"It's the thought that counts." That's a lie people. Half the time no thought went into it. Don't give bad gifts. If you have no idea... when in doubt... give a gift card. We've all had to grin and bare it after unwrapping some gifted monstrosity. It would save so much time and burnt feelings to just give a blanket gift at this point in life. Case in point; let's discuss some gift ideas that left the wrong impression.
Redditor u/jedelhauser wanted to hear everyone's horror stories about gift giving by asking.... What's the worst gift you have ever received?
Hey Dory....
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For my 10th birthday, I really wanted a fish. They got me a fishbowl, those decorative rocks and fish food. But no fish. They said i could just imagine there was a fish lmfao.
I kinda shrugged it off.
My dad once got me a boombox that could only be used in his room/stored in his room. That I also couldn't use without his permission. So basically he bought himself a boombox.
My Dad remarried, adopted her kids, and moved to another state. He was normally a very good gift giver... but one year he decided to buy a very expensive set of tools for me for Christmas because I was 18 and going off into the world. Except that it was a gift for both myself and my brother to share so it had to stay in that other state with my 8 year old brother.
I kinda shrugged it off. I assume it had something to do with my Stepmom wanting things to be fair since the tools were so expensive.
Must've sucked to be an 8 year old who got a bunch of tools to share that he was probably never allowed to touch when all he really wanted was a Pokémon game or something. I've never asked my brother about that, gonna have to see if he remembers.
"make a point."
It wasn't so much the gift, it was the circumstances. I had some friends who were secretly trying to raise money to help me take care of my dying dad. They'd told a mutual friend of theirs about it, a very wealthy woman who was an attorney. So, on my birthday, she thought it would be appropriate to send me a woven bag as a gift, with a card in it detailing how I needed to not be a beggar, I needed to pull myself up by my bootstraps, I needed to stop asking people like her who were well off for money (I hadn't, my friends had asked her to contribute to a fund they were making), and how I could eventually be a decent person and not such a poor.
I received the gift during my birthday party, and had a complete meltdown that ended up with sending everyone home. She knew I'd grown up homeless, she knew I'd struggled and was finally doing well enough to rent a house on my own, and I had a really good job. She just wanted to "make a point."
They don't know me.
Every year I get a gift basket from my dad and step mom. It includes coffee from the clearance section of ross, a bottle of wine, and lots of other clearance stuff from Ross. I don't drink, I can't drink coffee. I sound ungrateful, but I'd rather just get a card. They don't know me.
Domino.
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My brother ALWAYS brings this up every Christmas, but back when I was going through grades 1-4 (US) back in the 90's, we would do a class gift exchange.
It was one of those setups where everyone buys one present to put into a pile at the center of the room, then numbers are drawn and each kid gets the present that corresponds to the number they drew, so it was completely random what present you ended up with. Somehow I ended up getting a box of dominoes every. damn. year. When I got the box of dominoes in fourth grade, I burst out crying. I still don't really know how to play dominoes.
the list goes on and on.....
My grandma was the queen of bad gifts. Because she would just give you whatever she had, or something she had found at the store but completely related to her and not to the person receiving the gift... I got a few used ( by her ) nightgowns, books in English when I couldn't understand English well yet as a kid, books to learn German when I was not learning German in any shape or form at school and already had to learn English and Italian for school.
Brand Pens ( like the ones you get in hotels) old makeup, old used bags or shoes she had found at the flea market, a tourist book about a city I had never been at... the list goes on and on... she was great though. Not a good person per se, but She made up for all the mistakes in her life by being a great grandma.
Orange....
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Orange flavored tic-tacs. The only thing is they weren't orange anymore, my aunt had sucked on them all to get the orange flavoring off and put them back in the container. They were just a clump of stuck together white tic-tacs. It was very confusing for 6 year old me.
Talk to Harry.
When I was little I was super into reading and my grandparents would always give me books way below my reading level. Like I'd be reading Harry Potter and they'd give me me those books they give you in school to teach you how to read. I'd always be excited about book shaped gifts but then really disappointed when I opened it.
For Sale.
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My ex mother in law gave me a mason jar with the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies in it. Which was fine, until my ex sister in law (who had Down syndrome) chimes in "we got it at a garage sale". Who knows how old the ingredients were.
Sad Holiday.
My adopted mother kept track of how much money she spent raising me, and one Christmas (years after I had moved out) sent me a card with "I'm taking $500 off your debt to me for Christmas."
The Rat in a Cage....
I wanted a pet rat he found a cage and a big fake halloween rat, I mean he had to take the top off the cage to put it in and it was 3/4 the cage size, at the flea market. Laughed his butt off when he said he got me a pet rat, he laughed even harder when he gave it to me. I was 14 and wasn't amused at all. It's funny now, but 14 year old me had that same face my mom gave him when they were married and he did this crap.
Do you even know me?
My ex husband is a crap giver, no thought into gifts. No thought towards others at all. When we were still married he once gave me a makeup kit, although I never wore makeup. I asked him why he got me makeup and he said the sales clerk said most women love makeup. Do you even know me? Do you even see me? A year later for my birthday, he gave me a snowboarding jacket. I don't ski or snowboard, but it could be a really warm winter jacket. I tried it on, it was enormous.
