in law is a lovely woman. Terrible cook. I'm glad she's in Manhattan because it's a good excuse to go out / order in when we visit. 😬"
– Stellaaaaa
A Harsh Reality
"I cook better than my wife."
"Trust me, it's very controversial."
– JemLover
When I eat tacos, I make a huge mess on the table.
It just takes the first bite for me to destroy the taco shell, leaving the shredded cheese and lettuce to land anywhere not on my plate.
To avoid this, I smash the tacos in a bowl with a fork, and–voila–I've got myself an instant burrito bowl.
Call me crazy, but that's how I enjoy eating my tacos. This is the same reason why I opt for ice cream in a cup instead of a cone.
There have been too many casualties of ice cream scoops hitting the floor after my first bite into many waffle cones.
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