Love these threads. I haven’t really done a Christmas in 5 years or so and don’t remember most of them.
We do secret Santa at work, last year I got mini bottles of fireball (I always have bad reactions to fireball, so I don’t drink it) and some vodka (also don’t drink vodka)
Both of mine are Secret Santa / White Elephant type gifts…and the reason I don’t participate in those kind of gift exchanges anymore, LOL. If there is one thing I’m good at, I am a great gift giver. Probably because I do so much online shopping, I’m always seeing things I think certain friends or family will like. And during the holidays, I pay extra attention if people are needing or wanting something. I also try to bring my A-game to gift exchanges, whether it’s a name draw, or ‘bring a gift anyone might like’ situation.
The first one goes back to high school. I was in an extracurricular women’s choir of about 24 women. We did some kind of white elephant exchange, and we were encouraged to have fun with it, but it was by no means one of those gag gift versions. We had a suggested dollar amount (I’m guessing $10-15) to spend. I don’t remember what I brought, but it was certainly nicer than what I ended up with. Three of the girls in this group had some kind of inside joke about a Benjamin Franklin paperback book that was swiped from some teacher’s classroom in the years prior. I don’t remember which version of white elephant we played, but whatever the rules were, I ended up having to pick last, and was not allowed to trade with anyone. I ended up with the used Ben Franklin paperback, while the girls involved in the joke got a kick out of the fact that it was in the gift exchange. I was not thrilled. Everyone else got stuffed unicorns, hot chocolate kits, bath and body products…and I got a used book from a joke I was not a part of. I don’t even think I took it with me, I left it in the choir room, or gave it back to one of the jokesters. Either way, I left with nothing.
The second one was a work secret santa where we drew each other’s names. Gifts were to be around $10. The person I drew had just told us a story about how he was scolded at 7-11 for taking too many splenda packets for his coffee (he said he was taking them to use at home, lol). So I got him the biggest box of splenda packets I could find for $10. The person who drew my name forgot all about it, so he brought me a HOT DOG from a street vendor around the corner 5 minutes before we all exchanged. Yup, once again, everyone was getting cute, thoughtful little gifts, and I ended up with a hot dog that cost $2.50. Not even a soda or bag of chips to go with, LMAO!
Thus, the reasons I don’t play in those things anymore. I may reconsider if we do one at our barn holiday party, we’re a small, tight-knit group, and I think all of us will at least play fair.
I don’t do Christmas anymore. We have a secret Santa at work, and all provide a list of things we’d like and things we don’t want. That is awesome. Those are usually the only gifts I get. I have lots of friends who don’t celebrate Christmas and avoid family, so it becomes a lovely time of year when I get to choose what I do and who I spend time with.
Bright lime green macrame frog wall hanging.
LOL!
This thread is a great reminder that giving a gift for the sake of gift-giving is never a good idea…
I keep telling my sister to stop buying me Christmas gifts. She sends them overseas, too, so that makes them 2x as expensive. AND she and I have really different tastes…she once sent me a very kitschy ceramic thermometer picturing a little bunny with flowering vines…even my young kids found it ugly lol
I am trying really hard not to do gifts at Christmas but am met with huge resistance in the family. sigh
I’d rather give a meaningful gift that I am sure will be well received any time, even if it’s not at Christmas time!
They had a story in the news yesterday about gift giving.
They were reporting a survey where the preferred gift by more than half was money, but only 1/4 of gifts were money, people afraid it would not be seen as good enough gift.
Guess we can’t quite make our minds.
For a wedding gift from my ex’s parents who made decent money, I got 2 towels. Not a towel set. 2 towels. Flimsy thin towels that literally fell apart in a few washes.
My Aunt decided she was going to always give useful gifts one year. She gave my mom a meat thermometer, and gave my sister and I each a pair of panty hose with an “irregular” sticker on them. One pair had a leg that was a foot and a half longer than the other. The second pair had one foot facing backwards. Not really useful, but that was the last year we exchanged gifts with them. My cousins always got books, or a vhs, or some kind of toy from us. I was a tomboy and barn rat, so those panty hose would have sucked even if I could have worn them.