I asked if we could exchange it for a size that fit me. He said no, the jacket was really for him and I wasn't allowed to wear it. Some other memorable gifts from him include the stolen mattress that we did not need. A cell phone with a new line of service that he got in my name without my permission and to which I received the bills to pay for it. Happy Birthday to me! Other fun memories of him include the time I got a call from a Land Rover dealership that he had traded in MY car for a brand new Land Rover and I had hours to get my car to the dealership before they called the police.
I encouraged them to call the police. The car was in my name only, awarded to me in the divorce, and the jobless prick they let drive a 60,000 car off the lot was not entitled to my vehicle. He called that afternoon telling me I was a moron and had just ruined his week. Sorry Chief.
Merry Last Year....
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My auntie got me a 2019 calendar.... On Christmas of 2019!
That's a message, not a gift.
Clippers
I got a hair clip one year.
It was a nice clip, made of metal, had pretty flowers on it but still, it threw me off.
It was Christmas one year. And my mom's side of the family always draws names. That way we only have to buy for one person. And usually we try to draw names six months in advance, to give us plenty of time to either collect multiple items to give to this one person or to save up enough money to get them that one big thing.
One year my uncle and I got each other. I made him this really amazing shadow box full of vintage pictures of him and his kids and all his favorite things that he loves to do. It looked really cool. I also got him this super cool vintage Roman helmet, and when you open it there is a felt lining that has a hole for a bottle of liquor and four smaller holes for four shot glasses.
And I got him some nice liquor and some nice shot glasses to put inside of it as well. I was really excited whenever I gave it to him because I love giving awesome gifts, and then he handed me a small bag and I pulled out a hair clip. I tried really hard not to look deflated. I really don't even care about gifts that I get. I'd rather not get anything. But the build-up that I had created by getting him this awesome gift just kind of went poof when I pulled out that hair clip.
I'd rather Nickels....
This was a long time ago and that morning my then-boyfriend said he had a surprise for me when he got home from work. He wasn't really one to give gifts and I like surprises, but when he got home he gave me huge bag of pennies. I have no idea what it was for or why he gave it to me. I just said uh okay why are you giving this to me? He said thought you'd like them. It was a pretty big let-down. So weird.
For Me!
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My dad once gave me his old coffee maker for my birthday. I don't drink coffee, but it was so he could have some when they came to visit.
Hannah is Dead!
My extended family seemed to forget how old I am and I rarely receive age appropriate gifts. I'm 22 now, and they've since stopped giving me anything at all.
I received multiple baggy velvet track pant sets from the ages of 11-16 for Christmas.
On one occasion, my aunt from Puerto Rico sent me a singing Hannah Montana poster when I was 16 years old.
By this time, the show had been of the air for a few years so I don't even know how she found it.
Got a Monster High makeup set at 18 by a random family member. It was the type of kit with chalky eyeshadows and lots of lip balms. I gave it to a friend's kid.
Just Keep It!
My ex-husband would give me presents that he wanted, never anything I wanted (even if I explicitly told him what I wanted). The last birthday present he got me was pretty terrible. It was a long exposure picture of his favorite drummer. He was so proud of it. Told me that he'd get it framed for me and everything. It didn't once occur to him that I had zero interest in art like that. It wasn't a horrible photo, but was entirely about him and he waited for my birthday to spend a lot of money on it.
You Realize I'm like 50 right?
They all give me gifts that would make more sense for 11-year-olds. I work in biology, and for some reason they all think that means I want hundreds of kids' chemistry sets and baking soda volcano kits. They're not even trying to be rude or patronizing, they just have not processed the fact that I'm an adult.
They also think I'm obsessed with Harry Potter for some reason. I have not read Harry Potter since I was 13, but I am absolutely drowning in merch for it. I have 3 copies of Hermione's wand.
I Hate Her!
old times rage GIF by Cheezburger
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3 nightgowns from my sister in-law.
All 3 were so big my husband and I could fit in them TOGETHER.
I tossed them.
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- People Break Down The Worst Christmas Presents They've Ever Received - George Takei ›
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
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"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
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"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
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"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.
Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.
While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.
Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.
Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.
For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.
Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:
"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"
The Tiny Issue Of Water...
"Absolutely not."
"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649
Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...
"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."
"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."
"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."
"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep
The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...
"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."
"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3
Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen
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What Do You Mean Allow?
"I have no choice."
"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412
"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show
Hug GIF by The BarkPost
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Who Needs An Alarm Clock?
"I let my two cats sleep with me."
"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."
"And so do I."
"We've all developed a lil routine."
"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_
Whose Bed Is It Anyway?
"Yes."
"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."
"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor
"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."
"Would not come out."
"Got some food and some water in dishes."
"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."
"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."
"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."
"She was too busy eating."
"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."
"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."
"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."
"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."
"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."
"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."
"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."
"She would not go."
"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."
"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588
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Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...
"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."
"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."
"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle
Saying No Just Isn't An Option...
"'Let'."
"Lol."
"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren
Felines Only!
"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz
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Is That My Hair On That Pillow?
"My dog is perfect."
"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."
"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."
"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester
It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.
Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...