@Lennox217 me too on the office secret Santa thing. I always got screwed. One year I got a can of peanuts, which I won’t eat unless they’re honey roasted. Another year, my nearest coworker who had a flatulence issue for which I’d have to regularly leave the room for got me 2 cans of dollar store air freshener. I think we had a $20 dollar limit.
Last time I did a secret santa/white elephant I brought a gift but ended up going last and there were no gifts left. So someone participated and took a gift who didn’t bring a gift. Who does that?! After that I was done.
I have told this story here before, and thank god it wasn’t my gift but… Years ago my Mom received a homemade mohair thong from a coworker for Christmas. This wasn’t a yankee swap gift this was literally made for her. Oh my she was horrified. Of course she brings it home to endless jokes from yours truly. I still being it up because it’s just too appalling for words.
A co-worker gave her a thong? This is clearly before the sensitivity training days!
It was a female coworker/family friend. Fits of giggles I tell you wondering if it was a hidden message.
I just read all 56 pages. Kept me entertained for hours and don’t regret it one bit! Funny that some people posted the same story multiple years. Hey, I even forgot I posted back in 2006. Great to revisit each and every story (although some were sad). Can’t wait to see what people get this year!
Still up there as one of the worst gifts ever. I suppose it’s better than this though… https://www.etsy.com/listing/474666442/
Just had our office group gift exchange. I ended up with a “Steam Cleaner for Barbecue Grills.” Evidently one is supposed to use it when the grill was hot and fill the handle with water thus creating steam. Basically it was a dish brush with wire bristles. Whatever happened to give something you’d like to receive? Probably found it at the dollar store. Trashed it.
Oh my god!!!
My mom gifts us a kitchen hand towel every Christmas and also some other holidays (easter being one that comes to mind) for some reason.
Don’t get me wrong, towels are a great gift, except my mom somehow buys the most non-absorbent useless towels known to mankind. My husband gets a huge kick out of this for some reason, and I cant even take them to the barn for rags because she always asks how we like the towels and looks for them when she visits😑
However, she also gave me the best gift, which was the countless hours driving me to the barn, hours at the barn, shows, etc, and the small fortune spent on horses, lessons, shows, etc.
Yankee swaps are the best source of horrible things. Many years ago we had a fancy luncheon at a nice Boston hotel. The numbers were under the plates. I put my stuff on a chair, and the PITA staff member insisted she had to sit there so we swapped seats. She blew it. She gave away number 1. 
I retired from a psychiatric hospital last year, med records and IT combining for the swap. The funniest one was a set of plastic hub caps. They showed up 3 years in a row. The COO retired them. The first year I attended a staff gathering for the children’s units, I brought a Life Savers book with three $5 bills inside. The person who picked it missed the cash. Someday swapped for it and found the money. It moved around until the MD’s high school son pocketed the fives for singles. Once I got stuck with a package of 12 hot sauces. Horrifying. After we finished someone offered to swap and we were both satisfied.
Our swaps are now very nice, No re-gifts, no dumb jokes. I get a recycle grocery bag and put a food group sampler together. Bottle of sparkling non-alcoholic beverage. A dated mug with teabags. This year was casual and focused on chocolate. Dark chocolate-filled cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, a few gourmet chocolate treats, gooey chocolate cherries and fancy Devil Dogs. Watch for bargains after Thanksgiving. One of the psychiatrists grabs it every year because she knows what it is and loves unwrapping each item. She managed to take it home once.
Don’t let anybody talk you into using California rules. They don’t do it right.
So, my FIL is 90 and gets really stressed about gift-giving. He always gives us money, but he feels strongly about also giving little somethings to unwrap as well, which is quite sweet, but sometimes ends up being a bit random. This morning he told my husband that he got our 18-year old son (high school senior) an electric carving knife.
I am happy when my friends and family take the time to give a gift.
It seems that gift giving has become so stressful for people and that is unfortunate. No one wants to become part of a thread describing the horrible gifts received, when they are the giver. Even if they won’t be reading this thread it seems sad to me.
Everyone wants to give a gift that will be appreciated. Yes, sometimes people give some strange things, but I appreciate the thought.
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